Positive stories about robotic prostratectomy

I was 52 when I had RP. My diagnosis was pretty similar to your husband's except my legion was 14mm.  T2a  Gleason Score 7 3+4.

My experience of the hospital/op  was brilliant. Never had an op before and the staff walked you through everything they wanted you to do. I was treated as a day patient, so in hospital first thing, 5 hour op and the home for about 5.

Following the removal of the catheter I was dry at night from day 1 with just the occasional leak during the day. I was completely dry after a month. I was able to achieve orgasm fairly soon after the catheter was removed although it has taken 2 years to get my errections back to close where they were pre-op. 

I am still cancer free 2.5 years after my op and only being tested once a year for any changes.

Don't want to sugar coat it though...

First week post op was a shocker, I am a fit guy but I could only manage walking to the corner and back.  First couple of nights I was in some level of pain because air gets trapped in your body cavity.  However I did not take many pain killers which of course would have helped. Once the catheter was removed it was all downhill. I was back up long distance walking after 8 weeks.

Everyone is different, you don't mention it the op is nerve sparring. Mine was but as you have read above it's not a guarantee that everything will be back to normal immediately.

My advice to your husband is do pelvic floor exercises pre op and again once the catheter is removed. Might also be worth getting a pump to keep the penis healthy post op and post catheter. Don't over do it post op. Take advice from the medical professional on all the above. The PCa nurses on here are absolutely wonderful if you need to ask them anything.

Hi Fernie,

There's plenty of positive stories here, and I'm one of them. I was diagnosed last May at the age of 51. My psa was 12.7, T3a, 18mm tumor. Biopsy came back gleason 4+5 + cribriform. Things were looking pretty dismal at first. Let's just say last summer I was utterly miserable. Don't worry though, I'm getting to the positive part...:)

In August, I had RARP. Had catheter for 9 days and was 99% dry immediately following removal only needing a light pad for maybe 6 - 7 weeks. Been 100% dry since.

Being my cancer had broken through the capsule, my surgeon had to remove approximately 30% of my right nerve bundle. When he told me this (after the op), I was certain my sex life was over...but I ended up being totally wrong!! The day after my catheter was removed, I decided to do...shall we say a light "test" of my "equipment" and it still worked perfectly!! Despite the partial nerve removal I have not had any troubles getting erections or having orgasms. No pills or pumps necessary. 

Want more positive? When my histology report came back, they DOWNGRADED my gleason from 4+5 w/ cribriform to 4+3 with no mention of cribriform. 

Lastly, so far my psa is undetectable. 

Now, all that being said, as Jim234 put it, I don't want to sugar coat the experience of having surgery either. I did have some setbacks along the way. For starters, the morning of my 2nd day in the hospital (day I was supposed to go home), I thought I was ready to do some walking so I asked a nurse to unhook me from my ivs and let me do so. I was feeling good and walked a few laps around the hospital (even though I was told only to do ONE), and then suddenly out of nowhere I got very hot, dizzy and passed out cold. When I came to, I had a full 10 person emergency response team scrambling around me. Of course, they made me stay an extra day in the hospital and did a litany of tests on me but everything came back normal. Basically, I simply overdid it too soon. The thing with general anesthesia is some of it can stay in your system for a while and can re-release with physical activity causing dizziness or even fainting. Plus, you lose a significant amount of blood from the operation which can have the same effect as well. Moral of the story is your hubby will have to take it easy for at least a few weeks post surgery. On the positive side, I'm a runner and was able to start moderate jogging again just 6 weeks after surgery.

Another thing I'll mention just to be aware of. Probably for about the first 2 months I did regularly experience what's called climacteria, which is when during orgasm, urine is expelled. It's not something that's discussed much around here as it is a bit of an icky topic, but I'm happy to say that it 100% resolved itself on its own and orgasms are now completely dry which frankly, my wife and I prefer over the pre-surgery days.

I wish you and your husband the best of luck. I'm sure he will do fine and before you know it will be posting a positive story of his own. In preparation for surgery, he should be doing kegels which will help him regain full continance as soon as possible. If either of you have any other questions in the meantime, feel free to ask.

Mike