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User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 14:20

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I have had approaches from a number of men....

I suggest you decline their advances until you are fully recuperated, then if you fancy that kind of thing, go for it!😂😂😂😂😂😂

Edited by member 29 Mar 2018 at 14:21 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 14:32

Very funny!
As for recuperation, I have booked to go to Barbados for a month from 14 April.

Rafael

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 14:46

That kind of marlarkey might get you into trouble in Barbados, as they are quite conservative.

You might however sample Mount Gay or Cockspur if you are now tending towards that kind of lifestyle following your recent emasculation!

Edited by member 29 Mar 2018 at 14:55 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 14:51

Unacceptable turn of conversation when you consider our gay, bi and trans members? :-(

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 15:00

Matron, do you even know what Mount Gay and Cockspur are?

Barbados rums!

Lighten up! We who have cancer have to have as many laughs as possible for as long as possible.

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 15:35

It will be my 8th holiday in Barbados, staying in the Holetown area. Mount Gay rum is actually good rum, best enjoyed when poured over two ice cubes in a tumbler. My wife loves Skipper's Mistress cocktail served at The Drift, next to the Beach House.
We are looking forward to the break.

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti

Edited by member 29 Mar 2018 at 15:40 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 29 Mar 2018 at 17:39

Holetown, the posh part!

My favourite rum drink is a Cuba Libre. Mount Gay or Cockspur over ice with a few drops of Angostura and a quarter of lime, topped up with Coke.

Have a great trip!

User

Posted 30 Mar 2018 at 14:39

Rafael,

I would be interested to know how you felt post-operative. Were you on morphine? How long was your stay in hospital?

You say you felt the worst after-effects of the op two or three days later, what were they? When could you get out and about still attached to your catheter?

Did you wear flight socks and have to take antibiotics? Any self-injecting?

I am self-employed, and although most of my “work” is done on this here IPad, I do have to drive around and lift up to 12 kilos from time to time. I just need to plan how long I am likely to be out of action after my forthcoming Retzius-sparing laparoscopic robot assisted prostatectomy (that’s if I survive it...😂🤣😆)

When I worked on Cunard Line we used to visit Barbados every other Wednesday. We would go straight to Sandy Lane Hotel and the beach in Holetown. Cocktails, jet and water-skiing. Happy days! Sandy Lane has gone silly money since that Irish guy bought it, the last time I was there. Barbados is one of my favourite Caribbean islands, and I have been to most of them.

You say you are deaf. Funnily enough, when I went to Specsavers to get my hearing aid checked yesterday, they were giving out free earplugs! I thought they were supposed to improve your hearing!

They do tours at the Mount Gay distillery in Bridgetown, by the way.

User

Posted 30 Mar 2018 at 14:39

Rafael,

I would be interested to know how you felt post-operative. Were you on morphine? How long was your stay in hospital?

You say you felt the worst after-effects of the op two or three days later, what were they? When could you get out and about still attached to your catheter?

Did you wear flight socks and have to take antibiotics? Any self-injecting?

You say you are deaf. Funnily enough, when I went to Specsavers to get my hearing aid checked yesterday, they were giving out free earplugs! I thought they were supposed to improve your hearing!

They do tours at the Mount Gay distillery in Bridgetown, by the way.

User

Posted 30 Mar 2018 at 15:50

Hi. I was administered morphine in the recovery room to counter the pain to the incision above my belly button. It immediately worked after several seconds.
My hospital stay was just an overnight stay... The surgeon visited me at around 8.30am the day after the surgery to see how I was getting on. He then suggested I could go home in the afternoon and I gladly accepted it. After this, the nurses removed the drain tubes and bags and set up a leg-fitted urinal bag. The pharmacist came and gave me a box of 28 injections, some paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets to take home. My wife picked me up at 3pm and off I went home. I felt no pain at all during that time. I discarded my compression socks as soon as I got home as advised.
I had to inject myself daily every morning for 27 days. I injected on my thighs, each taking alternative turns. No pain at all.
I think it was the third day after surgery that I started to.feel some pains, especially around my stomach and pelvis floor area... The stomach, as i inderstand it, was pumped full of carbon doixide prior to the operation to create working space. The pains are a consequence of "as the morphine wears off the pains come out to play." This lasted for about 2 days and they were very bearable. It took about over a week before the swollen stomach eventually receded to my normal size. I weighed myself when I got home from hospital and I was alarmed to find my weight at 15 stones! This morning I got on the scales and I was glad to read it has settled at 13st 9lbs.
went out with my catheter attached to my right leg and it presented no problem. The catheter was removed after 14 days. I have read horror stories from other people who underwent RP, but my experience was nothing like theirs, it was pleasant experience considering the kind of major operation I underwent.
I am confident you will not regret your decision and in the long run you will be grateful to have undergone such an operation.
Yes, I am as deaf as a post and I am labelled as profoundly deaf which renders hearing aids useless to me. However I am a proficient lipreader. I was a construction site manager for 43 years, working mainly in London and around the Southeast of England althpugh I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Earplugs are absolutely useless to me - lol!
Barbados is a country that is close to our hearts and the Bajans are great people. They are very friendly and helpful - sometimes strange I may say. Whenever I mention we both (my wife and I) are deaf, most of them were eager to say that their cousins are deaf! I have yet to meet one who said they have a deaf family member - it is always "My cousin is deaf."
We first went to Barbados 14 years ago and made great friends with the locals. Since that time we stay for a month per holiday... and we never looked back.
Must halt here awhile as I have to go to my club for my daily pint. I hope I have reassured you by answering your questions. You will be well advised to take the Retzius-sparing robotic radical prostatectomy and I am confident you will not regret your decision.

