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Retzius sparing, Single port RARP surgery this morning.

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User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 15:18

Hey all,

Had Retzius sparing, single port RARP surgery with NeuroSAFE at London Bridge by the prof whocannotbenamed this morning.

Have created this post to document my progress/struggles for anyone considering the same and no doubt will have plenty more questions for all the incredibly helpful people on here as I go through recovery.

Arrived here at 7am.
Quick round of all the necessary checks and info and I was in for the epidural by 8.30am.
Thought that would be bad but really wasn't too bad at all. Similar to Thermal guided steroid injections I have had in my shoulder in the past.
Straight after that I was knocked out and into theatre, was awake in the recovery room by 11.30. Feeling pretty good,  just very drowsy.
Back to the room by 1pm and feeling much more 'with it'. Although very itchy all over which I'm told is a side effect from morphine.

Prof just come to see me.
Said surgery was completely straight forward, no complications at all. Took 89mins if anyone's counting.
Intra operative frozen section analysis indicated clear surgical margins and all nerve bundles surrounding the prostate were left intact, which hopefully  should give me good chances of positive outcomes with my plumbing returning back to normal long term.

Said surgery is so much easier on someone who is young and slim (I'll take that).

Catheter draining well so far and not much blood in urine.

Will remain laying in bed until the morning to allow the epidural to wear off. They want me up on my feet and moving about tomorrow.
Pain manageable thus far. Stomach hurts if I shift about in bed but bearable. Taking the paracetamol provided. 

Facilties and staff here at Guys is first class.
Not lost on me at all, how fortunate I am to have private healthcare in place.

Now onto recovery.
Certainly not getting ahead of myself, but so far so good.

That post surgery tea and ice cream hits different.

Thanks again to all the wonderful people on this forum for such helpful information and support. It makes this whole stressful process a lot more bearable. 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 16:46

😂 thanks 

Pints of lager. 

Managed to spill the first 1 pint in my lap whilst passionately telling a mate he would be wise to get a PSA test haha. So even without any continence issues I still managed to come home with damp pants. 

User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 15:18

Hey all,

Had Retzius sparing, single port RARP surgery with NeuroSAFE at London Bridge by the prof whocannotbenamed this morning.

Have created this post to document my progress/struggles for anyone considering the same and no doubt will have plenty more questions for all the incredibly helpful people on here as I go through recovery.

Arrived here at 7am.
Quick round of all the necessary checks and info and I was in for the epidural by 8.30am.
Thought that would be bad but really wasn't too bad at all. Similar to Thermal guided steroid injections I have had in my shoulder in the past.
Straight after that I was knocked out and into theatre, was awake in the recovery room by 11.30. Feeling pretty good,  just very drowsy.
Back to the room by 1pm and feeling much more 'with it'. Although very itchy all over which I'm told is a side effect from morphine.

Prof just come to see me.
Said surgery was completely straight forward, no complications at all. Took 89mins if anyone's counting.
Intra operative frozen section analysis indicated clear surgical margins and all nerve bundles surrounding the prostate were left intact, which hopefully  should give me good chances of positive outcomes with my plumbing returning back to normal long term.

Said surgery is so much easier on someone who is young and slim (I'll take that).

Catheter draining well so far and not much blood in urine.

Will remain laying in bed until the morning to allow the epidural to wear off. They want me up on my feet and moving about tomorrow.
Pain manageable thus far. Stomach hurts if I shift about in bed but bearable. Taking the paracetamol provided. 

Facilties and staff here at Guys is first class.
Not lost on me at all, how fortunate I am to have private healthcare in place.

Now onto recovery.
Certainly not getting ahead of myself, but so far so good.

That post surgery tea and ice cream hits different.

Thanks again to all the wonderful people on this forum for such helpful information and support. It makes this whole stressful process a lot more bearable. 

User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 15:31

Hello again, mate.

