Prostate removal aftermath: I had... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

20,783 members25,890 posts

Prostate removal aftermath

Alexander8 profile image
11 Replies

I had robotic prostate removal October 2020 due to cancer. I am still incontinent and have had no feeling for sexual arousement.

Seeing if this is nornmal

Written by
Alexander8 profile image
Alexander8
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
11 Replies

Hello Alexander8. I was beyond surgery so I don’t know how that is. But no libido and some incontinence is very normal .. Hang in there guy! 🤙🏽

Tall_Allen profile image
Tall_Allen

It's still early. With penile rehab and kegels, you may still regain both. Look at this:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

About 20% of post-prostatectomy men who were previously continent, suffer long-term incontinence. About 65% of men who were previously potent, have impotence 2 years after nerve-sparing prostatectomy. When you say that you "have had no feeling for sexual arousement," I'm not sure what you mean by that. Men who have ED from prostatectomy are still able to get aroused and have orgasms. If you' re not, the problem may be psychogenic.

BTW- This forum is for men with advanced PC, you may find more of your peers if you post on the other forum:

healthunlocked.com/prostate...

Shooter1 profile image
Shooter1

Was your surgery nerve sparring?? Mine wasn't and I am completely impotent. Continence came back for me starting at 6 weeks and complete by 6 mo. Now 4 1/2 years later, I leak with stress or when riding my bike. Talk to your urologist... He may be able to get your ED under control. Shots you do work for many people.. mine just wasn't able to get hard when it got big. I can live with that, but sure miss it....

BrentW profile image
BrentW

I am completely urinary incontinent, 11 years after the surgery. I am impotent too, but that is due to ongoing ADT.

Rothvan profile image
Rothvan

Am 18 months out from nerve sparing surgery. Incontinence under stress continues but much improved. Little feeling during sex but use a pump and has really helped.

dadzone43 profile image
dadzone43

Early. My uro always said "two years" after nerve sparing urgery for erectiln. In my case, it never happened. I got good bladder control in four months with being very compulsive in pelvic floor exercises.

Jack71 profile image
Jack71

I think I understand what you mean by "no feeling". I had a prostatectomy in 2014, and it ruined any arousal feeling in my penis. It now feels about the same as my thumb. No way to get aroused. It has not improved in the last 7 years since surgery. You could try the stronger version of Viberect, (X3). It can be of some help. (I just checked, and it seems to be out of stock. No idea when it might be available.) It is expensive, but it was worth it for me.

MichaelDD profile image
MichaelDD

Allen spoke of Kegels. I am convinced that if my wife, an operating room nurse didn't ask about them I'd never known to do them. I don't think urologists have the foggiest idea to bring this up. He said "yeah they could help". I was immediately doing them three times a day before I had my robotic surgery. She watched when she was home.Did them for a month and a half before. Honestly I went to the urologist's office with extra diapers when my catheter was pulled.. Thinking I may urinate all over myself on the way home. When the catheter was pulled, I looked at the nurse.. not a drip. Wore a diaper home. Sat for the next couple of hours thinking what's happening. When I loaded up with water and needed to go I went! Difficult but I controlled it. Three years now and I have never wet the bed or myself. I hold it when I fly in airplanes with my son flying. Car trips or holiday. I know how to control myself . You can see by my ramble here that to me kegels are an instrument that many aren't told about. Since my removal STILL no drips no errors.

keepinon profile image
keepinon

Don't give up hope yet. It took me about 6 months to start seeing improvement. I went to a physical therapist who specializes in incontinence. She hooked me up with an anal probe, sounds worse than it was. Used it for a couple months right up until I started SRT. It wasn't until 2 years after my surgery that I was 95% continent. I thought I would never be so dry!!!I do still leak a few drops 0-2 x a day, but nothing where I need to wear a pad. I did find out that alcohol makes things worse! Hang in there. ask your urologist for a PT referral and keep doing those kegals. Good luck

Graham49 profile image
Graham49

Semen retrieval is not relevant to you. However in the study below note that patients preferred the use of Ferticare devices to the Vibrerect device.

