Please allow me to introduce myself...

...While I might not be a man of wealth, I believe I have good taste (just ask my wife!).

Hi all, my name is Ted. And no surprise, I have prostate cancer. Well, I hope the operative word is "had," but can't be sure.

I was diagnosed with Gleason 8 cancer in February (or was it March?) and had an RRP on June 13th. Catheter came out a week later and I've been peeing myself ever since. How do I deal with it? Well...Depends. I do my Keagles pretty faithfully, so am hoping that will create good karma for me.

My post-op pathology report was mostly good, with the exception that my Gleason was upstaged to 4+5. Ouch! I will have my PSA checked at 6 weeks out (from RP) and 3 months, at which time we will discuss whether radiation is next. Honestly, I am already preparing myself for it. While I am trying to remain hopeful and am eating more fruit & veggies, much less meat, and am walking several miles each day, I know from plenty of reading that this cancer is a sneaky b-----d. So, I haven't fully taken off my suit of armor.

Of course, like most, I have the aftereffects of surgery: incontinence and ED. Have tried Viagra three times...nada. But, since I've been reading the Mulholl book, I am seeing the wisdom of developing a penile rehab (colony comes to mind) plan. Will talk about it with my oncologist at 6 weeks and urologist at 3 months.

I feel honored to be here. While I wouldn't wish this on anyone, I take comfort knowing that others have gone through the same thing. It sounds horrible, but I mean it in the most compassionate way.

Best of luck to us all.

It's still WAY to early to tell what the future holds..With many men, it takes 3 months or more for the incontinence to resolve itself...At this point, that's the most important thing..Should you need radiation, that will lock in the incontinence right where it is...So you want to be as dry as possible before you start RT...Do as much walking as you can, that helps everything...We are all here to help you get through this "rough spot"...

Sorry that you had the need to join this group, but good news there is tons of information here, some you made not want to hear and some you can ignore. Everyone is unique and handles this journey in different ways. My hubby was a Gleason 9 in seminal vessels, started HT right away, then 40 radiation treatments, then chemo and now Zytiga and lots of pain medication, so his journey hasn't been picture perfect, but a bumpy roller coaster and very emotional, praying yours is much smoother.
We do have a lot of faith in his doctors, well most of them, so that's good.
Read, and ask questions.. Wishing you the best..

Thank you, Jitters99. I won't address the group as "guys" anymore. My bad.

Wishing you and your husband all the best.

Ted

Welcome to healing well, your pathology report is similar to mine. I leaked for about 4 months getting dry at night and leaking less during the day until finally dry. As far as ED, I had both nerve bundles removed so expecting any normal outcome is out of the question. I also expected to have radiation after surgery but so far at 3.5 years my PSA is still <.01. I hope you will join us in the zero club.

Welcome aboard Ted. Glad that you decided to post and to join our select group here at HW. We Gleason 8's have to look out for each other. Keep us posted as you progress thru your journey.

Michael

Sad you joined the club but welcome just the same. I'm six months post op and still dribble just a little now and then but not enough to even wear a ultra thin pad. It took me three months to totally get of the depends and another month to get off the pads. I'm sure you will get there in a timely manner soon. The path report looks promising so with some prayer and good luck maybe you can forgo the radiation.
Best wishes

blownsideways

Really no information to supply, did want to extend my welcome.

Yup - more than guys here - Thankfully!

Our sisters share so much of themselves and their SO journey. Through them I can better understand what my ladies (wife and daughters) are going through and hopefully can be there for them as much as they are for me.

Have a great day!

Hugs

Bud

Ted,

Glad you found this site. The only thing I will add to some of the comments above is the following...which a Stones fan like you will recognize:

"You can't always get what you want...but if you try somtime, you just might find....you get what you need."

I found a lot of good things on HW...hope you do too. Regards,

Joe

Thanks again all for the warm welcome. Do I say it's good to be here?

Woo hoo...