Thanks for the update. Your story will be very helpful to others. I hope that you have a smooth and speedy recovery. Good luck.👍

User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 22:07
So good to read this. My husband’s surgery wasn’t quite as straightforward as yours, but I can say that he did recover steadily over time.
User
Posted 09 Jan 2026 at 23:48

Pnut, I think different hospitals may have different protocols. At my hospital after surgery the leg bag stays attached to the catheter for 7 days, at night the night bag is attached to the leg bag at night and in the morning it is removed,drained at thrown away. If for any reason the leg bag is removed from the catheter it should be thrown away and a new one fitted.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 12 Jan 2026 at 15:08
Well done Pnut and GB - onwards and upwards now, best of luck for the future 🤞🍻
User
Posted 15 Jan 2026 at 16:09

That sounds a good start - and nice to see you are so positive.

Hope your recovery goes well!

Cheers

User
Posted 24 Jan 2026 at 08:10

Pnut, Great news on being dry so quickly. You may pass some small amounts of blood, scabs and debris for upto a couple of months. Significant blood in the urine is usually a sign of over doing things.

Never heard of guys being told off for being over hydrated. I always tell guys to make sure they are hydrated before getting to the TWOC, I think I may have stopped saying well hydrated, it never gave me a problem drinking water before the TWOC but I probably only drank about a litre. I had 13 twice over a three year period. 

Best wishes for the future recovery.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 10:11

Thanks for this thread 

I am considering surgery at London Bridge and wondering whether the follow up PSA tests continue under the NHS if you go private?

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 11:12

Via your GP under NHS works well. Private surgeon generally requests this via post op update letter to you GP.

From my experience, it’s important to be aware that there can be disconnects both within organisations and between the NHS and private healthcare. When you pay for private treatment—such as surgery—you’re typically paying for that specific service, not for wider coordination or follow-up, so it helps to manage the process actively yourself.

 

I was fortunate to have a consultant surgeon who was highly organised and communicated clearly across both private and NHS settings, and everyone involved was professional and receptive. That said, I’ve experienced gaps when treated exclusively under the NHS and also when treated entirely privately, so this isn’t unique to either system.

 

One common challenge is records and information sharing. Even within the NHS this can be inconsistent, and it becomes more fragile when NHS and private providers need to communicate. To deal with this, I kept a complete personal dossier—letters, reports, and copies of scans—and took it to every appointment so everyone had the same information in front of them.

 

I’ve never had resistance from my GP, who has always been supportive and pragmatic. The key is simply making sure all parties are on the same page. If a private consultant recommends NHS follow-up, I’d suggest booking a GP appointment yourself, taking supporting letters along, and ensuring the plan is clearly understood and actioned. Driving the process tends to make everything flow more smoothly and efficiently.

 

 

Edited by member 25 Jan 2026 at 15:53  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 12:22

From personal experience of having private treatment and NHS treatment at the same time (not surgery) your GP is not obliged to do your tests. Most GP probably will. 

Following a sarcastic letter from my private oncologist to my GP, my GP refused to give my HT injections and said he would not get involved with anything to do with my cancer treatment while I was seeing a private consultant.

We have seen on here a lack and follow up treatment when someone has had private surgery. Lack of ED and continence help were two examples. Get clarity on who will do what.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 17:16

Great news! 

I had same issue with tadalafil…I found breaking them in half to 2.5mg daily worked well.

 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 18:36

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
As far as I can tell that means the cancer was trying to escape but it was probably removed as part of the operation, or else there would have been positive margins and or a T4 staging. Does that make sense to others?

Not quite, mate. I was T3a. It means your cancer has breached the prostate capsule, gone through outer lining. It's often refered to as extraprostatic extension. Mine was only 2 mm.

The good news is it hasn't spread to the nearby seminal vesicles with would make it T3b. 

Margins are a different thing. They basically refer to areas where the prostate has been removed. The outer edge of the removed tissue is either positive, where cancer cells were present, or negative, where there were no signs of cancerous cells.

Edited by member 02 Feb 2026 at 18:43  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 03 Feb 2026 at 10:39

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Anyway, at the end of the day there isn’t anything I can do about it now, just fingers crossed it didn’t do anything serious and keep an eye on the PSA results 👍

There can be very little difference between T2 and T3 disease. Some who were deemed T2 pre-op are upgraded to T3a post-op and some who were deemed T3a pre-op are downgraded to T2 post op. Although I had EPE, my margins were negative. 

