6 months down

Today is my 6 month anniversary of my RP. Everything went well. My
recovery was very quick - I went flyfishing the third day after my
catheter was removed - and my PSA is now undectable. Other than a
nasty case of the shingles 5 monts post RP, this has been as
advertised. Two things still bother me.

1. 6 months of ED is more than I expected. The sex without an erection
has been fun for both of us, and I am sure that it is just a matter of
(more) time before Lil Woody returns. Everything about my case has
been an outlier - my age, the luck I had in selecting a great PCP that
caught this when I was 43, dry within days of catheter removal - but
not this. Frustrating.

2. Wrapped up in the above issue, I still feel emotionally injured by
this. I keep saying to myself "everything came out alright you are
cancer free", "be thankful that you don't have to deal with the more
aggressive disease that most of the guys on the user group are faced
with" and "get over it - don't be a victim". Unfortunately, I still
get angry that things just are not as they should be.

But as my wife said - "your life does suck - you have two great kids;
a loving, supportive and fun spouse; a great job that allows you
incredible flexibility; awesomely supportive family, friends, clients
and colleagues - think about it" My inability to count these
blessings 100% of the time makes me feel like an ingrate.

A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
month, maybe two. I think she meant the emotional part of it as well.

What are your experiences?

You are really doing great......
I understand the problem with ED.
I was frustrated and with a "softee" for almost 2 years.....
Like any injury, and nerve damage, it takes work.
Use the means at your disposal.........vacuum pump, injection, viagra.
This helps with restoring blood flow to the area...........
Walking, is great exersize also........
With activity, comes helaing and in time, my functions restored.........I
say it took me 2 years but well worth the trial and error period.....You are
doing great!
Keep working at it.......
Walking helps with the mental as well as the physical.......
jloomis RP 1999 @ 49
"El Woody" <El.Woody555@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:7f3d5119-5995-40aa-bcf1-c032dfb28661@a22g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> Today is my 6 month anniversary of my RP. Everything went well. My
> recovery was very quick - I went flyfishing the third day after my
> catheter was removed - and my PSA is now undectable. Other than a
> nasty case of the shingles 5 monts post RP, this has been as
> advertised. Two things still bother me.
>
> 1. 6 months of ED is more than I expected. The sex without an erection
> has been fun for both of us, and I am sure that it is just a matter of
> (more) time before Lil Woody returns. Everything about my case has
> been an outlier - my age, the luck I had in selecting a great PCP that
> caught this when I was 43, dry within days of catheter removal - but
> not this. Frustrating.
>
> 2. Wrapped up in the above issue, I still feel emotionally injured by
> this. I keep saying to myself "everything came out alright you are
> cancer free", "be thankful that you don't have to deal with the more
> aggressive disease that most of the guys on the user group are faced
> with" and "get over it - don't be a victim". Unfortunately, I still
> get angry that things just are not as they should be.
>
> But as my wife said - "your life does suck - you have two great kids;
> a loving, supportive and fun spouse; a great job that allows you
> incredible flexibility; awesomely supportive family, friends, clients
> and colleagues - think about it" My inability to count these
> blessings 100% of the time makes me feel like an ingrate.
>
> A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
> recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
> month, maybe two. I think she meant the emotional part of it as well.
>
> What are your experiences?

"El Woody" <El.Woody555@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:7f3d5119-5995-40aa-bcf1-c032dfb28661@a22g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...

> But as my wife said - "your life does suck - you have two great kids;
> a loving, supportive and fun spouse; a great job that allows you
> incredible flexibility; awesomely supportive family, friends, clients
> and colleagues - think about it" My inability to count these
> blessings 100% of the time makes me feel like an ingrate.
>
> A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
> recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
> month, maybe two. I think she meant the emotional part of it as well.
>
> What are your experiences?

During the first six months, I had three great kids; a supportive spouse; a
great job that allowed me incredible flexibility; fairly supportive
family... And I was in a funk!

After a year, my kids were marrying, buying houses, and planning families;
my wife was losing ground and slipping into a catotonic depression. I still
had a great job, fairly supportive family and an extremely supportive
friend. I joined this NG and was coming out of the funk.

After 1½ years, my wife still deep in depression, I had to undergo SRT.

After 2½ years, my wife coming out of her depression, but I found my cancer
was terminal as I went on ADT, thereafter, losing what little sex life I had
left.

Now it's 7¼ years. I have three married kids, five fantastic grandchildren
with two more on the way; a fairly balanced wife; a great job; supportive
family; and a great friend. I'm dying, sure. But, not for awhile. Life is
great!



--
PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA <.1 <.1 <.1 .27 .37 .75 PSAD 0.19 years
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 PSAD .056 years
Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 and every 4 months there after
PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 PSAD 1.4 years
Casodex added daily 07/06
PSA <0.04, <0.05, <0.04, <0.04, <0.1 2/12/08
Non Illegitimi Carborundum

El Woody wrote:

> 6 months of ED is more than I expected.
> A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
> recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
> month, maybe two.

