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First MRI scan

User
Posted 02 Feb 2022 at 13:38

How's the incontinence ??.

User
Posted 04 Feb 2022 at 06:42

Good luck on the biopsy

as you can see there is no one silver bullet on treatment. However many doctors are unaware of other less invasive treatment options such as HIFU and IRE

Have a look at my post on IRE treatment I opted for 

best wishes 

User
Posted 04 Feb 2022 at 07:49

Thanks for the reply, are those treatments available at most Hospitals or only at specialist centres ?.

User
Posted 16 Feb 2022 at 17:43

Just had my biopsy, not a pleasant experience.Get my results in 2 weeks.

User
Posted 16 Feb 2022 at 17:46

I have been checking out IRE.I have contacted King Edwards hospital in London who offer this treatment.I have sent them my MRI results and they are waiting for my biopsy results before telling me if I am suitable.

User
Posted 16 Feb 2022 at 17:55

What was yr biopsy results? Be good to know what your discussions are with King Edward’s and your feeling on treatment options 

I go to Germany in two weeks for post IRE operation follow up and MRI

User
Posted 16 Feb 2022 at 19:29
I get the results two weeks today.IRE,if I am suitable, seems a good option, the results after 10 yrs seem comparable with any other type of treatment.
User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 09:12

That was my research findings on outcomes plus you gave optionality if there is a reoccurrence. Good to look and discuss options. Sadly IRE not really understood or practiced in U.K.

i would check German option —Vitus if that’s an option to you  

Good luck 

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 12:20

I did contact Vitus, but the initial price for treatment was cheaper in the UK but I will keep my options open.Thanks for your help.

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 13:46

Cost to one side Vitus have considerably more experience than U.K. options. They also incorporate a novel Electrochemotherapy in conjunction. which I don’t think they do in U.K. 

Also more complicated IRE are referred to Vitus from Kings which I think gives you some idea of experience and expertise 

just worth considering 

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 13:56

I will let you know how I go, obviously biopsy dependant.Being 64, the thought of being  incontinent scares me more than the cancer,

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 14:47

Hi Dr No

 

I had my prostate removed at Addenbrookes last December at age 63 and 8 weeks on am fully continent. Others on here are in similar positions. Now, we are all different and the outcomes for one person could be completely different for somebody else, but I understand that it is quite rare for somebody to permanently lose total bladder control after surgery. Additionally, I  personally know 2 people that underwent surgery, at Addenbrookes as it so happens, in 2010 and both regained full continence after a number of months. One is now 81 and the other is 79.  One  now has some leakage but that is probably due to age rather than surgery that happened  nearly 12 years ago.

 

Ivan

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 22:23
Once again, I will point out that it isn't generally referred to as IRE in the UK - if you search for NanoKnife, you may find more options. NanoKnife has been available in the UK privately for a few years but is now available on the NHS at UCLH and I understand a number of other cancer centres of excellence are also going to be rolling it out. If your cancer is small enough to be suitable for Nanoknife, you might feel you can afford to wait for the NHS?
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 22:30

Ok, thank you.I was not aware it was available through the nhs. I get my biopsy results in 2 weeks so will ask the question if it’s relevant.
Why does the incotinence issue vary so much from patient to patient.I wonder if it has anything to do with lifestyle.A friend of mine who suffered from PC was told to stop drinking tea and coffee as they were both diuretics.

 

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 22:37

No, incontinence after prostatectomy is not due to lifestyle - it is due to a) how much damage is done to the urinary sphincter during the op b) whether the nerve bundles were removed and c) the luck of the draw. At 12 months post-op, 90% of men are on one pad per day or less.

The two people who offer NanoKnife at King Edwards are the same people who do it on the NHS at UCLH

Edited by member 17 Feb 2022 at 22:38  | Reason: Not specified

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

User
Posted 17 Feb 2022 at 22:43

Great, thank you for the info, as I said in a previous comment, the incontinence really worries me.

User
Posted 18 Feb 2022 at 08:40

The results from Vitus using IRE ( Nanoknife) show no incidence of in continence   with over 1600 operations .

As I said compare all treatment methods and outcomes when making your decisions and do your own research too

good luck 

User
Posted 18 Feb 2022 at 08:42

Thanks Paul.

User
Posted 18 Feb 2022 at 21:50
Dr No, as LynEyre says (she is the most reliable information source on this forum) incontinence is a consequence of surgery that depends to a considerable extent on things neither you or our sugeon can predict in advance. The main one is the relation of the "internal" sphincter (there are two, but this is the one that gets damaged) to the prostate. Because the sphincter wraps around the ureter (tube taking urine from the bladder to the penis) immediately above and sometimes overlapping the prostate, it depends how much removal of the prostate also damages the sphincter or the nerves it depends on. No one, not even the best surgeon, knows that in advance.

But the good news is that probabilities are in your favour. A lot of men recover continence completely, and of the rest most are like me needing one pad a day. It goes on when I get dressed in the morning, and is disposed of when I go to bed (leakages aren't a problem horizontal in bed). Some days the pad is more full than others, but still OK. Very occasionally I realise the pad is pretty full at some point in the afternoon and change it - it is impossible to predict in advance although I do know that certain things (lots of coffee, activities like gardening that put pressure on the bladder) sometimes correlate. My biggest risk personally is alcohol, reasonable amounts are completely fine but parties where my glass is continually filled without me knowing how much I have had (or, after a while, worrying about it) do lead to sphincter issues.

User
Posted 18 Feb 2022 at 21:55

Thanks so much for the advice and info, just me trying to come to terms with the whole scenario.

 
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