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User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 15:31

Hello again, mate.

Thanks for the update. Your story will be very helpful to others. I hope that you have a smooth and speedy recovery. Good luck.👍

User
Posted 07 Jan 2026 at 22:07
So good to read this. My husband’s surgery wasn’t quite as straightforward as yours, but I can say that he did recover steadily over time.
User
Posted 08 Jan 2026 at 15:53

Great progress! Pass on my regards to the prof :-)

I bet it was busy this morning with the hive of activity to get you moving. The laps around the floor help loads…remember to give the nurses some banter :-) The shoulder ache was painful from the gas used to inflate the abdominal cavity was painful but we laughed it off and it resolved by day 3. The food is epic….ask for the recommendations on dishes as they were almost Michelin star. start to think about eating fibre dried fruit and soups etc to get your guts active again cause after a general anaesthetic you can suffer with constipation for a few days but nothing to panic about. they should give you some lactulose solution to take home. I had some I personally bought and got told off by the nurse for self prescribing day two… and I painted the toilet shortly after taking that’s but ensure you take plenty of water with it cause it can dehydrate. just take it easy and don’t lift anything and get your steps in as recommended.

the peppermint tea helps loads to settle the stomach and guts. 

enjoy the TV and don’t expect much sleep. the Prof will be in probably before 7 am 

Liv was fantastic when Annie was doing the spinal. they have an excellent good cop bad cop double act. I decided cracking a joke while the needle was impaling. Me probably wasn’t the best time to do it 🤪

enjoy your recovery and shout if you have any questions 🍻

simon

Edited by member 08 Jan 2026 at 16:40  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 08 Jan 2026 at 18:01

Funny enough the prof asked how I come accross him and I mentioned he had been recommended by multiple people, especially on this forum.

You have pretty much described my 2 days to a tee.
Prof was back to see me around 7.30  this morning, whilst I was eating breakfast (was very happy I had been upgraded from 'softs' to 'light menu')  and told me I would be more active today.
Removed from the IV drip and leg compression machines.
Leg catheter fitted and physio had me doing laps of the ward and even up and down a few flights of stairs. Fascinating how quickly that leg bag fills.

I would say the trapped gas/shoulder pain is worse than the wound pain at the moment.
Will get on the peppermint tea this evening, extra strong mints are not quite cutting it.


I have been given laxative drinks from the nurses but no movement yet. I have lactulose and all the right foods ready at home so hopefully will get things moving when I get home tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your help and support.

User
Posted 08 Jan 2026 at 18:49

The lactulose made me explode so use it sparingly and maybe not just before you get discharged…..or you may discharge en route home :-)

Another patient from here had his surgery same time as me. We both called the shoulder pain ‘the bends’ as pure agony but laughed it off given all the other stuff that had gone on. Just keep taking the pain meds they dish out preventively as kinda keeps things managed. 

I guess you have the clip system for a catheter pipe on your thigh? If so get them to stick another one on the other thigh so you can move the pipe and bag between legs say every 24hrs….the tip of your penis will thank you for it as makes the irritation totally bearable I found.

the bag filling is insane….makes you really appreciate the bladders function that’s for sure. Don’t be spooked if the urine is pink of red with but in it. The inside of the bladder is spongy and the retaining balloon for the catheter irritates it and makes is bleed slightly….all normal stuff.

User
Posted 09 Jan 2026 at 17:45

I have a velcro strap on my thigh to guide the catheter tubing and then a bandage type pocket tubing just below my knee to hold the leg bag. Leg bag connects to the night bag. I have extra thigh straps and tubing so will definitely alternate between legs each day. 

Question - should I be cleaning/rinsing either of the bags? particularly with with the night bag??

I was advised to change both bags after 7 days. But no mention of cleaning. 

Had a pretty rough sleep at Guys last night, felt so bloated and full of gas, couldn't get comfortable. 

Managed to open my bowl this morning though which relieved a lot. 

