Four weeks after RARP. The good, the not so good and some questions.

Keep going with the pelvic floor exercises. They help with the small twitches and reactions I have (one sided nerve sparing for me btw). I’m almost 4 months post op and still nothing “usable”, but things have started happening a bit. 

But… definitely get a vacuum pump. Work like a charm!  If you are in the mood, there are ways around the spontaneous erection issue. My brother left his diagnosis a lot later than me and had way more extensive surgery. But even with no nerves left at all, his message to a couple of months ago about pumps etc was “Yep good pervy fun to be had” … so keep the positive feelings, things can definitely work!

Thank you. That's cheered me up a bit! did you get your pump from your surgeon? and if so, did they just give it to you or did you have to ask? I'm just surprised there was no mention at all post surgery.

Hi JJ399,

Be aware that you will get a pump from the NHS, but they won't offer it for a while as the general judgement is that early pumping can mess with your recovery.  I think it was about 9 weeks before I was offered mine.  It is first and foremost for penile physiotherapy device but I have very useable erections from mine.  Note: I had non-nerve sparing prostate removal and will never get a natural hard on again.  If you are the same then to get a useable erection you will need to master using a cock ring to preserve the erection once outside the pump.  The trick here is to mount the ring at the bottom of the tube and to let it snap on after 2 to 3 minutes of pumping.

I also use a strap on hollow dildo as you can only do 30 minutes in a ring otherwise you risk damage to your member.  I would recommend the hollow dildo for prolonged fun.  I have two such strap ons, one that is the size I used to be and another that is what I would call a 'fantasy size'!

There is plenty of fun to be had despite the side effects of this horrible cancer.  Go and enjoy - you so deserve it!

Wow, that's a lot to get my head round! My post op meeting will be 8 weeks after surgery, so I will hopefully get all the options and info presented to me then. Can I ask, were you told you'd had non nerve sparing straight after surgery? I've assumed that because I've not been told either way that I've probably had the same as you. But we'll see. And I'm glad to learn that you've risen to the challenge, if you'll pardon the pun! All the best.

I asked if it was non-nerve sparing on day after op but no one could answer.  I finally had it confirmed when I had my catheter removed after 24 days.

If I am honest it wasn't all plane sailing in my recovery and initially I couldn't get the ring on my pump.  The trick was to warm the ring up in hot water (not boiling) and then installing it on outside of tube.  It's a bit of a struggle to pull a rubber ring wide apart and pull it over the tube.  I hold the tube between my legs and accept the ring might fly off a couple of times before I get it to stay put.  Always add lube to the outside to help it slide off the end when you want it to do its job.

The pun is totally forgiven.  Although I have worked my way round my ED, I so would give anything to have been nerve sparing and I so hope and pray you find out that you are nerve sparing.  However, if you are the same as me then rest assured a year after my op, my sex life is wonderful!

I'm wondering if the urine flow might be a hem-o-lok clip (which they use to seal off blood vessels which went to the prostate) which has migrated into the bladder, which can happen. Also had a friend who couldn't pee sometimes, and that turned out to be some scarring inside the urethra which was flapping around. Obviously, mention it to them, and they might need to do a flexible cystoscopy to see what's going on.

Thanks for the info, I'll look into both. And yes, I'll definitely bring it up at the post op.

I had the first chat about the pump at my post op meeting. I was then offered a session at the hospital to discuss it in detail, but that was unfortunately cancelled. They then offered me a home visit and I had a rep come round telling me all the information. I then got the prescription ok’ed by my GP and it turned up a week later. So I actually got the pump about 3 1/2 months after surgery. I was told around 3 months is a good time to wait for all the required healing before “exercising” the old fellow again. 

Interesting. So I'm guessing that will be my sort of timescale. As I said before, not really feeling ready to "exercise it" at the moment, but was sort of disappointed in didn't appear to be interested itself! I now realise I was being optimistic, so will wait and see what happens at my post op. Cheers.

I gave up on it , absolutely useless in my case, it was more like a milking machine