Some good news

I had blood drawn last week and saw my urologist this afternoon. The good news is that the PSA remains <0.01 and he now only wants to see me once a year, instead of every 6 months. As my signature shows, surgery was back in August 2010.

I was approximately his 50th DaVinci procedure. He has now done over 200. I asked him his opinion on the learning curve for DaVinci surgery, and he replied 25-30, which frankly sounds much more realistic to me than the 700 or more so often quoted. He's a talented surgeon who had been doing prostatectomies for years before transitioning to the DaVinci robot. I've always felt that surgical talent is the primary requirement, and that a talented surgeon will likely make a good DaVinci surgeon.

Whether I'm right or wrong about that, I feel very fortunate to have had him as my surgeon and grateful for the undetectable PSA number. I'm also grateful for this forum and all the good people who visit here.

Not to be argumentative, not my intent. I feel that 25-30 is still too few, but agree that those that quote 700 or more as being way out of wack the other way. Still really depends on the skill level of each individual surgeon. You may have a great surgeon that after 10, is great at it, and you could have a sloppy surgeon that does assembly line surgeries that sucks at 1,000. Don't think there is any fast rule or guide. More doesn't always mean better, I think we can agree to that.

Congrats on the zero, and the decrease in PSA testing, a great step in the right direction

Congrats!
Good to hear your good news...

That is one heck of a run, Clocknut. Being a clock nut, you must have like the movie "Hugo"!

To this let me add my simple thought,
Congratulations Clocknut!

Andrew

clocknut -

Yes, congratulations on the result, glad for you. And yes, going to annual testing does ease the testing stress quite a bit!

Gunfighter, are you back? If you are, glad to hear it, Captain, sir! Your past posts were always very valuable and insightful!

If you have indeed returned, then I look forward to reading many more of them!

Lieutenant

What wonderful news! As you know Paul has his op the on exactly the same day as you and his result was a 0.01. Aug 20, 2010 was a good day for both of you.

Wish you the best,
An

Clocknut,
I feel your, and Purgatorie's, view on the 700 procedures number are spot on. What is gained if the surgeon makes the same robotic mistakes 700 times?

To me the surgeons training on how to use the DaVinci to do the prostatectomy may be of more importance then reaching the 700 procedure level. A surgeon who was trained under a fellowship or internship on the DaVinvi is probably the most desireable.