Published: 30 May 2017Comparison of three methods of penile vibratory stimulation for semen retrieval in men with spinal cord injury

W Chong, E Ibrahim, T C Aballa, C M Lynne & N L Brackett

Spinal Cord volume 55, pages 921–925 (2017)Cite this article

19k Accesses

7 Citations

4 Altmetric

Metrics details

Abstract

Study design:

Prospective, three-way crossover design.

Objective:

Penile vibratory stimulation (PVS) is recommended as the first line of treatment for semen retrieval in anejaculatory men with spinal cord injury (SCI). This study compared ejaculatory success rates and patient preference for three methods of PVS within the same group of men with SCI.

Setting:

Major medical university.

Methods:

Fifteen men with SCI each received three methods of PVS. Method 1 (M1): applying one FertiCare Personal device to the dorsum or frenulum of the glans penis; Method 2 (M2): ‘sandwiching’ the glans penis between two FertiCare devices; Method 3 (M3): sandwiching the glans penis between the two vibrating surfaces of the Viberect-X3 device. The order of M1, M2 and M3 was varied to control for sequencing effects. Following each PVS trial, subjects rated their experience on a questionnaire with scaled responses.

Results:

Ejaculation success rates were high for each method; however, ejaculation latency was significantly longer with M3 compared with M1 or M2. In survey questions about patient preference, there were no significant differences between M1 and M2. In contrast, M3 was rated lower than M1 and M2 in patient preference. Semen collection may be more difficult with the Viberect device.

Conclusions:

On the basis of these findings, we recommend attempting PVS with one FertiCare device. If that fails, use two FertiCare devices. Although the Viberect-X3 was preferred less by patients, it had similar efficacy as the Ferticare vibrator(s) and may be suitable for home use by some patients.

CarrotBoy profile image
CarrotBoy

Hi. I had robotic prostatectomy in Pittsburgh just before you, in August of 2020. By supplements I got my PSA down from 22 then leveled out at 7 and tried to avoid surgery. I didn't want surgery, but did it, now some days I still regret it, but glad I could avoid chemo. With you, was there any more cancer spread? How is your PSA count now? Did your surgeon do nerve sparing? I must recommend a great book I refer to called "Saving Your Sex Life" by John P Munhall. Nice reading and it covers everything! Yes, overall, the manhood feels unresponsive. With me, Viagara and Cialis do nothing, however, the book says it takes 18-24 months to recover before the nerves are grow and function again with such pills. Be patient! A vacuum device will stretch your organ, but does little else. However, I did not know it is possible to reach climax while being "soft", but it takes a lot of wiggling and effort. Well, it may provide some degree of "satisfuction"?

I used to read a lot of comments on Health Unlocked (here) and some men really recommend "Tri-Mix" (penile injections) and Bingo! - it has worked the 3 times I used it. It explains in Chapter 11 (see book) that while men dislike injections, it is a minor pinch which 80% of men learn to accept . So see a urologist, who can order Tri-Mix, which the pharmacy mails to you. My urologist orders it from Empower Pharmacy in Houston because it is a cheaper cost than others, at about $90.00 for 4-6? uses. Other products from elsewhere do come mixed and ready, but with Empower's product, you gotta first mix two vials, then refrigerate it. Comes with good instructions. It still seems like a bit of a hassle, but it works good for now. Still hoping Cialis might help me in time. You could learn a lot but looking up TriMix on Google (videos). I have been lucky to have a woman be patient with me through all this.

You may also like...

Elective prostate removal

recurrent prostate cancer and I was just thinking if I were a man, I would elect to have my...

Prostate Cancer - Removal or Radiation?

at the end of this path. I opted out of removal after having a bad experience with the biopsy....

Elective prostate removal

I were a man, I’d elect to have me prostate removed BEFORE finding cancer. So please everyone stop...

Prostate-as-\"PCa Factory\" - Reasons for Removal?

there any sense that a prostate-still-in-place is a kind of \\"prostate cancer cell factory...

Prostate Removal

with advanced Prostate Cancer with bone, lung, and lymph mets....why wasn't prostate removal even...