Slept for 3 hours when I got home. Night bag pretty full when I woke up which is slightly concerning for night use. I will ease off the fluids in the evenings. 

 

 

Edited by member 09 Jan 2026 at 17:46  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 09 Jan 2026 at 18:05

Ah cool. I had statlok attacked to my thigh and spare i put on the opposite leg. So i could alternate the bag between legs to relieve the pipe rubbing where it enters the penis. 

the Velcro strap should provide a similar function. I found alternating every 24 hours did quite well.

cleaning isn’t that involved. You may have some sanitising wipes supplied and basically when you connect/disconnecting the night bag to the bottom of the Day bag..just wipe the ends of the connectors and that was it. did you get a bag with a printout from the professor as it should be all in there with what to do. I reread that about 20 times and learned something new each time. 

basically when attaching/detaching between night/day cycle just wipe the connectors with the sanitising wipes.

bags are thrown away after 7 days and replaced.

the night bag does fill up and I was probably 90% capacity on waking up. The day bag in line also adds a bit more storage during the night. if you’ve got a stand for it put the night bag/stand lot in a bucket just to keep it upright if it gets slightly pulled in your sleep.

after a week you’ll be the MacGyver of catheter bag managementlike the rest of us 🤪

Edited by member 10 Jan 2026 at 11:28  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 09 Jan 2026 at 18:41

I got a huge info pack on discharge and looks like it covers everything for the next few weeks. 

Like you say I will wipe connectors with alcohol wipes each time I connect/disconnect. 

My 4 year old has just delivered me some Terry's chocolate orange. I'm always happy to give alternative medicine a go 😂

 

 

User
Posted 09 Jan 2026 at 23:48

Pnut, I think different hospitals may have different protocols. At my hospital after surgery the leg bag stays attached to the catheter for 7 days, at night the night bag is attached to the leg bag at night and in the morning it is removed,drained at thrown away. If for any reason the leg bag is removed from the catheter it should be thrown away and a new one fitted.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 10 Jan 2026 at 11:24

Ah yes I was mistaken as it was 6 years ago 😵‍💫🤪 Chris nails it as the leg bag at night is simply connected to the night bag. It’s that connection that was wiped when connecting/disconnecting. 

then you have 2.5ltrs or there abouts of storage for the night.

remember to share the chocolate orange 🫢

if you need an additional day bag I think pharmacy normally stock them.

Edited by member 10 Jan 2026 at 11:31  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 10 Jan 2026 at 11:59

Thats correct. Night bag becomes an extension of the leg bag. I only half filled it overnight so no concerns there. 

I was given 3 of each bag and advised to change them after 7 days. I will continue to clean the connectors whenever I connect/disconnect. 

Feeling reasonably good today. 

Gas pain has pretty much gone thankfully. 

Bowels working fine. 

Pain from wound isn't too bad, easily managed with paracetamol. 

Catheter not bothering me too much (yet) 

Feel much more mobile, had first shower this morning which was heaven. 

Still taking it very easy, have been sitting/laying most of the morning. Might get out for a short walk this afternoon. 

 

 

 

User
Posted 10 Jan 2026 at 14:08

Sounds all positive. Onwards and upwards…walks are great. Just don’t be tempted to carry anything etc Light duties only. Stick to doctors orders for 12 weeks and you’ll be golden :-)

It’s amazing what comes up randomly when trying to avoid stuff. On my journey home a train door closed on me and at home the good lady managed to destroy the kitchen drawers 🤪🤯🤣

Edited by member 10 Jan 2026 at 17:42  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 11 Jan 2026 at 17:29

Been lurking on here for quite while now, but thought it was time to say hello

I posted here as I think I had the same Op, on the same day, same place and probably the same surgeon as Pnut. Sorry I didn’t see you, just lots of nurses 😀

Just to compare experiences, I was OK whilst in hospital, catheter wasn’t too bad, urine went yellow on day two, only pain was from a point about an inch or two from the incision (is that normal, was expecting the pain to be at the incision?) paracetamol is helping with that.

