I googled a question on the weekend and found your incredible forum site. WOW. It's been a difficult 18 months with my PCa journey and I only wish that I had the benefit of being a healing well member much earlier. The knowledge and experience would have been invaluable. I spent the past weekend reviewing hundreds of topics and comments all of which have been extremely helpful.
Initially I was Dx with PCa August 2010. One month later my Mother was Dx with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. I had to say good bye to my mother April 2011. My father also passed away from Lung Cancer when I was only 20 years old. So to me being told I had PCa was like getting a death sentence. As I quickly came to realize it could not have been further from the truth. Thank goodness for that!!!!! It was highly recommneded by my URO to do "Active Surviellance" given the low grade, low risk of my PCa. Initially my first thoughts were to deal with it and get rid of it. We established the baseline of my cancer with the first biopsy. The active surviellance was like a pebble in my shoe everyday, but I chose to be with my mother during her time of need and with no regrets. My second biopsy 15 months later showed some marginal change even though my PSA had dropped about 25% during 2011. My URO strongly recommeded we move to a curative treatment. I chose radical open prostatectomy as the "gold standard" treatment, especially given my age, health and life longevity. Many of my mentors and coaches were also helpful in my decision making process. Books written by both Dr. Patrick Walsh's of Johns Hopkins Hospital and Dr. Peter Scardino's of Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital were great reads and come highly recommended for those people wanting first class knowledge.
I am 21 days post surgery and 5 days post the catheter removal. My entire experience with my URO, his OR team and the hospital nurses were all exceptional well beyond my preconceived expectations, especially for an individual who doesn't do hospitals well and has to lie down to avoid fainting when I have blood tests done. I was amazingly calm the two weeks before and even more so the weekend before my Monday Feb 6 surgery. I am a positive attitude guy and was optimistic for a successful surgery to be able to move on with my life after PCa. I was delighted to hear from my URO that the surgery was better than "text book" and he was able to spare both nerves. I was released from the hospital at 5:00 pm Feb 7. Having the "rubber snake" removed and getting the "all clear" pathology report last Wednesday was fantastic news. We were elated!!!
Totally dry at night while sleeping from night one. No continence control at all for the first 2 days at home during the day off the catheter. I guess all of the pre and post catheter kegels are starting to pay off. Day 3 off the catheter, every time I stood up from a seated or lying position I was able to hold my pelvic floor up long enough to get to the bathroom. Bonus for me. My next stage of control will be able to manage control whenever I am standing, as I continue to constantly dribble. I would appreciate any personal tips and experience how to gain that control and perhaps what might be a realistic time frame for this. My URO also prescribed daily 5mg Cialis to help rejevenate and rehabilitate the spared nerves and erectile tissue by increasing the blood flow to these areas. I would also value any feedback from members on their personal experience on this.
All in all so far so good since my surgery and I hope I am able to report to be in your "ZERO" club with my continence back and no ED in due course.
Thanks for reading about my PCa journey and any assistance you can provide.