New here

Hi EmmaW , sorry your OH and you have joined our club.  If you have any questions please ask.  The more info you can give TNM staging, Gleason, PSA etc the easier it is for people to respond.  Best wishes, David.

Thanks David, they have said his Gleason is 7, so they are removing his prostate and lymph nodes in one op. This should mean he will be clear after surgery,

just wondering how anyone who has had the op found recovery eyc

Hi Emma

Sorry you’ve found your way here but on the other hand it’s good that you have, given the circumstances.

I’m 57 and my prostate cancer was suspected in February & confirmed after biopsy in April with a Gleason score of 3+4. I had my op to remove the prostate, right hand nerve bundle & lymph nodes on July 5th.

I’ll start by saying that everyone is different and experiences are not all the same, so with this in mind, this was / is mine.

I’m a positive person so I refused to be cowed by this, and I think that this goes a long way to helping the cause.

Anyway, I had my op mid morning on the Friday & I was heading home the following day around 7pm, I was uncomfortable certainly and any pain was controlled by paracetamol.

I found the catheter uncomfortable & had this in for 11 days before it was removed. 3 days later I developed a bladder infection and was put on mercury tablets which cured it.

 Following the removal of the catheter I began wearing a heavy man pad as I had no idea about how bad the leakage would be or how hard to control the urge to urinate would be, within a fortnight I’d mastered control & any accidents were minimal so I moved to the thin pads which I still wear today for confidence purposes as there is still a small accident usually once or twice per week.

please advise your husband to start (if he hasn’t already) the pelvic floor exercises but stop whilst tthe catheter is in place, then restart straight away when it’s removed.

As for sex, well, for me, apparently I’m looking at 6 to 12 months before I’m able to “perform” again. It is what it is, I’d rather be here today feeling well and at work, than not, and if it takes 2 years to repair then so be it.

One thing I did & would advise you to if you’re able, is to book a holiday, before the op or for about 10 weeks afterwards (or both like i did) but don’t fly within 6 weeks of the op as that’s a no no.

Today I’ve just given some blood for my first post op PSA blood test and I’m in with the surgeon on Monday to talk about how I am post op, I’m not quite there as yet but I’m about ready to start playing football & cycling again, just need to stop these annoying once in a while leaks.

As for me sat here typing this out now, I feel as well as I pretty much always am nearly 11 weeks later.

Anyway, that’s me, but if you have any questions at all, feel free to give me a shout, on here I’m an open book, outside of this, not so much.

Best wishes to both you and your husband

John

Hello EmmaW 

Another warm welcome to the Macmillan online Prostate Community fro me. I see your husband is having surgery to remove his Prostate - was this his choice of treatments - I am only curious?

You asked about 

EmmaW said:

what things will be like after the op with recovery etc

Here's a link to a thread where the member answers your question

 Post Surgery 

I do hope this helps - if you have any further questions, feel free to ask them, however trivial they may be.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thanks JohnyBoy for the post - I put up a link to your thread at the same time!!

Best wishes - Brian.

Thanks for your response John, I will let hubby read this later when he get home from work. We are due to go away on 7/10 in UK if the op doesn’t happen first. Keep fighting 

Hi Emma

No problem & if your husband (or yourself) has any questions at all, no matter what issue it is that’s bothering him, please feel free to relay them to me, I’ll be happy to answer any or as many as he (or you) wishes, as / if I can.

#neversurrender

beat wishes

John

Hi it was his choice he was given the option of radiotherapy and hormone therapy or the op and he chose the op

Thanks EmmaW 

I am always wondering as I had no choice. (issues with a possible spread) I do come across Community members who haven't been offered a choice even though they could or would have chosen a different pathway.

I wish you both well with the surgery - keep in touch and let us know how it goes.

Best wishes - Brian.