3 Months post RALP

I'm in similar shape. Surgery last September, PSA rose to 0.1, did 39 zaps of radiation which ended last Monday. Taking sildenafil with meh results. Sometimes the pills and the pump gets him almost ready and sometimes not. All I can say is don't get discouraged. Recovery is different for everyone and even though it's called "nerve sparing" it is pretty much impossible to extract the prostate without roughing up those nerves a little. Have heard it can be as much as a year to 18 months before we reach new normal after surgery. Add in the radiation and who knows how that impacts the nerves involved in coming to attention. In my case, I don't think the radiation impacted the recovery from surgery much (occasional leakage, etc). Only real affect of the radiation was a little fatigue.

Good luck,

Bill

Hi Franpro
I am in a similar situation I think. 56 yo Almost 3 months down, continence pretty good, almost 100 % perhaps only exception when I go for a fun. But no sign of an erection which is really playing on my mind. Nerves spared both sides. Been told to take Viagra once a week and see what happens. But nothing so far. Part of me thinks that is normal but doesn’t make it any easier to handle and not worry about. I am considering a seperate men’s health doctor and maybe looking at a pump. I am interested in any other people’s experiences to know what is normal and what is not, or just to have something to compare to to know if I should be worried or not. Would be grateful if anyone can share and shed some light on what has happened and what I can expect, and maybe any advise on what worked and what didn’t ?

It takes time, be patient. The pump is a great idea just to get blood back in that area

I am about 4 months out and although I do have erections, they are not that great. I just started with Cialis 5mg everyday. I was doing Sildenafil 3 days a week and didn't like the side effects. Also seems like I was getting worse for some reason- just felt drowsy a lot. The Cialis seems better so far. I think I will have to go back with the pump even though my local uro said I didn't need it. My protocol from the surgeon calls for taking three 5mg pills on Tuesdays and Saturday to help things along. The pump is supposed to be every day.

This has been frustrating, but my wife is encouraging me not to give up.

I am scheduled for another PSA Wednesday. Last one was in Feb at <0.1

Thanks all. I am hearing you FranPro. It is very frustrating, and while I feel like I should be happy I have had the cancer removed it is very hard to think that it might never return to full working order.

How did you all get your pumps? did you just go and buy them, or did doctors prescribe or supply?
Do you think it is worth seeing another doctor for rehabilitation, not just my urologist/surgeon ? I am seemingly on very limited "rehabilitation" at the moment with 1 tablet a week and I can't see the harm in doing a little more.

thanks Depov. I was thinking the same. Seems light on for rehab compared to everything I have read online.

Before my RALP I told my surgeon that afterwards if I can still walk around without leaking all over my pants and don't BCR I'd consider the surgery a major success. My primary goal was survival and staying away from ADT. So far so good. I give my surgeon an A+. Acrobatics in the sack is a young man's sport. Do I miss those days? Yeah, sure. I miss running a mile in less than 5 minutes too. But there are always trade offs. They give you this, but you pay for that. My doc offered me the blue pill. I politely turned him down. I don't want another pill. I respect those who struggle with this issue. Bless their hearts. But it's just not all that important to me. Naturally the partner has a say-so in the matter too. It all comes down to a meeting of the minds. I thank my lucky stars I found a good one. Performance is not a requirement. No hurt feelings. It wasn't always this easy.

Roadranger82 said...
I am 55 and 5 months post RP now, nerves spared. I was also frustrated at 3 months, using sildenifil 3x a week.

some nights I would try with just the med and no VED. During the 4th month I noticed things starting to work again. Not as good as before surgery, but defiantly better. Now at 5 months I can have sex without the pump, but I have it ready as a backup encase things don't work that night. It helps my confidence knowing I can use it as a plan B.

Thanks for you post, this is very encouraging. I am lucky, I have a good supply of Cialis and Lavetra of various doses and a supply of shots. I don't have an issue doing my own shots, but so far the results are so so. I am still working on dosing upwards. While I want a good stiffy, I don't want to end up in the ER.

Depov said...
I also have to order a bigger comfort seal (so they are called). Just turned 60 the other day, so I'll take this as a very good development.

Not to brag or anything but I need "a bigger comfort seal (so they are called)". Showoff!

Congrats on the progress. Things are looking up!!! LOL. You are just about 1 month ahead of me for RALP, so I hope I am where you are at in a month.

Depov said...
FranPro, LOL
Not meaning to brag. That comfort seal is just uncomfortable.

There are a few issues with Cialis. It is giving me headaches. Seems like every drug you take requires you to take another drug. (I can see why TJ123 is concerned about this in his post above) I am trying not to take too much ibuprofen. Just one in the morning. As far as drugs, that's all I am taking. Oh yeah, forgot about the indigestion Cialis is causing. So I am doing some Pepsid too once in a while. And Tums. And GasX (dang).

Is it all worth it? I am not sure. I can only hope that this part of my rehab won't cause some long-term damage. Doc says to use the pump and the drugs for a year. Hopefully I can stop sooner.

I agree that all the ED meds I have tried give me indigestion. I find eating a little first helps, then Tums. I drink a little milk if needed. I hate the pump, but it does it's job and will improve our recovery. I hope to pack that thing away and not see it until I am 75+.

I have been lucky with Viagra side effects I think, maybe a slight head ache but not long lasting. Mind you I am not taking it often either.

There two types of treatments:

- Chemistry to chemistry ( which we know as conventional medicine and most people know as the only type of treatment, including myself before, because these types of treatments are more commercialized, more available and mainstream)

- Energy to Energy ( Quantum level energy channeling ). This type of treatment has been practiced in the East for over 2500 years with tangible results. Recent studies showed that there are 2 times more chronic illness patients in the West than in the East which has been traced to our limited understanding use of energies to reverse many conditions that are not chemistry responsive but are energy responsive -everything is energy and the essence of every condition is energy before it's chemistry - chemistry is collapsed energy- even though chemistry to chemistry works it also can fail - but energy to energy healing always works if done by a higher energy at the quantum level - that's where coherence healing and energy channeling treatments come in. A renown neuroscientist whom I do not want advertise here has used energy fields to heal cancers and many chronic illnesses - he was then criticized by mainstream scientists, yet he healed hundreds of people of cancer and other chronic conditions.

We in the West don't either believe or don't simply know about quantum energy channeling . Even though Albert Einstein and other physics have proved beyond any doubt that everything is energy and the conditions and circumstances of energy determine the conditions and circumstances of matter and matter doesn't actually exist.

Please try alternative non conventional treatment. Get some good ones by referral, not by google search, I known hundreds of people who have experienced miracle healing that were inconceivable in the mainstream. I wouldn't want to give some referrals here so that I wouldn't advertise in the forum. If you drop me a message here bestinscount at gmail dot com I would send you some who have proven results.

Post Edited (Bestine) : 5/9/2019 12:42:05 PM (GMT-6)