Discharged after 2 days, had taxi and train ride home. That seems to have upset something as ended up with a fair bit of blood in urine which caused a few blockages but luckily they have cleared so won’t need any visits to hospital. They seemed to happen overnight or if I lie still for too long. Constipation has been a challenge, the laxative they give you tastes disgusting (how they can call it lemon and lime I am not sure!), but I think it is working now, found that doing more walking gets things going faster.

Like others have said, you become a catheter expert pretty quickly and I definitely learned more here than I think I got from the rundown at the hospital (as good as the nurses were!) I guess everyone’s experiences are different.

Anyway, would like to thank all the others who have helped on here, wish everyone continued improvement!

Edited by member 11 Jan 2026 at 17:44  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 11 Jan 2026 at 17:36
All the best to both of you, Pnut and GB Airports, on your recoveries! Your descriptions of your experiences are very helpful and I am glad you are recovering well. (I wish i could advise, but my husband did not have a similar procedure)
User
Posted 11 Jan 2026 at 17:37

Great update GB. Pleased to hear you are well on the road to recovery 🍻

Edited by member 11 Jan 2026 at 17:38  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 11 Jan 2026 at 17:54

Sorry to hear you have had a few issues since discharge GB. Sounds like you are past them now thankfully. 

Hope the rest of your recovery goes well. 

 

User
Posted 12 Jan 2026 at 15:08
Well done Pnut and GB - onwards and upwards now, best of luck for the future 🤞🍻
User
Posted 15 Jan 2026 at 16:09

That sounds a good start - and nice to see you are so positive.

Hope your recovery goes well!

Cheers

User
Posted 24 Jan 2026 at 07:52

Latest update from me. 

Recovery going pretty much as well as I could hope really. 

Catheter was removed 2 days ago, strange feeling but not painful. Was told off by the nurse for being over hydrated (I had drunk maybe 2 litres of water that morning). 

All good though, 2 test wees and i was out of there in 2 hours. I have been completely dry since catheter removal, feeling very fortunate about that. The catheter hadn't really bothered me too much, but certainly feels a relief to be free of it. 

Frequency, urgency and pee stinging a bit has been a slight issue but nothing major and nurses have said that this is normal & should definitely calm down in the next few weeks. 

Other than that feeling great, no pain at all. Wound healing really well, looks more like it was done a month ago rather than 2 weeks. 

I have been prescribed 5mg daily tadalafil to take for next 2 months. I start that on Monday and advised to restart pelvic floor exercises from Monday also. 

I guess next key update will be first meeting with the prof in 10 days time. 

Onwards & upwards. 

Good luck to anyone else going through the same. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

User
Posted 24 Jan 2026 at 08:07

Great progress!

I did the same with hydration. I was peeing for England all the way home on the train 🤪

Enjoy the newfound freedom as I really appreciated normal waterworks after being bagged up 😵‍💫🤣

try not to do anything heavy and follow clinical guidelines for the full 12 weeks….it flies past and you’ll be good for pretty much anything after the downtime.

User
Posted 24 Jan 2026 at 08:10

Pnut, Great news on being dry so quickly. You may pass some small amounts of blood, scabs and debris for upto a couple of months. Significant blood in the urine is usually a sign of over doing things.

Never heard of guys being told off for being over hydrated. I always tell guys to make sure they are hydrated before getting to the TWOC, I think I may have stopped saying well hydrated, it never gave me a problem drinking water before the TWOC but I probably only drank about a litre. I had 13 twice over a three year period. 

Best wishes for the future recovery.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 24 Jan 2026 at 08:34

Good to see your progress Pnut, onwards and upwards as they say

Like you I had my TWOC a couple of days ago, was OK, more worried about stopping, than starting to pee. Glad to say they did it at a hospital closer to home than going back to London.

Having the catheter out was pretty painless, and as others say, a bit of an anti climax compared to what you psyche yourself up for.

It did kick off bleeding, that had gone away after the first two days home after the Op, which is proving to be disconcerting for the last few days, some days clear, other days blood and clots. Interesting to see Chris’ comment on over doing it, might be true for me 🙄 Tried weening myself off the paracetamol and laxatives, but think I might need to keep taking the laxatives a bit longer.

