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Posted 6/27/2010 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
I had the open RP over 2 years ago. I am doing better than I have dreamed of. My stats are below. Biggest problem is shaking all the urine out after peeing. LOL. Did you ask if he could do the nerve sparing surgery? If the nerves can be saved your erections should have a better chance of returning. Good luck to you.
Posted 6/27/2010 11:37 AM (GMT 0)
MB, there is nothing I can add that hasn't been addressed. The one thing I will tell you is that while the information provided here is sound, only you can decide what your treatment is going to be. Whatever decision you make, I wish you the very best of luck. If you trust your doctor and surgery is the way you want to go, don't second-guess your decision based on another's experience. As one of our members would tell you, the world of PCa can be a jungle but everyone who ventures into it must forge their own path (OMG, did I just say that!?).

Come back and let us know how you're doing and keep us posted on where you are in this journey.
Posted 6/27/2010 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
MB, I wish you the very best in whatever you decide. You have received some great advice from members with varying experiences. If your instincts tell you trust your uro enough to treat your PCa then follow them. From my own experience I fully trusted my uro and appreciated his straight forward approach. He never pulled any punches when consulting with me over my disease or the possible outcomes of the possible treatments. I put my life in his hands while I lay asleep on the table and I have not had any regrets.

I sincerely hope you have the same outcome with whatever approach you choose.

Rob
Posted 6/27/2010 7:38 PM (GMT 0)
All the readings of the biopsy sample were done by a group pretty much dedicated to prostate cancer. Although it's a small hospital it is associated with Brown University and the RI Hospital complex. There's no lack of expertise here. My Dr has done hunderds of opens and a boat-load of robots and didn't actually put me 100% off the robots. Essentialy he said similar results can be accomplished but that the hands on allows for more fine tuning to miss nerves and other gut related stuff. I'm nearly 60 and have no other real problems other than high blood pressure and would like to see my grand kids out of diapers. Me too for that matter :-)
Posted 6/28/2010 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
Please keep us all advised as to your status. We will support you in the decsion you make. The surgery is not that bad, nor is the recovery. I'm 8mos post op and feel totally back to normal,fitter than before, with exception of ed, which is a work in progress. BTW I was raised in South County, R.I.. Its a great state, still remember the hours of sledding in the winter times plus skating on the ponds. great memories. Good luck, you will be fine!!!
Posted 7/8/2010 8:45 AM (GMT 0)

I just stopped by to do a little late night reading.  I am very impressed with the quality and balance of prior comment which of course is the intention of this BB.  The fellows have done their job well.

So now it is time for you to sit back and pause for a moment and seriously consider the recommendations and how they will effect your choices going forward.  Take your notes and make a spread sheet showing positives and negatives under each choice.  Somewhere while processing the information I would think that the seeds of recognition would grow to become "Your Treatment Plan".

I feel that is your task.  Harvest much on the subject of cancer treatment and then prune to reach conclusions about who and what services are availible to you at this time to meet your needs.

 I think you and your Dr. should continue now to assess exactly what is going on in your body and make a plan to treat it.  Please do not underestimate the length of time required to complete your plan.  Sites such as this and YANA may help educate but they can not nor will I try to sway you one way or the other.  "Your plan is your plan."  It will be based on what and who is available to treat what is wrong with you.  You must learn enough to make these decisions.  You must be confident your choice is best.   Should you chose to delay a plan of action too long sometimes the decision will be taken away from you by a cancer that will kill you.  At that time your Dr. might medicate your pain, he might even help extend your life a few months but then you could kiss this life goodbye. 

The owner of YANA has been watching his cancer since 1998 and he is still very much alive.  "Watchful Waiting" is a treatment option for prostate cancer.  Go back to YANA and read his story of updates covering over 10 years.  Terry Herbert and his email address is in his updates page.  He is a good man and monitors his email every day he is not on vacation.

Good Fortune on your journey and please keep us posted as you progress.

Jim

Posted 7/8/2010 9:33 AM (GMT 0)
The consensus here about robot versus open seems to be that the robot makes things a bit easier for the patient in the first few days after surgery. And in this regard I can report that my neighbour's dad had open and he was in hospital for over a week, while I was in for one night (different hospitals too)
It may however be too soon since the introduction of the robot to draw too many conclusions: comparison of the situation in 20 years is when it will be possible to measure any significant differences and benefits.

However there is a completley different angle to this debate that has not been mentioned.
I guess I must have come across some very honest surgeons as one of the key benefits about the robot I was told about is that it's better for the surgeon.
Conventional surgery for nearly all operations requires the surgeon to work standing up while leaning forward, which in the case of a RRP may mean working in that position for over two hours. I was told that there have been a large number of surgeons who have had to stop performing operations in their forties due to back trouble, in some cases even slipped discs.

With the Robot the surgeon is A. seated and B. as he leans forward over the remote console his head is supported, his spine and skeleton are thus under far less stress/strain.

I'm not sure I'd want to be operated on by a surgeon with a bad back, who was perhaps thinking about his own health more than mine and who might therefore not be standing in the right place to do it properly. Or that some other guy in the future could not be operated on by a really good surgeon because the guy had had to retire early with a bad back.

I admit a certain bias here, coming as I do from a family full of doctors and nurses all of whom had or have bad backs. (One of my sisters even had to give up nursing due to a back injury at work).

Alf
Posted 7/8/2010 12:31 PM (GMT 0)
I've decided to go the open RP route. The DaVinci machine is used in my area but the experience level isn't where I wanted. The uro doing me is acknowledged to be among the best and has promised to spare the nerves (yeah, right, and this might cause a little discomfort). Anyway, surgery will be sometime late July, early August. Experiencing expected levels of fear but knowing how oblivious one is at surgery time I guess I've come to grips with that. My wife is a retired CNA and is used to dealing with grump old geezers so I'll be in good hands. Biggest fear is of losing my job since I'm way too old to find another good paying gig. I just want this thing gone and have a PSA of 0 and get back to living without this hanging over my head.

Will stay in touch.

Thanks to all of you. I'm grateful not to have to figure all this out on my own.

Posted 8/25/2010 2:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi All,

A follow-up from a grateful member. On 7/26/10 I had the radical done manually with nerve sparing. I also had two hernias repaired while they were in there. Over-all, this whole ordeal has been a boatload more uncomfortable than expected, but I'm doing pretty much OK. Wearing diapers to help with the occasional squirt when I stand up or bend over. Lots of pain still but more from the hernia work than the prostate. Surgeon said all was very well contained and I'll have some blood work in a couple more weeks. I had a high level of confidence in my surgeon and happily it was well deserved. I'm not too terribly concerned with erections yet, pee control is my main concern and even that is minor at this point. Can't drive due to meds and daytime TV gets old pretty quick, but I'm happy to think I might actually get to see my grandkids grow up and get to see my younger son become a man. Insurance is a bear but I'm counting on my employer to help sort it all out. I'm a happy if uncomfortable puppy. I need to thank all of you for such great and timely advice.

Rich

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