Recovery

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the post. If you would like to chat with a trained volunteer about sexual reahabilitatio post prostate surgery just give us a call on the Cancer Nurseline on 1800200700 and we will put you in conttact with one of the men. Remember this is a confidentail line.  In the meantime you can have a luck at the information on our website here , https://www.cancer.ie/cancer-information/prostate-cancer/treatment/sex-erectile-dysfunction-prostate-cancer#sthash.uJ0lDFhX.dpbs

I wish you a speedy recovery .

Kind Regards

Cancer Nurse

Hi Glenn,
I hope you're doing well after your surgery. I had my prostatectomy in June 2017. I posted on this forum in November 2017 and, like you, was somewhat surprised about the lack of discussion about recovery. Ithink it may be because there seems to so many different experiences - some men seem to recover very quickly and and have short-lived problems with continence and erections, while others have these issues and others many months or years after. I think it is imortant to remember that recovery can take a lot of time and that people are different although it is very useful to discuss common experiences and what different doctors, nurses and physios suggest.
Just an update to my post of November 2017 - my continence issues have improved significantly, although not completely back to where I was. My urologist says there is a fairly simple surgical procedure available which has very good results. I'm not ready to go with that yet although I'll keep it in mind.
I have had no progress with erections and having tried tablets and the vacuum pump I'm now trying injections. I'll let you know how this goes.
I'd be very interested in hearing others' experience of injections. Already I've had some problems getting what was prescribed and they seem to be extremely expensive.
Again, I'm very grateful to be well and cancer free, but these issues are important too.
Good luck with the recovery Glenn -
Virgil

An update on my last post in January.
Now over two years since my prostatectomy my PSA is still zero thankfully. Continence issues have improved greatly but not back to where I was and, at this stage, I'm told that further improvement is unlikely. I'm not entirely convinced of this and I plan to return to my physio soon for her advice. I'm still not ready for the surgery my urologist was suggesting.
Some improvement with the erections but only in the last couple of months - Medications now have some effect although not producing a usable erection. I tried Caverject (injections) and again they worked up to a point, but not producing a usable erection either. I've now been prescribed Invicorp (another injection) and I'll report on this when I've tried it.
I'm told that further improvement is unlikely at this stage. Again, I'm not convinced of this as I know a guy who told me it was five years before his erections came back. Does anyone have any experience of improvement after two or more years? I'd be delighted to hear from you.
Thanks.
Virgil