Rafael.

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 16:29

Been to see the Professor today. Laboratory report on my prostate gland is ALL CLEAR and the cancer was confined to the prostate gland only and did not spread. Happy days ahead!
I mentioned how long it would be before I am able to get an erection.
I was prescribed 3 Viagra tablets a week and he said it would be about 2 months.
I am to see him in 3 months time, and take PSA test a week before.

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 17:04

Rafael

Great news on the lab report, looks like you are heading for a one hundred percent success. Enjoy that holiday and all the best for the future.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 17:30

Excellent news Rafael.

Well done. Long may it continue

We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 17:41

Hi Rafael
It's been very interesting following your treatment and what great results. Long may it continue.

All the best

Kevan

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 18:49

Good news Rafael!

If Viagra (sildenafil) works for you - great. But that was the first ED drug. I bought some over the counter from Wal-Mart in Acapulco for my slightly droopy dick about twenty years ago and it made me feel sick.

The 3rd generation drug is Cialis (tadalafil) which you can have as a daily dose of 5mg. I find it very efficacious and it lasts for 36 hours at least if you take the one-off 20mg dose.

User

Posted 03 Apr 2018 at 21:29

Hi. I have never taken pills such as Viagra in my life. He said I should take it to start boosting the system and u can always stop it when natural body functions take over. So there is no harm in it. Well, I am looking forward to the experience, and I can always change it to Cialis if Viagra is of no good.

The meeting today was very informative and interesting. The pathology report on my prostate gland showed slightly different results from that obtained via MRI and TRUS biopsy. My cancer turned out to be only stage 2, not stage 3 as originally stated. It is T1bN0M0, not T2bN0M0. This is quite interesting and leads me to believe that men who were initially diagnosed should not worry too much when they get higher measurements of cancer than what really is. My initial Gleason scale of 4+3=7 was slight wrong - the pathology report says it is 3+4=7.
Anyway, it is all over now for me (touch wood) and it is time for globetrotting. A lot of people keep telling me to enjoy life as much as one can because no one knows what is round the corner. This puzzled me because I always know that there is a pub around the corner. That is my attitude to life and I do not intend to change it. However, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer made me feel more humble and and recognise the fragility of life. With that in mind, I am donating towards the new cancer centre at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, towards CRUK and towards the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. I think they all deserve more than what I got, bearing in mind I was operated on by a truly brilliant surgeon. For him I have nothing but gratitude - and gratitude is the memory of the heart.

When is your operation due?

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Edited by member 03 Apr 2018 at 21:58 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 04 Apr 2018 at 05:23

Waiting for a date. Should be in the next couple of months, but his secretary is on holiday until next week. No rush.

User

Posted 04 Apr 2018 at 08:01

Within the next couple of months? That seems to me an unusually long wait. My operation took place within 3 weeks of seeing him.
Let's hope it is not going to take too long.

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

User

Posted 04 Apr 2018 at 11:58

Rafael, I am quite sanguine and in no hurry about the whole thing for several reasons.
I have no symptoms, despite what doctors tell me, and I have never felt so well.
Tommy the Tumour is medium grade aggressive, and we may well have been bosom buddies for up to seven years or more. If the Gleason score was one less, active surveillance would be an option.
The Prof said he’s going to do some procedures in Jamaica shortly, not sure for how long.
I have some social arrangements in May, not least the annual London Champagne Tasting, which is like a second Christmas Day for me.
If my GP hadn’t ticked the box for PSA on my annual blood test, it would be next November before my next one, or the November after that or.....unless I developed symptoms.
Finally, I am self-employed, so I need to plan my work around my convalescence, although I can do a lot on this iPad.

First week in June looks good!

User

Posted 04 Apr 2018 at 12:25

Your situation is now understood. Maybe taking a cool la-de-la approach is best. It certainly looks like it in your case.
My case was let's get it over and done with as quick as I can as I have holidays booked - Barbados from 14 April, Cyprus in June, Las Vegas in July, Benidorm in September and Barbados again in November. I have left August free for that appointment with the Professor!
Nevertheless I will keep an eye out for your progress.

Cheers
Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

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