I am a 53 year old physician. Diagnosed with Gleason 3+4=7 Prostate cancer after i had a rising PSA from 3.1 to 5.0, had a DRE by my urologist who had me do an MRI and then a biopsy. Due to my Gleason 7 and the fact that I am young I did a Robotic Assisted Prostectomy on 11/8/2021 which was 11 days ago. Doing very well post op...actually have pretty good urinary control. Waking up pretty dry and just a little leaking when I stand. I am sure that will improve as its only been 11 days post my surgery.
The surgery was not too bad. Went to the best in town..Dr. Timothy Wilson at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. I highly recommend. Hope to get full function of my little Andrew as I call him, as he was able to preserve 90 percent of my nerve on the left side and 100 percent on the right side. So I am hopeful. My pathology was good news as he got clear margins and the lymph nodes were all negative.
That's my story so far. Good to have a wife to help me through. Good luck to you all. Good to share stories.
Hello everyone. Sorry to take so long to update. 54 year old , Gleason 3+4-7, had robotic prostatectomy at St. John's Hospital with Dr. Tim Wilson on 11-8-2021. So i am one year and 3 months post op. My current PSA was less than 0.02 but i need to repeat it this month so i will do that. No other adjuvant therapy as my PSA has been low. Tumor contained to the capsule and he preserved 90 percent of my nerves.
I had excellent urinary control after 2 weeks post. Was back operating after 2 weeks. (I am a surgeon in Los Angeles). I had to use the pump and Cialis to help maintain an erection. Took 11-1/2 months post op to have a good enough erection to penetrate..so be prepared that it could take a while guys. I take 2 or 3 Cialis pills (5 mg each), prior to sex and now that I am over a year out I can have sex pretty well. Orgasm is good..sometimes pretty strong. After the prostate is removed you can still have an orgasm but there is no fluid to ejaculate so it's just dry. Been no big deal. Happy to be able to have sex after this surgery. It can take one full year or even more to be able to have a successful sex so be patient. I feel very lucky and fortunate to have a good surgeon...but also being relatively young I think was helpful.
You may email me for any questions or advice if you all need. Sorry to take so long to update but hopefully this will help you.
All my best,
Andrew Cohen, MD
Hello there. Sorry so long for an update. 56 yr old who is now post op Robotic Prostetectomy done in November of 2021. Gleason 7, 3+4. So I am 3.5 years post op. No other treatment.
My recent PSA is 0.03. It has been 0.02 or less in the past but when I repeated it last year at Dr. Tim Wilsons office my surgeon ...his value said less than 0.05 and he said that anything that low is negligible. So I am not worrried but will still confirm with my surgeon. Apparantly we need to check PSA every 6 months for the rest of my life even though it was within the capsule..and no lymph nodes were involved.
I have maintained the ability to have sex and a great erection with Cialis 10 mg a day. It's good for your heart health also so that is a good thing for us to be taking from what my Urology friends tell me. Full function of my bladder this entire time as well.
Just been working on maintaining health. I have taken off 37 pounds and am building muscle. Staying active with Pickelball, weights and playing lots of piano. Stay healthy and hope you all are well. You may email me anytime for questions. I am a surgeon in Los Angeles. So happy to help any of your with questions or guidance.
Andrew Cohen,MD
Andrew's e-mail address is: andrewcohenmd AT mac.com (replace "AT" with "@")
