Australian PCa query

Hi, hello and G'day

I have been contacted by a guy in Australia who is just post surgery and have recommended he visit HW. (So welcome him if he shows up!)
I also thought it might help for him to know that there are others from OZ here, but after a lot of searching I cannot find the HW thread about "Where we are from". Does someone know where it has gone?

Alf

Hi Alf,
I was just chatting with Cris from New Zealand and it seems that there are quite a few international guys that chat on Sat afternoon (US times) Sun morning there. I will post a new thread for next Sat if you and you're friend want to join a chat too.
BTW, Northern CA coast.
Beth n Gary

English Alf,

I'm in Melbourne!

Hope my Profile helps!
.

Chasm, I'm pleased to see your PSA behaving so well @ 0.01

As I approach SRT one week from today I'm in fear of my incontinence going backwards as I still get stress sqirts now and again.

That retention doesn't sound good so I trust they can fix that for you.

I used to correspond with Chris up n Noosa...had the same surgeon in Brisbane. Chris recovered well but suffers from total ED which depressed him badly. I do hope he reads HW and gets back intouch.

Hi guys,
That'd be me then! A big thanks to Alf for the reco onto this website. I want to absorb as much info as possible to stay one step ahead!!
Recently post op on the 25th Feb from Robotic Prostatectomy, so now in the slow process of recovery. Still haven't heard about Histology report nearly 4 weeks post op, so may well be contacting the hospital for some feedback.
I must say having had the op at the Royal Brisbane I've had great treatment up to and including the surgery, but the lack of after care is a shocker. One pamphlet on basic stretching exercises hasn't real cut it for me.
I want to get back to exercising soon as (started walking around the block) but obviously need to take it easy at first. Any recommendations on when maybe light stretching to prevent scar tissue build up within the abdomen or if gentle swimming could possibly take place? Advised that no exertion for 8 weeks at least, so need to ease back into it gently.
Thanks again,
R

Hi Rich
Welcome to HW

All the advice about exercise that I remember from my time was something along the lines of nothing heavier than 2Kg at 2 weeks; 4Kg at 4 weeks and 6Kg at 6 weeks, but that was just simple lifting rather than gym sessions.

Being in Holland one of the most important questions was when could I get bak on my bicycle, and that was at 6 weeks.

My fitness was also helped at the time by the fact that I lived in an appartment/flat three floors up with no lift/elevator.

You need to be subtle about what words you search for, but if you use the search feature top right you may find old threads that cover topics such as exercise.
For example: searching for "prostate exercise operation" produced this result:

www.healingwell.com/sitesearch.aspx?cx=010904608862850737972%3Abe-6h9dblc4&q=prostate+exercise+operation&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&sa=Search&cof=FORID%3A9&siteurl=www.healingwell.com%2
Fcommunity%2Fdefault.aspx%3Ff%3D35&ref=&ss=12411j30077929j27

Alf

Post Edited (English Alf) : 3/31/2015 4:33:31 AM (GMT-6)

One of the things I've noted in Holland is how docs wait for the aptient to take the initiative on some things.
Thus if you donlt call them they thnk everything is okay.
However if you say something is not right, then they do a lot for you.
And it goes beyond just docs, this week I was phoned by the company that supplies me with pads
as they wanted to know if I needed to order more and to explain how many the insurance
company allows them to send at a time.
I have also noticed here that when I have a check-up they will not take "Uh..Fine" for an answer
when they ask me how things are going. They insist on asking me all sorts of questions about peeing
and erections and sex and sleep and Bowels and work and driving and activities etc.


Alf

Rich, Geoff Coughlin is a well respected robotic surgeon....the poms sent their people over to learn under him.

He even rang me personally from Brisbane when I freaked out over the rising PSA post op.

I start my SRT here in Hobart on Monday....with fingers crossed for a good outcome!

Rich,
Did the report also confirm the Gleason 3+4.
And I'd make sure you get a copy of the report on paper. As
one thing I've found with PCa is that is causes a sort of "amnesia",
such that you either forget things docs tell you or get in a muddle
and can't tell if you've remembered the exact details of everything
they say.
Good luck with the first PSA test and I'd guess they'd test again
3 months after that, but with these things what happens next
depends on results.
I've just realised how weird (bad) it was that you didn't get the pathology
report sooner seeing I got mine a week after surgery when I went back to
the hospital to have the catheter removed. So I'd make sure with your
PSA tests that you are told when you'll be told the results.

Alf

Rich,
Thanks for that. Always good when the post-op Gleason is the same.
Sometimes the info on the report can look really confusing. One of the things they did for me was to show me on a sectional drawing
of the internal male anatomy exactly where they had found bits of tumour and to give me a rough idea of how big they were.
I included it as one of the pictures in my blog see:
1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWv7gnztI14/UE87XK9LYAI/AAAAAAAAAII/OqVrMLhPyXY/s1600/Prostate+section+01.jpg

Alf

(PS I have altered one of the earlier posts in this thread where I included a link, as it seems to be having a funny effect on the layout)