I've heard more like a year or two.
However, that's moot for me, as I apparently had my last real erection
prior to surgery 3.5 years ago. But then I'm 20 years older than you,
had already encountered mild occasional ED, will be wearing pads or
diapers until my last breath, and would be dead now if my PC hadn't
exposed my far more deadly carcinoid colon cancer.

Ya win some, ya lose some.

I.P.

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 06:49:29 -0700 (PDT), El Woody
<El.Woody555@gmail.com> wrote:

>Today is my 6 month anniversary of my RP. Everything went well. My
>recovery was very quick - I went flyfishing the third day after my
>catheter was removed - and my PSA is now undectable. Other than a
>nasty case of the shingles 5 monts post RP, this has been as
>advertised. Two things still bother me.
>
>1. 6 months of ED is more than I expected. The sex without an erection
>has been fun for both of us, and I am sure that it is just a matter of
>(more) time before Lil Woody returns. Everything about my case has
>been an outlier - my age, the luck I had in selecting a great PCP that
>caught this when I was 43, dry within days of catheter removal - but
>not this. Frustrating.
>
>2. Wrapped up in the above issue, I still feel emotionally injured by
>this. I keep saying to myself "everything came out alright you are
>cancer free", "be thankful that you don't have to deal with the more
>aggressive disease that most of the guys on the user group are faced
>with" and "get over it - don't be a victim". Unfortunately, I still
>get angry that things just are not as they should be.
>
>But as my wife said - "your life does suck - you have two great kids;
>a loving, supportive and fun spouse; a great job that allows you
>incredible flexibility; awesomely supportive family, friends, clients
>and colleagues - think about it" My inability to count these
>blessings 100% of the time makes me feel like an ingrate.
>
>A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
>recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
>month, maybe two. I think she meant the emotional part of it as well.
>
>What are your experiences?

Woodrow, my circumstances are extremely similar to yours with the
exception of I am three years older than you and to an extent the ED.

Two months after my surgery I finally had the desire to go shootin',
but I couldn't garner a twitch so I went to the penis guru. He gave me
a Trimix shot and a raging hardon ensued that bordered on painful. I
had to get another shot to bring the horse back into the stable....

I went almost four months of sex on a moments notice with no issues,
then all of a sudden nothing. During that whole period, I never took
the Cialis given to me because a) I didn't need it and b] the SE of
delayed lower back pain was no fun. However when confronted with ED I
started the pill once every five days. This has gotten me back to
being able to maintain an erection when I need to.

I'm nine months post op and have an appointment lined up with the guru
because of a follow up to a low testosterone level and I intend on
asking him then about this. Good luck to regaining your function, as I
know exactly how you feel and I will add that my wife has and
continues to be extremely supportive of me regardless of what stage
I've been in and this is huge for the mental health IMO.

--
PSA @ 45 yrs. = 4.7 02/06/2007
Biopsy 03/16/2007 G7(3+4),T1c
RLRP 06/12/2007 G7(3+4),T2cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA 07/16/2007 = <0.1
PSA 09/12/2007 = <0.1
PSA 12/18/2007 = <0.1
PSA 03/12/2008 = <0.1

On Apr 3, 6:38*am, Paul wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 06:49:29 -0700 (PDT), El Woody
>
>
>
>
>> Two months after my surgery I finally had the desire to go shootin',
> but I couldn't garner a twitch so I went to the penis guru. He gave me
> a Trimix shot and a raging hardon ensued that bordered on painful. I
> had to get another shot to bring the horse back into the stable....
>
Who is this "Penis Guru" and where can I find him?

El Woody wrote:

> Who is this "Penis Guru" and where can I find him?
>

This belongs on a tshirt, along with your moniker. ;-)

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 09:34:13 -0700 (PDT), El Woody
<El.Woody555@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Apr 3, 6:38*am, Paul wrote:
>> On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 06:49:29 -0700 (PDT), El Woody
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Two months after my surgery I finally had the desire to go shootin',
>> but I couldn't garner a twitch so I went to the penis guru. He gave me
>> a Trimix shot and a raging hardon ensued that bordered on painful. I
>> had to get another shot to bring the horse back into the stable....
>>
>Who is this "Penis Guru" and where can I find him?

Are you in close proximity to NYC? He's one of my docs at Cornell's
Brady Urology group who specializes in fertility, ED etc. His name is
Dr. Paduch and he's very knowledgeable and unfortunately hard to see.
My April appointment was made in February....

--
PSA @ 45 yrs. = 4.7 02/06/2007
Biopsy 03/16/2007 G7(3+4),T1c
RLRP 06/12/2007 G7(3+4),T2cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA 07/16/2007 = <0.1
PSA 09/12/2007 = <0.1
PSA 12/18/2007 = <0.1
PSA 03/12/2008 = <0.1

Woody,

I'm all in favor of seeing a good urologist. ED is a VERY common
problem, and not just among cancer patients. Men with diabetes
and other health problems, and just men who are older, have the
problem. There's probably no urologist treating men in this
country who doesn't know a fair amount about it. So I don't
think you'll need to go to New York to get good treatment.

As I understand it, if nothing else, one of the injections is
likely to work for you, although I'd personally want to work hard
at some of the other treatments like pills and pumps before going
that route.

