by Robert | Nov 22, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
Yes, I had prostate cancer and yes, I chose surgery to treat it. Before we go any further, let me explain that I am not a medical doctor – far from it. In fact, I’m an accountant. So there is absolutely no assurance that anything I say that touches on medical matters is true, correct, precise or up to date. Even if a statement I make about medicine is accurate, it may not apply to... Read More
by Robert | Apr 22, 2016 | My Prostate Surgery
I had prostate removal surgery, and let me tell you a little about that first week at home after surgery (dropping everything). I was 62 years old when I had da Vinci robotic prostate surgery and in pretty good overall health. I played basketball in high school and tried to stay active in later life, kept my weight in check, and ate “right” whenever I could. To my way of thinking,... Read More
by Robert | Apr 22, 2016 | My Prostate Surgery
Will cancer cells spill into my body when the surgeon is in there cutting away? This was one of my main questions, when I was considering how to treat my prostate cancer. Which therapy should I go with? If I choose surgery, won’t that make things worse (in the long run) by cutting up the prostate gland in my body and spilling the cancer cells all over the place? Over time, won’t... Read More
by Robert | Apr 12, 2016 | My Prostate Surgery
Before I had my robotic prostate surgery, I had heard/seen some amazing stories about how fast certain guys were returning to work. It sounded almost too good to be true, or maybe they were just cherry picking the best case scenarios. But what is more typical – what is more reasonable? Well, I had my prostate removed by a urologist with the assistance of a da Vinci robotic system, and... Read More
by Robert | Apr 11, 2016 | My Prostate Surgery
Robotic prostate surgery recovery time Prostate cancer runs in my family, and I knew it was only a matter of time before my number came up. When I did get the diagnosis, I chose robotic surgery to treat MY case of prostate cancer, but there are many other excellent therapies available. You can only decide what to do for your case of prostate cancer by consulting your medical doctor. How... Read More
by Robert | Jun 18, 2015 | FAQs, My Prostate Surgery
Before I went in for da Vinci robotic prostate surgery, my doctor told me, “we let you rest on the day of surgery, but then get you up the next day.” Ok, that sounded reasonable to me. In the back of my mind, I recall reading how some doctors recommend you get vertical after surgery, walk a few steps – if you can. It helps to get the blood flowing. However, you have to follow... Read More
by Robert | Jun 12, 2015 | FAQs, My Prostate Surgery
Before I went in for da Vinci prostate surgery, I wondered if I needed to shave my groin area. I don’t remember anyone saying anything to me about this. I thought, “should I help them out and shave my groin? No, no, no. About a week before my surgery, I had to go in for preadmission testing – click here for my post on prostate surgery preadmission details. So I casually asked... Read More
by Robert | May 5, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
These are MY stories. All I talk about is what happened to me after prostate surgery. All cases of prostate cancer are different. You can only make a decision about your case by consulting with a licensed medical doctor. Story #1 First Experience After Prostate Surgery After my prostate surgery, I was at home taking it easy when the day arrived to have the catheter removed in the... Read More
by Robert | Apr 20, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
MY PROSTATE BIOPSY SAID NO CANCER – WRONG ! If you have read some of my other posts, you know that prostate cancer runs in my family, so I had been carefully monitoring my PSA over the years. Note: My PSA is still -0- as of September, 2021. As you can see from the chart above, my PSA was rising slowly at a more or less “regular” rate (tied to aging) until about 2010. Then it shot up... Read More
by Robert | Mar 20, 2015 | FAQs
The doctor who performed my prostatectomy was – like most urologists – originally trained to do the traditional or “open” type of prostate removal surgery. That’s where they make a 4″ to 6” incision in your groin and go in manually to remove your prostate. Then the da Vinci Surgical System received approval in the U.S. and some doctors got on the robotic bandwagon and... Read More
by Robert | Feb 23, 2015 | FAQs
Yes, I had to do a bowel cleanse before my prostate surgery, just as I had to do before a routine colonoscopy. You know the program – first drink this fluid and then the toilet becomes your new-best friend for the next 12 hours or so. But why? Why do you have to go through this not-very-pleasant experience before prostate surgery? I did some research and came up with two possible... Read More
by Robert | Feb 2, 2015 | General Information
It was 3:00 a.m. on the day after surgery, and I was awake in bed. So I decided to ask the night-shift nurse if I could get up and walk, and she said sure. She unhooked my compression socks from the machine at the foot of the bed, unplugged my IV stand from the wall (to go on battery), and we proceeded to take a walk down the hall – and went a slightly further distance than my first walk... Read More
by Robert | Jan 27, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
This is how my surgery day went. Yours may be similar or different. Every case of prostate cancer is unique. SURGERY DAY – My da Vinci robotic surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am, so I was told to arrive by 6:00am. Nurse’s first prep me in a small, curtained off area, insert IV’s in both arms, because they want to use one in the operating room and one for backup. They take more blood samples.... Read More
