This forum is for the discussion of anything to do with Prostate Cancer. There are only four rules:
No fundraisers, no commercials (although it is OK to recommend choices of treatment or medical people based on your personal research; invitations to participate in third-party surveys are also acceptable, provided there is no compensation to YANA);
No harvesting e-mail addresses for Spam;
No insults or flaming - be polite and respectful at all times and understand that there may be a variety of points of view, all of which may have some validity;
Opinions are OK, but please provide as much factual evidence as possible for any assertions that you are making
Failure to abide by these simple rules will result in the immediate and permanent suspension of your posting privileges.
Since this is an International Forum, please specify your location in your post.
Tim,
The most important thing I can tell you is to be sure your surgeon has performed many, many of these procedures. I was at a support group last night and I met another man who, like myself, had a da Vinci and later found that the surgeon left half the prostate behind. We both had to have ADT and radiation to clean up the mess. Consider switching to an open procedure. Many doctors are turning away from the robot because of the lack of feel. The prostate is not easy to visualize. Surgeons rely on feel to find the boundaries of the gland. You have only one shot at surgery. If they screw up, they can't go back in again. The Chief of Urology at my hospital said that an open would not have left tissue behind. (end of rant)
Other than that, prepare for your recovery at home. Clean the house and have plenty of bland food on hand. Start doing Kegels now. Get some sweat pants. You'll live in them for several weeks. Make contact with a clinical social worker (a mental health therapist) before you go in. You will do much better if you seek out that kind of help. Remember that the doctors are primarily interested in the medical result, not your mental health. This is major surgery, you will be affected emotionally.
Don't try to rush your recovery. You will feel better soon and you'll be tempted to be more active and to eat normal food. Don't! A big hand will come down out of the sky and smack you upside the head.
I'm not a fan of robotic surgery, either. I elected to have the open (retropubic) RP for all of the reasons outlined by Paul. My surgeon (head urologist at Johns Hopkins) doesn't believe that one six-inch incision heals any slower than four smaller ones, and the advantage of allowing the surgeon to see and feel everything outweighs everything alse in my opinion. My surgeon told me that a lot of what you hear about daVinci is marketing.
My incision was painful and took awhile to heal and I'll never know if the other method would have yielded a quicker healing time, but I do know that they got all the cancer out and my recover has been very, very smooth and I don't regret for one second electing open surgery.
As far as Kegels go, I initially thought my relatively good continence was due to the Kegel exercises I did for two months prior to the surgery, but the nurse at my surgeon's office said, Well, the exercises taught you how to do the Kegels, but you have to start all over after you've been cut.
If she's right, then my good continence is attributable to my youth, my health, the surgeon's skill, or luck. I don't know, but if I were you I would still do Kegels beforehand because they're a lot easier to do before than after, and it's good practice if nothing else.
Tim, I agree with everything Paul A said. I "only" had 6 grams left behind after Da Vinci, but that gives me a PSA of 0.8 which has been stable. If it wavers I shall be back in for biopsies and maybe HIFU or radiation or whatever.
My surgeon was very experienced but I had complications from previous surgery. So make sure (a) your surgeon is VERY experienced (100 plus jobs?)and (b)that he knows about any previous surgery you had in that area and (c) if he can cope with complications arising from any scar tissue caused by previous surgery if you had any.
I had the daVinci operation Jan 25 2008. Very pleased with the outcome. Very easy pain free recovery. No complications. No pads after 60 days.PSA was .01 at the last checkup in July.
I completely agree with Lee, my surgery in 2007 went smoothly and recovery was quick. Obviously we all have had different experiences.
I like the suggestion to get sweatpants in preparation, they were just right for me. Also, when they wheel you into the operating room you might want to take a good look at the DaVinci setup. They gave me a quick explanation of it all. It was cold in there. My biggest issue in the days after surgery was to get that first good bowel movement. I got worried for a day or two, all bloated and no bowels moving. So you might ask on that and be prepared to take or avoid pills that could impact your bowels.
