Hello, My 81 Year old father had a shunt implanted in his brain to drain cerebral fluid from his ventricles to his abdomen. This was done because he was initially diagnosed with NPH as he had the...
Thanks for the info. This weekend I was just bending down to pick something up and the throbbing pain hit me (like a very bad cramp or muscle spasm). I was just holding my lower abdomen with the...
Hello, I had robotic surgery approx 3 years ago and thankfully my PSA reading have been undetectable thus far and will hopefully stay that way. I have been having occasional pain in my lower abdomin...
Hello Went back to the Emory Neurologist who diagnosed my daughter and he showed us that there were 2 white matter (Very small lesions) on her frontal lobe that he believes was caused by some sort of...
Thanks for the info. As a further update, we took my daughter to another neurologist at Emory in Atlanta. We provided the Emory Dr the MRI disk and the EEG from the 1st Dr. He decided to perform...
Hello, about 1 month ago my daughter (20 Years Old) had some sort of seizure while driving. Fortunately she was travelling at a low rate of speed and was not hurt and the crash did not involve any...
Met with my local urologist and my PSA was <0.1 or undetectable 6 months after robotic surgery at Vanderbilt. Incontinence after 6 months is a nonevent now. But sexual function is still lacking...
Hello Everyone, Have not been on for a while but I have my 1st 6 month PSA test results tomorrow. Hopefully the PSA is still undetectable. The surgeon at Vandy was very optimistic that I would not...
Thanks Everyone. I spent several months educating myself before deciding on the best treatment plan for myself. I met with several surgeons and radiation specialists and finally decided on surgery at...
Hello, I just got back from my Friday Appointment at Vanderbilt University (6 weeks post op). I had my 1st PSA test done and it was less than .1 ng/ml. (Undetectable). The surgeon went over the...
Hello, I am scheduled to meet with my surgeon at Vanderbilt on Friday for my 6 week Post op visit. I will have my first PSA test post op, and I guess will discuss my progression with incontinence and...
Yes, I had it out several weeks ago and there was no pain. I guess just the anxiety of that thing coming out of your bladder made it worse than the actual event. Going for my 6 week checkup at...
Hello, I have been dripping since the catheter was removed yesterday. I was able to wear 1 pair of tena superabsorbent underwear for 24 hours before changing it. I guess that is Ok for the first day....
Had the catheter out this morning. They did a flow test by filling my bladder with water thru the catheter until I had the urge to pee. After 180 CC of water input I told the nurse of the urge and...
Hello, Sorry you have to be here. You have gotten great advice already. I am 9 Years older than you at 49 and had a Gleason 6 (3+3) biopsy (5 of 12 cores positive) - Core Involvement was from 4% to...
Dr Smith from Vandy called and had great news for my pathology: He said, All negative inked margins; Cancer confined to the gland (He said 30% of the gland had a Gleason 7 cancer (Up from Gleason 6...
Hello, I know many of you have said that the catheter removal was not painful but just felt weird. Has anyone taken any pain medication prior to removal to eliminate the pain worry and if so can it...
Hello, My initial abdomen gas issues have somewhat subsided, however I am still on a soft diet (Cereal, soup, crackers, juice and water). I have not really had a solid BM. I seem to have gas after...
Hi tigerfan They sent me home with a Cialis prescription and I can use it with a online coupon for free 30 day supply. They told me to start taking the meds once the catheter comes out. Are there...
Heading back home to Atlanta this morning after my robotic prostatectomy this past Tuesday at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. (Dr. Joseph Smith) The surgery caused abdomen bloating and severe...
Thanks, Finally passed some of the gas. Will continue walking to get rid of the remaining gas pain. Dr said he was very happy with the surgery as he was ble to save the nerves and no lymph nodes...
Hello, Does anyone have any secret in getting all the built up gas out of my system after robotic surgery? I have been walking but the gas pains have been severe which limits my waking. Any ideas...
Hello, My surgery is at 12:00PM today at Vanderbilt. Thanks for all the input from members on this board. I now know what to expect as far as the surgery process and recovery period. See you on the...
