The next phase of my PC Journey !

As a newbie (still am a newbie), I've found reading others' stories so helpful ! So a quick update in hopes that someone finds it helpful !

Going into surgery I was (still am) an avid runner... about 20 miles per week with an occasional long run of 13 miles

I'm wrapping up week #9 after Robotic RP ! I found the surgery experience to be great. They had me out of bed about 1 hour after getting to my room. I walked every hour after that. The walking really does help. I was discharged the following morning ! In hind site, I might have chosen to stay one more night.... to give me time to get a little more familiar with the catheter.

Walking helps so much with gas cramps ! For me they passed pretty quickly... On day 2 I had a few hours of cramps. I just kept walking slowly and gently.

I found myself either eating small meals, resting in a reclining chair, caring for my catheter or walking once per hour ! Eat, Walk, Catheter, Rest... and repeat !

The catheter was fine.. one get's used to it... i kind of miss my tag along bag-- not ! It really was not so bad though. Catheter was removed on day 11.. from day 12 onward I walked at least 2 miles a day.

I've been very fortunate to be continent during the day by day 15. I still wear full depends at night, and occasionally a shield during the day when I go out (if it's going to be a long day, or if i'm a little tired). Initially I had bladder control issues at night. So my doctor prescribed Myrbetriq. Much better now!

My doctor released me to do gentle jogging on week 6... but to be honest, I tried and found I was not ready. So I found I could do a little bit of slow jogging mixed with my walk. I do wish I was warned that it would be at least the full 8 weeks before I could return to my running... as runners know-- it's addicting

I'm wrapping up week #9 now. I'm running 3 miles per day, not quite back to my original pace. But close. Yesterday I ran 4 miles !

Sitting at my home office for work is tough. I have to get up once per hour and stretch... Good excuse to try buying a new chair !! I do get a little tired by the end of the day... nothing a nap doesn't fix though !

So I wrap up this phase of my journey.. I feel pretty much back to being me.. another couple weeks my running will be back to normal... and I'll just have to work through remaining continence things and ED. My ED journey hasn't even started yet to be honest.

Having my risk level upgraded after my pathology report did catch me a little off guard..as did the need for RT.. but encouragement here from HW got me quickly focused again

yesterday was my CT Simulation to get ready for Adjuvant RT ! The center was so nice ! wow. My technician is Ray (funny name).. He was excellent ! I met everyone in the office by name ! and the other patients as well... Ray came out to the lobby and announced me to the others as "the newbie" ! I was a little nervous about starting this next phase.. But the office and Ray made me feel like a member of their family. As I left the office (with my 3 new tattoos) I wished the other gents a fine day and that I'd see them soon. Feeling much better about it all.

They'll work around my vacation and I start on October 14th for 37 days; thus I'll have 37 consecutive days with my interruptions in treatment.

Meanwhile, I've walked one 5K last week. and I have a couple 5K's coming up... I run and/or walk every day.. about 15-20 miles of walking and running per week. I had a goal of half-marathon on November 3rd.... hmmm we'll see... not so sure about that one yet... :(

I'm ready to take on this next step ! I'm sure I'll have to back off my running and focus on my strength during radiation.. I'll keep you all posted on how all that goes !

Best wishes to you all ! I hope this helps someone new to this journey as much as the other stories had helped me !

Congratulations on the good recovery.  Sounds like it's going well.

Radiation made me a little fatigued, and a little dizzy after each session.  More of an endurance contest than anything.

Here's a link to my kind of long thread, to a page where I summarized the G9s I find posting here.  That list is near the bottom of this page.  You may find it interesting to get a quick feel for the others here with similar situations.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2704433&p=5

Peter, I see your in Cary. I am as well.

at this time, my doctors are saying to go with just RT. There has been no mention of Hormone at this time.. I wonder too because my first post surgery PSA is on Sept 30th. I'll bring the topic up when I see both my doctors in a few weeks... I should have asked... my bad

Redwing, thank you for the link... I"ll certainly read it !

I can see why you were shocked by such an upgrade on the pathology report. Who in the world did your biopsy? But at least you got the information you needed to proceed in the best way--knowledge is power. Good luck with the upcoming PSA, and wishing you all the best in your journey. Please keep us posted along the way.

I start my Adjuvant RT tomorrow ! Day 1 of 37 !

The doctors wanted to start on Oct 1. I chose to delay a couple weeks to finish recovery from surgery and get my strength up first... I fit in a week vacation too.. Now I'm going in strong, rested and low stress.

We often talk about with PC one does not have to rush into things quite so much... so I opted to get my full strength back first, then be ready for the 7 week endurance test !

Great report!