Hi John. I'm about 4 months out from open heart surgery and I'm feeling great. It was my mitral valve and it was my second surgery. The first surgery failed and after nearly 2 years I went for the...
Here’s a little update on my heart problems. I never was able to get my stamina back to normal after the first surgery. In fact, it began to slowly worsen. When I would get up in the night to relieve...
Today is the tenth anniversary of my prostate removal surgery. After surgery I was incontinent for 15 months and 100 percent ED. Through the years my PSA has always been undetectable and remains that...
Hello, I joined Healingwell in 2008 after having prostate cancer. I found the posts concerning prostate cancer very useful and informative. Happily I've been able to put prostate cancer behind me...
Hi Lin, I've had a couple of echos done in the last 6 months. In each case the technician was very nice and explained a few things to me but never anything about my prognosis. I actually enjoyed the...
Hi John, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The link to my story on thepeaktv is: http://thepeaktv.com/episodes.aspx?Season=8 Just scroll through the page until you find the story...
Hi John, My 12 months of incontinence was so bad I wore special washable underwear with an integrated collection bag. That made it bearable for the most part. Sitting down or lying down was never a...
Hi John, After my surgery in Dec 2008 I was fully incontinent for more than a year. Then gradually my continence returned and I no longer needed to wear pads at 15 months out. At this time, 7 years...
After robotic surgery to remove my prostate I was severely incontinent for nearly 15 months. At that time somebody posted on this site about a male incontinence system branded Afex. I tried it during...
PSA3DOT7 and Pratoman, I read both of your stories. A lot of my experiences were similar except I have been 100 percent ED since surgery. At this stage of my life I don't really care about the ED....
yk, it's strange that you're having trouble using firefox to access my link. Firefox is the only browser I use. I also use an Apple Macbook. I try to stay away from the PC platform. Thanks, everyone,...
It's been more than 6 years since my prostate was removed. The cancer had escaped the prostate but was within the surgical margins. I suffered severe incontinence for more than a year but now I am...
My daVinci surgery took place in December 2008. My incontinence lasted for 15 months. I was 100 percent incontinent for about the first 12 months using about 15 super absorbent pads per day. From the...
Sonny, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Bob...
pa69 -- the pa comes from my kids calling me Pa, the 69 is my age at diagnosis. Not very creative i guess. Bob...
Hi Sonny, I've followed your journey since the beginning. I've quietly celebrated your triumphs and felt sadness at your setbacks. Today's news is information I hoped would never come to pass. My...
Hi Todd, My brother John has completed all 3 rounds of Provenge. He says the only side affect he had was feeling very cold during the second round. I guess that's because the infusion is cold. It...
I wonder if maybe a lot of the cost of health care is due to the cost of malpractice insurance. Hmmmm ......
John's (my brother) final infusion was on Monday. He has an appointment on Friday to have the port removed. He was sleepy after the infusion was finished but no other side affects. He was...
Here's a little excerpt from an email I received from my brothers wife: "Well, John is sleeping in his 10 speed chair after getting home from his third and final Leukapheresis procedure in Philly. We...
Hi Todd, My brother has completed 2 treatments of provenge so far. The only side affect to date was chills during the last infusion. Blankets and a cup of coffee made short work of that. Right now he...
My brother had his infusion today. He suffered severe chills. I found out that the chills were caused by the temperature of the infused serum. In addition, he wore a short sleeve shirt in the...
That was simply awesome. Bob...
I've been on chemo for a different cancer (lymphoma) for the last several months. I didn't lose the hair on my head but I did lose it on my legs. My wife claims the hair on my head is starting to...
My heartiest congratulations to you! I think it's absolutely incredible to find life after 2 years. I'm almost 3.5 years out and still am completely lifeless but your experience gives me hope. Maybe...
My brother had his 2nd Leukapheresis procedure on Friday. This is the procedure where blood components are removed for manufacturing the serum to be used for infusion. The procedure went smoothly...
Hi David, Wishing you the best of luck! Happy Easter, Bob...
My brother had a followup with the doctor at the infusion center today. The doctor said according to the blood tests his body is successfully fighting the cancer. I was of the impression that there...
Hi Bob and Gerry, After my catheter was removed I suffered severe incontinence for more than 15 months. I was using 12 to 14 super absorbent pads per day. Somewhere on this forum I learned about the...
I'm so happy to hear it, Todd! Best of luck to you, Bob...
Thanks for your information, Devastated. The only difference I see in the procedure from my brother's standpoint is the use of ports to both gather the blood components and then infuse the finished...
Much to our surprise my brother John has been granted Provenge treatment for his PCa. He had to go to Philly for extraction of certain blood components for the treatment. He has a port that allows...
At least for the time being it seems that I might have beaten prostate cancer since I'm 3 years out with an undetectable PSA. Yeah, I know that it will always be hanging over my head but my current...
I'm 3 years past DaVinci surgery and am still in the undetectable range. I visit the forum on an almost daily basis, but rarely post anything. Regardless of the success I seem to have in beating this...
As I said earlier in this thread I was incontinent for about 13 months. Continence returned rather quickly after that time. I don't need to wear pads for any activity except running. Sneezing, heavy...
I had complications with my surgery which took over 6 hours. After the catheter was removed I was totally incontinent except when sitting or lying down. It took about 13 months to become pad free but...
Hi Joyce, I'm 72 years old and had the daVinci procedure about 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma earlier this year. I've completed my 5th round of chemo treatments with one left...
Sonny, I've been on chemo for a while for a different type of cancer. In the beginning my veins were easy to access but have become more difficult as the chemo treatments progress. I had the...
I had daVinci surgery and the resultant pain wasn't too bad. Because of the advanced size of my prostate the surgery took around six and a half hours. After catheter removal it took about 15 months...
Zen, congratulations to your long time in the zero club. Like you I'm fast approaching 3 years in the zero club but I'm left without any sexual function. At my age I don't really care about that....
I've had the good fortune to have a family doctor who is quick to detect symptoms and effectively deal with them. It was he that made sure I got my first PSA test which then led him to refer me to...
After my catheter was removed I had to get up 3 or 4 times during the night. Gradually, over time that number has dropped to none to maybe just one time. I don't remember exactly how long it took. Bob...
For well over 10 years I had trouble relieving myself and just ignored it. No checkups, no PSA tests. I kept telling myself that this is what happens as you get older. It finally reached the point...
I have never smoked. Not because I thought it was a bad thing, for some unknown reason I just never did. Back in the '50s smoking was considered glamorous and the health issues were largely unknown....
Congratulations on the zero status. I've been in the PCa zero status for more than two and a half years and have recently been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of leukemia. I asked my oncologist if...
The credit card fraud can be avoided by taking advantage of 'one use' numbers offered by some credit card companies. I'm not condoning the purchase of drugs from questionable sources but this is one...
Thank you all for the words of encouragement. This forum has been a great source of support and information. Although I don't often say much I have been a constant lurker. It's a good feeling when I...
Got a new diagnosis of marginal zone lymphoma that has nothing to do with PCa. Started chemotherapy today for that. The doctor said I may or not have side affects from the treatments but they almost...
I achieved pad free continence 15 months after surgery. I can do most activities without any leakage, however I wear a light pad while running....
Hi David, I always look forward to reading your posts. Your contributions to this forum have been so helpful. Congratulations and best wishes, Bob...