Hello, I am having my robotic surgery in a little over a week and just wanted to know what most wear while walking outside with the catheter. I will be at a hotel for 3 or 4 days after surgery and...
Hello I am staying 3 days after the surgery in a Candlewood Suites about 10 miles south of the hospital. They have a good deal of walking areas around and also each room has a recliner and...
Maybe I will wait until Monday (13 days post op) just to be on the safe side. Man you must have really been up on the catheter learning curve after being on one for so long. My dad started to like...
Hello, I am having robotic surgery out of town (4 hours) and was told by the head nurse that I would need to keep the catheter in for a minimum of 10 days to maximum of 14 days. My local urologist...
I had a 12 core biopsy and was put under (similar to a colonoscopy). No pain at all. I would go that route again if I had to have another biopsy....
Congrats to your dad and good luck with your treatments going forward. Thanks again for all the info you provided me as I am counting down the days to my meeting with the Vanderbilt Divinci Robot and...
Thanks for the Info. I had not talked to Dr Smith about this but glad you filled me in. Thanks Again...
Thanks for the Input. I did not have all his stats except he said he had no positive margins but he was treated at Emory Univ in Atlanta where he probably had a radiologist and urologist working...
Hi Everyone, I was talking to someone in my office who had an open Radical Prostatectomy 5 years ago and his surgeon immediately followed the surgery with radiation for 2 or 3 weeks just to be on the...
I am planning to participate in a 5K walk in Atlanta, GA. ($25 donation to help pay for free screenings). Here is the link: http://www.atlantaprostatecancerwalk.com/ Thanks...
Thanks for all the info....
Thanks I have modified my diet and my wife and I have started walking every evening about 2 miles. I have lost about 10 lbs from this and hope to get 5 or so pounds lighter prior to surgery. (Weighed...
Dr. Smith's surgery scheduler called and confirmed my surgery date of Oct 8th (Preop on the 7th). Glad I have made the decision and now the surgery date is set. I wanted to thank everyone on this...
Thanks for the info. Did not mean to cause a big debate on pro surgery versus radiation. I only talked to one radiation doctor and he did not mention much as the way of potential side effects except...
Hello, Do all forms of radiation treatment kill all prostate cells (Both Good and Bad in the gland over time?). In other words does radiation have the same impact as having the prostate removed under...
Met Dr. Critz today for a consult. He is going to send me some cure rates for similar PSA/Gleason patients. His definition of a cure is having a PSA of 0.2 or less 10 years out. He said he can...
Thanks... this forum has been great in helping me with my decision making....
Thanks for the responses...
Is this a normal protocol? Dr. J Smith out of Vanderbilt says that he will want a PSA test done 4 weeks after robotic surgery. Anything over .1 will require a followup treatment most probably...
Had my consult with Dr. Smith at Vanderbilt and it went very well. I am planning to use him for my robotic surgery. I also found out that he does not use the abdomen drain anymore so you only have to...
Thanks JNF. Yes I would like to know the groups and doctors you used for the HDR radiation in Atlanta. I am travelling to Nashville with my wife tomorrow to meet with Dr Joseph Smith and then have a...
Have received some info in the mail on Prostrecision treatments at Radiological Clinics of GA and have scheduled a consult. It appears they do seeding first followed by IMRT Beam Treatments. They...
Hi NJS, Did you find the papers showing innovations in RALP to reduce positive margins at the apex? Any info you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks...
Thanks for the info and will be looking for the papers on this. It seems that the 2 surgeons I had a consult with did not really look closely at my biospsy results except for Gleason 6 (3+3) and 3.9...
Hello I am having a consult with Dr Joseph Smith at Vandy and wanted to know of a good radiation dr there that I could also have a consult with. Thanks In Advance...
Hi RickyD and Wally, What was your original Biopsy Readings: I am concerned with my APEX readings on my biopsy and problems getting a clean margin from robotic surgery: (Did you consider your % of...
Thanks for the input. I will talk with a radiologist about the treatment options available Curtis...