Tim:
I had the Robotic Surgery on August the 5th 2008 and I am very pleased with the results. There are certain things that need to be in place first a CAT scan and Bone scans shoud be done to be sure the cancer is contained inside the prostate. Second a complete physical by the doctor who is to do the surgery. My doctor could feel the skin on the lower left outside the prostate was a little more firm than rest of it thus one of the signs that a cancer was starting there.Be sure the doctor and his group have done a number of these operations,( Mine had done several hundred). Do your home work to check out results of these operations. ( Most of the nurses at this hospital wanted this doctor to do the operation on their husbands, when they had it, I checked this with several of the older nurses).My doctor only after all other things were OK then did the operation and he checked out each of the lymph nodes as he removed them first to be sure the cancer had not spread there, then if it has not to then proceed with the operation.the operation if he is careful should take 3-5 hours.
Once he is done recovery should be fast and up walking that afternoon and home next day. I took no pain medicine after the operation. I regained control of my water in a couple of days after the catheter was out.As there was no muscle damage. I had an partial erection 6 days after the catheter was out and no nerve damage and the erections are improving as time goes on its been almost 2 months now.Yes I am taking 25 mg. of Viagra to aid them but in time hope not to need it. If sex was a 10 before the operation its a 9.5 now, of course its a dry come for me now.
Thanks hope this helps.
Al
I am scheduled for Robotic surgery Feb 2, 2009. I hope to be a success story like yours... smiles. Question: I have all kinds of info and I think I am getting into info overload. I expect to be in the hospital oernight, go home Feb 3rd. I am in good overall health, 62 years old. My job is more mental than physical. Although it can be stressful, I can work from home. From all that you know... how many days off work do you think should occur b4 beginning to work from home. I was planning on surgery the 2nd, hospital the 3rd, home the 4th, work the 5th. Am I too ambitious in my thinking based on your experience?
I was uncomfortable and tired for the first week and then I think I would have been fine to work from home. Sitting was the least comfortable position Sleeping the most comfortable.
Good Luck
Tim
Thank you for responding. I think i will take that 1st week off and begin working the 2nd week as you suggest. Even then I expect be a little uncomfortable and probably tire easily. But I will have the freedom to lay down and rest if needed working from home.
Tim,
I had robotic almost 18 months ago. Nothing was felt so far as DRE before surgery and my Psa at almost 60 was 3.9. Recovery was very good with minimal blood loss (70 mls) and continence was regained by about the 8 week mak. Despite figures suggesting reasonable expectations going in, nerve sparing was not possible as the tumour was extensive within the gland, thus ED recovery is complex. PSA has been undectable (less than 0.01) Now having said all that and despite my good outcome to date,I agree with PaulA, Chris and Ted. Knowing what I know now I believe I would opt for open surgery (probably with the same surgeon. There really is not a lot of difference in recovery time and I believe there is an advantage in feeling the prostate as the surgeon removes it. If your surgeon prefers one particular method over another I would ask him why and what are the advantages of his preference.
Best of luck with the op,
Bill
That will teach me to read the post more carefully.......I didn't notice that the opening post was dated last October. Mind you I still stand by what I said.
"Elbert West"
...........recovery from Da Vinci in most cases is pretty quick. In my case I was up and about the day after surgery, home in 48 hours, catheter out in six days. Lightly chipping golf balls after 3 weeks and back playing golf at 6 weeks. I kept my business closed for 8 weeks though as some of my work often involved heavy lifting. Good luck with the op,
Bill
Good luck with your op, Elbert. With a positive attitude like yours you will do well.
You must remember though, that you are going to have MAJOR surgery and a powerful anasthetic. Your job is mostly mental, sedentary work it seems from what you say, and so perhaps you will be able to work from home quite soon after.
However do not be surprised if you just do not feel like doing a darn stroke. You will have a catheter and bag for at least the first week. You may not sleep the whole night through and therefore doze lots during the day either in bed or the easy chair. You may feel very weak. You may feel psychologically fragile.
I suggest you schedule the first week off completely and leave even week 2 and possibly 3, open-ended. Advise your work colleagues that you will have to play it by ear. I also work from home, and it seems I was making phone calls and arranging things to do with my business during the first 2 weeks - only to discover later that I did not remember what I had done.
