My experience with prostate surgery
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* To protect your identity do not use your full name.
* To protect your identity do not use your full name.
1 posts since
15 Oct 2018
Dear fellow chaps ! – i am a 58 yo in generally good health and was diagnosed in May 18 of prostate cancer. At this point i had NO symptoms except a persistent lower back ache for about 3 / 4 months. My PSA was 4.5 and subsequent biopsies showed 2 types of cancer still contained in the prostate. I cant actually remember my Gleeson score but it meant i was stage 2 . I was eligible for surgery and chose to have my prostate removed by way of DaVinci robotic surgery / day surgery. While this is day surgery …its no walk in the park. Quite sore afterwards and had a catheter fitted for 2 weeks. Post operative bruising ( can be impressive !), aches and pains have pretty much gone after about 2 weeks , and the catheter was removed – then the fun starts !! – this is the point i wish i had read about before, is how to manage ones temporary incontinence. – Pelvic floor exercises are an absolute must – engage the muscles and hold for 5 seconds and repeat 10 times. Do this 5 times a day . There are many incontinence solutions available out there and i chose the external catheter method … right up until my 6 week check up , where my consultant advised me to go with pads only, as ones sub conscious needs to get involved. He was of course absolutely right , and within 2 days , my incontinence had improved 50% . i have just had my check up (4 months post op) – PSA 0.01 (hooray) , no longer wearing pads at night and only 1 pad per day . Energy levels are almost back to normal , but for the first 3 months i needed to snooze every afternoon for about 1 hour. If you are involved in manual work ,i would allow about 3 months before trying to do a full days work . Very impressed with the NHS – i did have health insurance , however it was 3 weeks from the biopsy results to the operation itself, which was quicker than private !
-42 posts since
25 Jul 2016
Welcome to Cancer Chat, Phil_B.
I just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing your experience with our community. It sounds like you have been through quite a lot ever since being diagnosed and I’m so glad to hear that after your post-op check up and that things are looking up.
I’m sure your experience will serve as an inspiration to many here so do keep us posted if you can.
Wishing you the very best,
Renata, Cancer Chat Moderator
3 posts since
23 May 2019
Im 44 years old & got diagnosed with prostate cancer on November 2015.i was a T1 as the cancer was all in my prostate so I got robotic surgery to remove it, end of or so I thought.
I got told I was free of cancer & was over the moon then 6 weeks later I got called back.apparently my prostate was stuck to my bladder so they removed the prostate, part of my bladder, my thyroids plus the cancer spread into my bladder hence I had to go for 10 weeks of radical radiotherapy & it broke me.
How can something like this happen as I’m sure somebody has made a big surgical mistake as I’m still wearing pads 3 years on even though they said 6 months at best & I’m still having erectile dysfunction.I want answers & compensation as all this has ruined my life as I put all the weight on that I worked very hard to lose(10.5st). I lost my girlfriend, my job & now have severe mental health & anxiety issues plus I’ve tried to take my own life twice.
1747 posts since
12 Jan 2011
Hi Rocky1972. I’m very sorry to read of your experiences. I know it’s little consolation but it’s very rare for this situation to arise. Were you treated in the UK or elsewhere?
I think the problem is that back in 2015 most prostate imaging was normally done with MRI scans with no injected contrast medium. In my own case (2010) I was biopsied first, and then given an MRI when cancer was detected. I saw the scans myself, and the truly interesting part was that despite the known presence of cancer, the prostate itself was featureless on the scan. This was sufficient to tell that it hadn’t been broken apart by the cancer, but not much else.
Since 2015, MRI imaging has moved on and a “multi-parametric” imaging sequence has been developed, with injected gadolinium for the final scans. Gadolinium has an affinity for cancer and shows up cancerous areas on the scan. This scan is done before a biopsy, and the results are then used to target the biopsy needles in the most suspicious areas. I think it’s more likely that this form of imaging would have shown your situation more clearly before surgery, instead of turning what should have been a routine prostatectomy into a nasty surprise for the surgeons and a continuing nightmare for you.
Unfortunately, none of us can choose when we have cancer, and we can only have the scans and treatments that are available at the time. Your doctors were probably misled by the limitations of the imaging technology available to them. That doesn’t make them negligent. The surgeons who performed the operation found themselves in a no-win situation, and did what was necessary to save your life. That doesn’t make them negligent.
You have every right to feel downhearted and betrayed, but you should remember that you are a victim of unfortunate circumstances, and no one deliberately set out to make your life a misery.
So, where do you go from here? There are some exellent surgeons in the country who can perform reconstructive bladder surgery, there are also penile implants which can restore the erection function that you’ve lost. I suggest you ask your GP to refer you to a surgeon to discuss your options to get your life back together again.
3 posts since
23 May 2019
Thank you for your reply as it was very informative.the way mines went was psa tests which fluxuated then a biopsy which wasn’t injections as it was more them snipping loads of samples which was a very painful procedure.the next was the diagnosis which I was OK with as it was concentrated all in my prostate then the operation happened.in my head was just getting my prostate out & that was that but all the other stuff that happened happened during while I was under anesthesia.if my thyroids, part of my bladder which lead to all my radiotherapy happened while I was under.before the op I had an mri & a procedure which made sure my bones weren’t affected.if this all happened then why was I told the day after my op that I was OK & why did they wait 6 weeks to tell me everything wasn’t fine.my op was in Scotland.
3 posts since
23 May 2019
Me again.I went to see my urologist on Monday and I’m getting a bladder tighting op.on the subject of erections I’ve tried viagra, urethral sticks & now caverjet injections but a penile implant sounds likely as nothing is working
1747 posts since
12 Jan 2011
Hi Rocky1972.
I had the same issues with the Viagra (terrific headache!) , Cialis (no effect) and urethral sticks (almost nothing happened).I haven’t tried the injections – just couldn’t bear the idea and I’m not normally squeamish.
I’ve no idea why you were told what you were told. It wasn’t fair on you.
My experience with prostate surgery
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