Incision doesn’t hurt at all, just sore where the prostate used to be. I tried doing the exercises that made it more uncomfortable, and may have contributed to the bleeding? So will pause those for a bit until things settle down.

Otherwise, all is OK, been walking and drinking water as suggested. Follow up with consultant is on 2nd Feb, so fingers crossed that will be good news, he was pretty positive after the op.

Hope those recovering or due for a similar op find this information useful, from reading other stories there are many variations of how it goes, I certainly found it helpful over the last couple of weeks to be able read what might or might not happen and what is “normal” or not. Thank you!

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 10:11

Thanks for this thread 

I am considering surgery at London Bridge and wondering whether the follow up PSA tests continue under the NHS if you go private?

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 11:12

Via your GP under NHS works well. Private surgeon generally requests this via post op update letter to you GP.

From my experience, it’s important to be aware that there can be disconnects both within organisations and between the NHS and private healthcare. When you pay for private treatment—such as surgery—you’re typically paying for that specific service, not for wider coordination or follow-up, so it helps to manage the process actively yourself.

 

I was fortunate to have a consultant surgeon who was highly organised and communicated clearly across both private and NHS settings, and everyone involved was professional and receptive. That said, I’ve experienced gaps when treated exclusively under the NHS and also when treated entirely privately, so this isn’t unique to either system.

 

One common challenge is records and information sharing. Even within the NHS this can be inconsistent, and it becomes more fragile when NHS and private providers need to communicate. To deal with this, I kept a complete personal dossier—letters, reports, and copies of scans—and took it to every appointment so everyone had the same information in front of them.

 

I’ve never had resistance from my GP, who has always been supportive and pragmatic. The key is simply making sure all parties are on the same page. If a private consultant recommends NHS follow-up, I’d suggest booking a GP appointment yourself, taking supporting letters along, and ensuring the plan is clearly understood and actioned. Driving the process tends to make everything flow more smoothly and efficiently.

 

 

Edited by member 25 Jan 2026 at 15:53  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 25 Jan 2026 at 12:22

From personal experience of having private treatment and NHS treatment at the same time (not surgery) your GP is not obliged to do your tests. Most GP probably will. 

Following a sarcastic letter from my private oncologist to my GP, my GP refused to give my HT injections and said he would not get involved with anything to do with my cancer treatment while I was seeing a private consultant.

We have seen on here a lack and follow up treatment when someone has had private surgery. Lack of ED and continence help were two examples. Get clarity on who will do what.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 16:27

4 week follow up meeting with the Prof today for histology report.

 

Score on the doors:

Gleason score 3 + 4 = 7;

Approximately 10% of the prostate gland is involved by tumour;

Margins - Clear;

Staging (TNM 8th ed.):- pT2.

 

So pretty significant upgrade from my initial biopsy, which was 3+3=6 and confined to 1 side.

Prof said its fairly common that final histology is upgraded from biopsy and reconfirms why I didn’t feel that AS was the right option for me personally.

 

Recovery wise all going really well.

Continence all good, no leaks since catheter coming out.

Have been drinking coffee last 4-5 days and also went to pub with some mates on Saturday had maybe 5-6 beers - neither caffeine or alcohol has caused any issues.

Potency, been taking 5mg tadalafil for past 8 days and it’s had the desired effect – full erections on demand the past week. However, the past 2-3 days been getting pretty bad headaches and heartburn from the medication which is a common side effect, if they continue I’ll prob half the dosage or stop taking it.

Prof said I can return to some exercise now, light jogging or swimming which I’m looking forward to. Said to wait another 8 weeks before easing back into weight training.

Guess next update will be my first PSA test in 8 weeks time.

So far feeling very fortunate that things seem to be going about as well as I could have hoped. Hoping that continues.

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 16:41

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
 went to pub with some mates on Saturday had maybe 5-6 beers - neither caffeine or alcohol has caused any issues.

Now that's what I call progress! Pints, halves, or bottles?

