Surgery soon - questions and advice

Wow small world mate I also had mine done privately at London Bridge , your not meant to mention names on here but surgeon DC also works out of the Royal Marsden 👍 and yes it was his CNS , she is also a doctor in her own right 

Yes and funny you mention pre assessment checks as I was told initially to go the day before for the checks but then I got a call from London Bridge saying they needed to do them at least 2 days before, I am nowhere near London so had to book a hotel for some extra nights and go early 

they do look after you there mate 👍

It’s natural to be worried mate I was dreading it but strangely was really calm on the day and was quite funny waking up and asking the nurse how long it would be before they did it as I didn’t even realise it had been done 

one thing to mention is if they do it the same the pre assessment checks are done at St Olaf’s house, next door to St Olaf’s house is London Bridge hospital BUT it’s not the London Bridge hospital where you will be having the surgery , it was only by chance that I asked the nurse at Pre assessment about parking and she told me , the main hospital is about 5/10 mins walk away , not sure why it’s called by the same name, very confusing  

Best of luck with the Op next month as you’re being in good hands at London Bridge. I stayed at the London Bridge Hotel the night before and got a quiet room which worked well as less stress on the morning because it’s an early check-in. I think HCA have a room rate to get a few quid off but it’s still London prices.

the urethral connection or anastomosis which is made during the operation should heal without issue if you are careful… the catheter is removed after 10 to 14 days.

I’d say go easy on it for the full three months and then after that you can do what you like. After three months I got back into the gym started doing weights etc ease myself back into it…..for the last couple of years been doing full on calisthenics without issue. 

continence post surgery is to a point down to surgeon skill. I suspect if you’re at London Bridge you’re having one of the top guys so hopefully that should be taken care of. I suspect that they’ll be using Neurosafe as well as part of the procedure so you’re lining up all the cards in your favour.

If they’re using retzius sparing approach, which tries not to disturb The nerves below the bladder, this tends to give a higher probability of quicker post surgery continence.

London Bridge has good facilities and is effectively in Guys cancer centre….good size rooms and ensuite with TV and all the channels. Plus I found the food very good which you’ll get mostly stuck into day two.

One of best things I did was to buy some Canterbury full length zip track trousers which makes catheter management super easy. I also bought pads of varying grades just to be all kitted up.

A bucket is useful to put your night catheter bag in which is about 2 L size. catheter management just takes them getting used to really and it’s easy to get stressed. we are all here Should you have any questions or need a sounding board which I found super useful.

take a extra long charging cable for your phone because the sockets although they’re next to the bed can be longer than a meter of wire. 

Other than that it was fairly easy although like others I was quite stressed but managed to keep it together. When I woke up I realised it was in many respects less trouble than having my tonsils out.

Edited by member 28 Oct 2025 at 17:38  | Reason: Not specified

Sounds good. I saw the Prof who is an absolutely legend with robotic and laparoscopic prostate cancer surgery. 

retzius sparing is how the prostate is approached to avoid the nerves under the bladder. Access area is known as the cave of retzius.

neuroSAFE pays dividends with nerve sparing as the prostate is checked by a pathologist on standby while you are open. They do quick frozen sections of the prostate to check the boarders are clear and/or take additional tissue if needed. So helps give near real-time visibility so nerve sparing is more optimal plus negative margin reassurance.