But I'd like to step back from the medical issues for a moment
and address the psychology of it all.

It's easy to get wrapped around the axle on this and think of
yourself as "less of a man" and "different from everyone else".
But I would argue that you're NOT less of a man. Not at all.
Not in any way. Not even a little bit. And you're certainly not
different from other men.

Everyone who suffers a loss of something important to him or her
thinks something like this. A man can have an accident and lose
a leg, a hand, an eye, sometimes even a finger. Or a man gets
arthritis and can walk, but can no longer run. Or a man gets a
bad back and can do most things, but can't lift heavy things any
more.

It is natural and extremely common to get terribly depressed by
these things and to think of yourself as diminished and
different.

But I think you would be amazed if you were able to get into
other people's heads and see all of the things that make them
feel like less of a man or having experienced terrible loss, or
different from everyone else. One guy lost a finger, another guy
lost a job, another guy never finished college like he planned
to, another guy didn't make his high school football team, or
gets beaten every time he plays chess.

You might look at some of those guys and think, What? Why is he
depressed? What's the big deal? But I can assure you that there
are men out there for whom it is a big deal and who would look at
you and say, What? What's the big deal? He has a wife who loves
him and wants sex anyway - which is more than we have.

It can take years to overcome depression and start to realize
that worrying about it is pointless and maybe even boring. There
are so many better things to think about.

Life is too short for that.

By all means, see a doctor. If you can get help, great. If you
can't, well, you're still a better and luckier man that a whole
lot of the men you pass on the street.

Alan

Incidentally, I work with a woman who is pretty short,
maybe five feet tall or a little less. She is also
brilliant and an outstanding worker.

One day she made a remark about how self-conscious she
was about being short. She said she's always the
shortest person in the room, and she's been shorter
than everyone forever.

I was taken aback. I always thought about this person
as a brilliant mind, as an exceptionally thoughtful
person, as a great worker. Never in my mind, or anyone
else's that I know, did I think of her as a "short
person".

We each have our insecurities, but they're not always
the ones that others have.

Alan

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 06:49:29 -0700 (PDT), El Woody
<El.Woody555@gmail.com> wrote:

>Today is my 6 month anniversary of my RP. Everything went well. My
>recovery was very quick - I went flyfishing the third day after my
>catheter was removed - and my PSA is now undectable. Other than a
>nasty case of the shingles 5 monts post RP, this has been as
>advertised. Two things still bother me.
>
>1. 6 months of ED is more than I expected. The sex without an erection
>has been fun for both of us, and I am sure that it is just a matter of
>(more) time before Lil Woody returns. Everything about my case has
>been an outlier - my age, the luck I had in selecting a great PCP that
>caught this when I was 43, dry within days of catheter removal - but
>not this. Frustrating.
>
>2. Wrapped up in the above issue, I still feel emotionally injured by
>this. I keep saying to myself "everything came out alright you are
>cancer free", "be thankful that you don't have to deal with the more
>aggressive disease that most of the guys on the user group are faced
>with" and "get over it - don't be a victim". Unfortunately, I still
>get angry that things just are not as they should be.
>
>But as my wife said - "your life does suck - you have two great kids;
>a loving, supportive and fun spouse; a great job that allows you
>incredible flexibility; awesomely supportive family, friends, clients
>and colleagues - think about it" My inability to count these
>blessings 100% of the time makes me feel like an ingrate.
>
>A friend who survived breast cancer warned me to expect a full year of
>recovery. I replied that the all the information I had pointed to a
>month, maybe two. I think she meant the emotional part of it as well.
>
>What are your experiences?

My RLRP was Dec 05. I felt like I was still "recovering" physically
for at least 3 or 4 months. I was back at work at around 4 weeks,
mainly because I had the catheter in for 3 weeks. I had to wear pads
for 3+ months. I'm still fighting ED issues. Even though there were
times during the first year that I thought I was pretty much "back" as
far as recovering, it turned out that it took till the end of the
first year before each succeeding month didn't seem like I was
actually better then the prior month. So for me, it took a year to
really recover fully physically. That's not to say I was a
semi-invalid or anything, I was able to work, go camping, do yard
work, etc during that time but as I said, I could tell over time that
things were still improving. The only thing that has never recovered
properly is sexual function. A real hardon, even with Trimix, just
doesn't happen like it used to. It will get hard with the tri mix but
it never achieves the same upward angle it used to. And I have lost
at least an inch both soft and hard.

I too feel emotionally injured by this. I know that, at least so far,
I'm very lucky that it was caught early and my PSAs remain
undetectable. When I hear of people with much worse problems I count
my blessings. Still, I'm not what I was and it's hard to accept, I
guess loss of sexual capability is just something that's hard for me
to deal with. I tore my bicep about 80% playing racquetball and the
Doc for that said it would heal but I'd always be about 15% weaker
then I otherwise would have been for that muscle. I can accept that
"defect" and it's not emotionally a problem but getting past the ED is
tough for me. In the same way the counselors advise that you have to
accept things, I think one must also realize that NOT being able to
fully get past something may also be something one may have to accept,
if that makes sense, as long as the non-acceptance is not disabling in
the overall scheme of things.