Surgery

[curlyoak]

A week ago I had my cancerous prostate robotically removed. The worst part is the catheter. That is out today and today was my best day since the surgery. I now have a bounce in my step and no catheter. My neighbor coincidentally had the same surgery same doctor a month ago. He is fully recovered. And I'm cancer free. No heavy lifting...

[drzaius]

I had the same a couple of years ago, but no robots involved. Be careful with your recovery. They told me no straining for 6 weeks and it took every bit of that. It may be better with the robotic surgery. What size are the scar(s)? Mine is from just below the navel to just about as far down as it can go . I could have gotten the robotic, but that meant delays...

Take care and heal up well.

[davewyo]

Best of luck on you recovery.

Just out of curiosity, how did you find out you had a problem? Routine blood test?

[curlyoak]

On 4/14/2025 at 7:01 PM, drzaius said:

What size are the scar(s)?

4- 1/4" holes and above my belly button 1". This is the Da Vinchie . Minimal invasive. exotically accurate. Dr Patel in Celebration Fl. Has done over 19000 procedures. He has global patients.

On 4/14/2025 at 8:07 PM, davewyo said:

how did you find out you had a problem?

routine blood tests.

 

[Coop]

Cancer free is a blessing. May your follow-up’s reveal the same! 

[Mark J]

+1

And glad to hear your recovery is going well.

[Von]

+1 Hope things keep going well.

[gee-dub]

Wonderful news and a big step in your own recovery.

[curlyoak]

On 4/15/2025 at 8:14 AM, Mark J said:

And glad to hear your recovery is going well.

 

On 4/15/2025 at 10:20 AM, Von said:

+1 Hope things keep going well.

 

On 4/15/2025 at 10:37 AM, gee-dub said:

Wonderful news and a big step in your own recovery

After bragging how I'm improving, today was an interruption of my positive trend. Enormous  amount of pain to pee and nausea. At this point I must run a lot of liquid and I was on the other side of the of where I needed to be. 

I went to the ER. I needed an IV drip of saline. I had to pee several times and that would cause enormous pain.

The good news is that each consecutive pee the pain was less. The last pee was the shortest time and least pain. 

Unfortunately I have had several surgeries. A common theme is to have a negative day over a long recovery.I have learned to expect that. The first time that happened depressed me thinking the surgery was a failure. Not so. I formed an idea that care about day to day but measure your overall health except once a week. I suggest that to anyone that gets a surgery to consider my method. 

 

[Tom King]

Hopefully it's temporary and won't last long, just part of the healing process.

[Jfitz]

"cancer free" - fantastic!!

 

Good luck on your recovery,

[legenddc]

It's amazing how much surgery has advanced. Glad to hear you're recovering mostly well. I think the week over week outlook is a great one to have!

[curlyoak]

On 4/16/2025 at 8:29 AM, Tom King said:

Hopefully it's temporary and won't last long, just part of the healing process.

 

On 4/16/2025 at 10:25 AM, Jfitz said:

Good luck on your recovery,

 

On 4/16/2025 at 10:28 AM, legenddc said:

It's amazing how much surgery has advanced.

It is not a straight line. Ups and downs but more ups than downs. The trend is in my favor.

I do need some good luck, Thank you.

The da Vinci robot is amazing. Many times better than the human hand. A long time ago when the Da Vinci was new a surgeon that needed help onboarding a heart bypass on a 4 month old. The hands of a human were too big. The da vinci did the job as if the baby size was no issue. This is the state  of the art...

[Jfitz]

I just hope this isn't the last thing I see as I'm put under anesthesia....

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, curlyoak said:

 

 

It is not a straight line. Ups and downs but more ups than downs. The trend is in my favor.

I do need some good luck, Thank you.

The da Vinci robot is amazing. Many times better than the human hand. A long time ago when the Da Vinci was new a surgeon that needed help onboarding a heart bypass on a 4 month old. The hands of a human were too big. The da vinci did the job as if the baby size was no issue. This is the state  of the art...

Kinda makes me want another prostate, so I can have it removed robotically 

[roughsawn]

Good Luck with your recovery, curly! Hang in there, and keep giving rookies like me wood butchering advice. I need all the help I can get, and appreciate all the help and advice!!!

[wtnhighlander]

10 hours ago, Jfitz said:

I just hope this isn't the last thing I see as I'm put under anesthesia....

Probably more like this:

 

[Von]

Sorry to hear about the ups and downs. Continued best thoughts.

[curlyoak]

I expected ups and downs. And fortunately there are a lot more ups than down.

The kind words and encouragement are meaningful and helpful. My friends and neighbors have adopted me as family. Thank you!!! 

 

[curlyoak]

I'm glad my primary is a DO not MD. The DO considers typical meds and herbal. He suggested I take Golden Seal capsules for the urinary pain. Worked like a charm!

[drzaius]

50 minutes ago, curlyoak said:

I'm glad my primary is a DO not MD. The DO considers typical meds and herbal. He suggested I take Golden Seal capsules for the urinary pain. Worked like a charm!

Don't hesitate to see your surgeon if urination becomes more difficult. I had scar tissue develop in my urethra and had to get it reamed out. It was about as bad as it sounds 

[curlyoak]

better today than yesterday! But I'm not half way. I'm on pace according to the doc.

 

[curlyoak]

Thed da vinci robot is an amazing tool. To make comparisons to our world think of a 1970 Sears and sawbuck beat up table saw to a top line modern saw is like night and day. The same person on either saw the work quality is much different. We all could provide much better work on the modern saw. The da vinci has mind boggling precision. Used on many types of surgery. If you need a surgery, find out if it can be dine robotically.

 

[drzaius]

You're gonna have everyone on this forum clamoring for a robotic prostatectomy 

[curlyoak]

On 4/18/2025 at 7:20 PM, drzaius said:

clamoring for a robotic prostatectomy

Any surgery that is applicable. My point is no human can do surgery better than the robot. When this tool was in clinical trials the first application was bypass heart surgery. A heart surgeon call the company telling that he  had a patient infant, 4 months old and needed a bypass. He said that he was sure if he made the attempt the child would die. The key here is modestly invasive.No slicing open the cavity. 

Recovery is much less time. The 4 month old had a successful surgery.