PSA 3.7 Gleason 9 Radical Protatectomy 8 weeks ago

** this is my intro used at FrankTalk 3 weeks ago **

Im 58 and had my prostate removed about 5 weeks ago. I miss my prostate! But it had a Gleason 9 cancer and it worried everyone so after carefully considering all the options it and some of by glands were removed by a Da Vinci Machine, with some nerve sparing surgery on one side of the prostate.

During this "get rid of the cancer" period, ED and literally p*ssing myself were not really on the agenda. I was advised to get some Viagra and to purchase a penis pump; apparently they are much cheaper in **** shops. So a few nights ago, I slipped on a rain coat and purchased a pump from my local adult megastore! I did not know they were open till 2am!

Viagra here is OZ is just plain expensive $68 for 4 x 100mg tablets and I need a pack every two weeks. There must be generics out there as Viagra came off patent in June in some countries. So I'm hoping to get it cheaper in future. I'm on a regime of 4 x 25mg at bed time Tues-Fri and 1 x 100mg on the weekend! I'm pleased to advise that after much "handy work" and assistance and persistence by my better half there was movement at the station about an hour and a half after I consumed the whole tablet. yep, you cant tickle yourself! We used the pump and I was ringed up for about 15 minutes and "sweet baby Jesus" I had a hardon which remained for another 15 minutes or so after I removed the "ring". I had "blue balls" late the afternoon because I did not release the "pressure". I'm feeling confident that I'll be able to maintain an erection soon for some real action!

Now if only I can stop p*ssing myself. I was completely dry the first three nights after my catheter was removed, then it started. Some days are better than others - at the moment I have a cold and every sneeze and cough makes me dribble. I'm doing my pelvic floor exercises but todays is just one of those days. I better go and weigh my pad to ascertain the amount of urine - I reckon just counting pads wont do it, knowing how much or how much less of dribble should be an encouragement. I've also noticed if I wear tight undies I might only use 1 pad the whole day.

So friends, I'm not out of the woods yet! But I'm positive and hopeful that as time passes I'll be fully functional again; perhaps not at full strength but functional nonetheless. I still have two more issues that I need to resolve -- one is HRT (testosterone replacement) which I used before I got diagnosed with a Gleason 9. I've read some reports that HRT can be continued after you've had radical prostatectomy, as it also helps with ED - makes Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors work better. I'll keep you posted once I've had my next PSA test! Seeing (my) Urologist next week and will get him to confer with (my) Endocrinologist!

Lastly, I'm a diabetic on insulin and have some hypertension. These are the least of my immediate concerns; but they are not ignored entirely.

I'm surprised you are rushing into sex so soon after RP; you must be a horny dude! I'm no doc but I think you're pushing it before you've brought your urinary issues under control.

I must say however that you have regained potency unusually quickly post op! Congrats! Btw are you passing urine at orgasm? How do you deal with that? I pass urine with orgasm which I have without an erection. At our age penetration is not important to my wife.

Bob

Hi
I can see tt...you are more concerned on ED
I think...should pay more attention on your surgery recovery..
more over your manhood need times to return...My POV
All the best to your recovery.

Greetings everyone,

@PeterDisaberlard, I saw my urologist last week and he is keen for me to return to HRT. I left the communication between the urologist and endocrinologist up to them and will follow up next week. Left a message on Friday with the Endo's secretary to get back to me next week. The Urologist concurs with these types of studies (http://www.renalandurologynews.com/testosterone-post-prostatectomy-safe/article/30190/) and I hope the endocrinologist agrees.

@Break60, "pushing onto sex so soon" was recommended by the Urologist and the ED Nurse. This appears to be the therapy of the day, especially if you read "Saving your sex life" Mulhall (2009). If you dont respond favourably to PDE5 in the first 4 weeks, Mulhall will put you on Injections. His argument is that the sooner you can preserve the penile muscles the better. Its the old "use it or loose it", and he and others have devised methods to rehabilitate and preserve these muscles. My Routine: There is the consumption of 25mg Viagra (PDE5s) at 4 night/week to encourage nocturnal erections (blood flow) and another is to get busy on a Saturday or Sunday, if you can - if not, take the "situation in hand". So, Break60, I'm just following Doctors orders! This is week 8 for me post op; and I have now had 2 erections out 6 attempts. Funny my mail has lots of issues and a few have picked on the sex issue -- I'm just following doctor's orders.

@YK -- With regards to continence, well I did not have any for the first 3-4 days post catheter removal. Its started after I began with my pelvic floor exercises. I leak on days when I do Pelvic exercises then on my off days; but most days I'm on 1 pad and had my first dry night a few nights ago.

#Gunfighter -- Since I started on HRT, my GP and Endocrinologist agreed that we'll keep on eye on my PSA. I've been exhausted for the better part of this year -- being out of breath, heart palpitations etc. I've had all sorts of procedures done angiography, lung capacity test, had a large benign lipoma removed from my leg, gallbladders scans etc and none of the doctors could lay there finger on the causes, until I got fingered literally by a Urologist. I asked my GP for a referral as I've read that "sometimes" andro deficient men with low PSAs could have cancer! The biopsy resulted 1 out of 16 needles with a Gleason 9 cancer; 4 weeks later it was removed! My yearly PSA since 2008 ranged from (2008)1.3ug/L, (2009)1.6ug/L, (2010)1.9ug/L, (2011) skipped (2012) 2.4ug/L and (2013) 3.7ug/L. Latest PSA < 0.01ug/L post RRP the pathology report suggests "PSA fractions cannot be measured accurately when the total PSA is less than 1.0 ug/L"

#purgatory -- its a rubber ring thats comes with the penis pump!

I'm surprised and perhaps a bit stumped that the sex part causes issues - its mainly to encourage blood flow to speed up healing and to preserve muscle; what RECOVERY INFORMATION were you given? And how did it help or NOT! Thats why I'm in this forum.

Post Edited (PSA3DOT7) : 12/7/2013 2:58:54 AM (GMT-7)