by Robert | Jan 19, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
Pretty soon it’s go time. Tomorrow is surgery day, and I’m supposed to be there first thing in the morning. My instructions: do not eat solid foods today, just clear liquids. The goal, I believe, is to clean out the colon. But why? I think it has something to do with the fact that the prostate gland sits right next to, or on top of, the colon and when your doc is removing the... Read More
by Robert | Jan 18, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
For the hospital that I was scheduled to have my da Vinci robotic surgery in, the guideline was to make an appointment one week or earlier, before my surgery date, for P.A.T. or Pre Admission Testing. The pre admission nurses pretty much ran the show for this meeting. I filled out forms, and they drew blood for blood typing – I guess in case I needed some extra blood during surgery.... Read More
by Robert | Jan 18, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
Ok, I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had scheduled da Vinci robotic surgery at the local hospital with my urologist. What am I thinking now? I’m thinking about how – in a few short weeks – I am going to be in an operating room, knocked out, and my doctor is going to be snipping away down there in my groin area. How much is he going to take out? Is he going to... Read More
by Robert | Jan 12, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
Yes, I had prostate cancer and, yes, I chose surgery to treat it. You may choose another form of therapy for your case, but there is one thing I found quite interesting about the surgical choice. After prostate surgery, you learn your WHOLE cancer story. How much prostate cancer did I actually have (volume)? How widespread was it (staging)? How aggressive was it (grading)? Did the cancer leak... Read More
by Robert | Jan 4, 2015 | My Prostate Surgery
Prostate cancer runs rampant in my family. I won’t bore you with the details, but it seems like most of the guys in my family are diagnosed with the disease when they hit their 60’s or 70’s. So as a younger guy, this definitely got my attention. What to do? For starters, I was way more vigilant in checking my PSA level than your average Joe might have been. As you can see from... Read More
by Robert | Dec 28, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
What is it like to get a prostate biopsy? Well, all I can do is tell you how my procedure went, but from reading about others’ experiences, it seems like mine was fairly typical. It all starts, of course, with a bad PSA score or a fast-rising PSA score or maybe a suspicious DRE (digital rectal exam). And your doctor says, “I think we should do a biopsy.” At first I thought that... Read More
by Robert | Dec 27, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
This is one of the questions I had before going in for prostate surgery. Ok, so my doctor is about to remove my prostate gland, which the biopsy has already said is cancerous. Is he going to slice it up in my body before he takes it out? If so, aren’t some of those cancer cells going to leak out into my body and stay behind even after the cancerous gland is removed? That can’t be a... Read More
by Robert | Dec 27, 2014 | Medical Studies, My Prostate Surgery
Most of us have heard of the word, trifecta, especially as used in the horse racing world, but it can also mean “winning” three things in a row – a triple win if you will. Well urologists also use the term for men who undergo a radical prostatectomy or complete removal of the prostate. What exactly is the trifecta or triple win after prostate surgery? It’s a very... Read More
by Robert | Dec 3, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
1) The prostate cancer is gone. My doctor told me I had prostate cancer, and I’m a relatively young-ish guy (62) and in pretty good health and expect to live at least 20 years or more. Watchful waiting or active surveillance – no way, not for me. I chose the “gold standard” for treating organ-confined prostate cancer. That is, surgical removal (prostatectomy) by an... Read More
by Robert | Nov 30, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
Ok, I’ve read a lot of stories online about men who have had robotic prostate surgeries, and I occasionally hear them complaining about their “bloating” problem. Ironically, an old friend of mine also told me about how he helped somebody out after prostate surgery. He picked him up at the hospital and drove him home, and the first thing he mentioned to me was how this guy had a... Read More
by Robert | Nov 23, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
Robotic prostate surgery recovery time What’s the recovery period like after robotic prostate surgery? When can I go back to work after prostate surgery? If you are considering the da Vinci robotic form of prostate surgery, I just went through it, and I can tell you how the recovery period went for me. First, I spent a couple of days in the hospital – could have been sent home after... Read More
by Robert | Jun 11, 2014 | My Prostate Surgery
1) Dull Pelvic Pain I occasionally had this dull ache somewhere deep down in the groin area. I don’t know why exactly, but my guess is that it had something to do with an enlarged and inflamed prostate gland. Throw in a little long-term prostatitis and there you have a number of reasons for this kind of pelvic ache. Once in a while, it would even flare up to a point where it felt like a... Read More
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