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Radiation therapy shrinks penis

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Posted 1/8/2022 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
Oh, boy...
I've got to stop reading these posts. My RALP is just 9 days away.
Posted 1/8/2022 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
Did 45 IGRT sessions - - no shrinkage of kielbasa.

However, penile implant (AMS 700) shrank the old sausage by two inches! Going for revision this summer if I can be assured by MD that I will recover what was lost.

Ugh!

NJ Fred
Posted 1/8/2022 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
I have not had ADT but can appreciate the lack of desire to do anything about it. I am sure I am a tad shorter based on the math but I religiously used a pump for over a year starting about a month after RALP and it seems to have mitigated the loss of length to where it is not noticeable. Seems logical to me that one can stretch things out with enough “exercise”. Not sure how someone on ADT would be so motivated but I throw that out as something you can try that my urologist recommended for all men post-op as well as some Viagra or Cialis on a regular basis. A good pump is not cheap and it feels terrible at first but gets easier after a couple of weeks and just something to do multiple times per week.
Posted 1/8/2022 9:20 PM (GMT 0)

Pratoman said...
not to be flippant about a sensitive subject, but i have arrived at a place in life where i couldn't give a rats *** about the size of my penis.

I’m with you. Of the Stages of Grief we finally get to Acceptance and move on.
Posted 1/8/2022 11:20 PM (GMT 0)

Your Friend said...
Oh, boy...
I've got to stop reading these posts. My RALP is just 9 days away.


There's a lot of guff, but some good stuff. It's a muscle and needs exercise and you are very literally in the hands of your surgeon. Ghastly side effects are NOT a given depending on his/her skill and the nerve sparing etc. AFAICS you are in good hands. I was utterly, utterly terrified ahead of mine so I feel you. The odds are in your favour and with your 13mm urethra you are off to a good start. If you keep nerves and are motivated to avoid ED you will, but it may take time. All the "oh you've lost your prostate: stands to reason it will pull back" is utter, utter nonsense, if it helps. Think about it: get an erection (While you can, haha) and push on - well, anything, really. Does your peepee disappear into your bladder? Of course not: it's anchored, hard, right? Onto the pelvic floor muscles, well away from the bladder and everything else. Talking of which, do those Kegels. Good luck, and may your final pathology be good. Have a bit of paper in your room so you remember what the surgeon says.
Posted 1/9/2022 1:17 PM (GMT 0)
"I'll bring up the subject..."

I can't do that either. :sad: Lost ability and size with the RP, dick is now an 'inny'. Lupron and Eligard both cite loss of penis size as a well - known side effect. Also death of the testicles and their complete dissolution. Eligard killed one off the first time around then the other slowly died as well before I started this last round of leuprolide chemotherapy.

Yeah, at my age I don't really care much about that stuff any more, though it would be nice not to have to fish for my little remnant when I want to piss. Wife is old too, her stuff don't work no more either so we are well-suited. smile

EDIT: have used the pump religiously for a decade. It may keep the circulation good, but there has been no posative effect on size or function. Surgery removed 2 of the 3 urethral valves. Kegels cannot/have not fixed that either. Stress incontinence is now part of my lifestyle.

Application of Occam's Razor: if you cut 2 inches from the end of a flaccid 4 inch rubber band, no amount of stretching will make it 4 inches long again, no matter what it is attached to. This despite many imaginative alternative medical theories.
Posted 1/9/2022 2:19 PM (GMT 0)

trailguy said...
Surgery removed 2 of the 3 urethral valves. Kegels cannot/have not fixed that either. Stress incontinence is now part of my lifestyle.

Application of Occam's Razor: if you cut 2 inches from the end of a flaccid 4 inch rubber band, no amount of stretching will make it 4 inches long again, no matter what it is attached to. This despite many imaginative alternative medical theories.

I agree with this all. As for Kegels, I know many guys will disagree, but my kegeling helped nothing. Just seemed like busy work to me.
Posted 1/9/2022 2:37 PM (GMT 0)

Your Friend said...
Oh, boy...
I've got to stop reading these posts. My RALP is just 9 days away.

Friend, FWIW, I had RALP in 2015, and radiation + 6 months Firmagon/Lupron, and never experienced shrinkage. I had no ED issues, for 3 years after my surgery, although at about the 3 year mark I started to notice some diminished capacity. It was shortly BEFORE I started ADT, so can’t blame it in the ADT. Probably age related. I do take Cialis every day 5mg.

I suppose maybe I was “lucky” relatively speaking. But my point is, try not to sweat it, everyone is different, good chance that your “member will be ok.
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