My Introduction

[jeb350]

Hi, my name is Jim Bell. I' 71 years old, 72 next month. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer seven years ago. My PSA was at 44 and my Gleason score was a 7. I had a radical prostectemy which left me impotent and incontinent. After about a year, my PSA started to rise and I had 39 radiation treatments. This made my incontinence worse and I was wearing between 12 and 16 pads a day. After another year my PSA began to rise again and I went on bicalutamide, a generic form of casodex. After about six months, my PSA was undetectable and has stayed that way for 3 years now. I was very depressed about my incontinence. It kept from traveling, cut down on how long I could ride my Harley, and constantly worried me that I might leak through my pad at any time. I even bought a motor home just so I could travel and take the bathroom with me. I do enjoy the motorhome though. Anyway, in January I traveled from my home in Albuquerque, NM to Phoenix Az and had surgery to implant an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS). This is a marvelous device. It works great and has given me a new lease on life. I don't know if any of you are troubled with incontinence the way I was but I want you to know how this device has improved my life.

Sincerely,

Jim Bell

[Ibdcaptn]

Jim, I had a salvage prostectemy on Oct 12, 2016 at UCSF. This was 7 years after my HDR and external radiation treatment for prostate cancer. After 7 years my PSA began rising from 0 to 2.1, gleason score of 9, stage III. Few surgeons will attempt a prostectemy after radiation, But Dr Peter Carroll at UCSF is one of the best. My PSA is now .008, but I too am suffering with severe incontinence which is VERY difficult to deal with and causing me to be quite depressed. Kegel exercises don't seem to work and the various clips are quite painful. I am anxiously awaiting my surgery for the artificial sphincter, which will be in May. The Dr tells me that it takes at least 6 weeks before it can be activated after the surgery. Did you experience that? It is such good news to hear how pleased you are with the device. I can't wait.

All the best to you.

Joel Butler

[Ibdcaptn in reply to Ibdcaptn]

I forgot to tell you I will be 75 in Oct...Otherwise is good health.

[jeb350 in reply to Ibdcaptn]

Yes Joel, I did have to wait six weeks for activation. This is to assure healing. It was aggravating to wait, but just knowing that an end to my incontenence was coming made it OK. We were in Phoenix in January for the wait and after the first 4 days following surgery I felt fine and we enjoyed the warm weather and several events that were taking place in Phoenix at that time. Just stay active during the six weeks and it will pass quickly.