You're making a great recovery. Thanks for the update. 👍

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 16:46

😂 thanks 

Pints of lager. 

Managed to spill the first 1 pint in my lap whilst passionately telling a mate he would be wise to get a PSA test haha. So even without any continence issues I still managed to come home with damp pants. 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 17:16

Great news! 

I had same issue with tadalafil…I found breaking them in half to 2.5mg daily worked well.

 

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 17:46

Good news Pnut, good to know that surgery looks like the right decision.

Had my histology back today as well, mostly as expected Gleason 3+4 (as per preop Biopsy)

Negative Margins as expected during the op, but they upgraded the staging from T2 to T3a.

As far as I can tell that means the cancer was trying to escape but it was probably removed as part of the operation, or else there would have been positive margins and or a T4 staging. Does that make sense to others?

Anyway he seemed happy enough with the outcome, like Pnut, 6 weeks to PSA test, 8 weeks follow up.

Generally recovery has been good after a couple of panics on clots and blockages, continence has been pretty good only a couple of small leakages, happy with that.

Haven’t pushed it with any caffeine or beer yet though

Edited by member 02 Feb 2026 at 17:58  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 02 Feb 2026 at 18:36

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
As far as I can tell that means the cancer was trying to escape but it was probably removed as part of the operation, or else there would have been positive margins and or a T4 staging. Does that make sense to others?

Not quite, mate. I was T3a. It means your cancer has breached the prostate capsule, gone through outer lining. It's often refered to as extraprostatic extension. Mine was only 2 mm.

The good news is it hasn't spread to the nearby seminal vesicles with would make it T3b. 

Margins are a different thing. They basically refer to areas where the prostate has been removed. The outer edge of the removed tissue is either positive, where cancer cells were present, or negative, where there were no signs of cancerous cells.

Edited by member 02 Feb 2026 at 18:43  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 03 Feb 2026 at 08:39
Thanks for that Adrian,

Seems confusing that the cancer breached the capsule (staging) but there was nothing outside when they removed it (margin). Will have to ask at my follow up in 8 weeks, they didn’t give me any indication as to how much it breached.

Anyway, at the end of the day there isn’t anything I can do about it now, just fingers crossed it didn’t do anything serious and keep an eye on the PSA results 👍

User
Posted 03 Feb 2026 at 10:39

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Anyway, at the end of the day there isn’t anything I can do about it now, just fingers crossed it didn’t do anything serious and keep an eye on the PSA results 👍

There can be very little difference between T2 and T3 disease. Some who were deemed T2 pre-op are upgraded to T3a post-op and some who were deemed T3a pre-op are downgraded to T2 post op. Although I had EPE, my margins were negative. 

User
Posted 28 Apr 2026 at 17:59

Hi all, 

Been some time since I last posted, have been cracking on with life and recovery.

 

I’m now around 16 weeks post surgery. 

 

Recovery is going really well. 

First PSA test post surgery and it was undetectable, I wasn’t majorly concerned about the result but it was a reason to celebrate nonetheless.

 

Health wise been feeling absolutely fine and no difference to pre surgery. Fully back into the gym, swimming and running which has been great. 

 

Incontinence, have not had any issues at all. 

Maybe if I’ve hammered the beers urgency is increased slightly but really no big deal. 

 

Potency wise, not so amazing. 

As soon as catheter was out and I was taking 5mg Tadalafil daily I was getting full erections within a week, had sex few times but wasn’t able to climax, same from masturbation.  

 

Since then things have gone backwards a bit. 

Had about a 2-3 week period where I couldn’t get a prescription for Tadalafil and i really noticed a difference. Could barely get a 50-60% erection. 

 

Back taking 5mg daily the past 2 weeks and whilst it has helped, maybe now 70% erections it’s not where it was 6-8 weeks ago that for sure and still really struggle to get any climax. 

 

I’m not majorly concerned, I am well aware it’s still early days. Just slightly disappointing after an encouraging start. 

Have got some 50mg tabs of sildenafil for events, so we shall see if they help. 

 

No regrets at all from opting for the surgery and good luck to anyone considering the same path. 

 
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