Falcon - diagnosed with prostate cancer. Has anyone had a radical prostatectomy?

Hello 

I have recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer  ,T3a  3+4 Gleason Score I have been offered a radical prostatectomy .

I would be grateful of any information you can provide of your personal experience of the operation ,how you are doing after  with side effects incontinence etc ,have you had any more treatment.

Any information on Radical radiotherapy and side effects it would be very much appreciated.

looking forward to any reply .

Thank you

  • Hello Falconery and a warm welcome to the forum though sorry you have to be here. I too have PCa and had aggressive radiotherapy RT not radical, the difference being i had a much larger dose of radiation though both treatments are usually over 20 sessions but lately a higher yield over 6 sessions has become an option, Side effects for me were fatigue, hot flushes, urinary incontinence, man boobs, emotional and loss of libido. Fatigue i exercised through it in 3 months, hot flushes took meds for a couple of weeks all clear, incontinence took 4 months to get to where you could get on with life without it being a problem, man boobs not so noticeable, emotional still emotional but less so and still get tearful at times but a lot less than in the beginning, Libido 6 weeks and back to normal. As your PCa is T3b there is a good chance you may have RT to clean up the area after your prostatectomy should you choose that option. I was lucky to not get erectile dysfunction most guys get it whether through surgery or RT, the main difference being you can get it back after RT but not after surgery. One thing to mention regarding getting emotional after treatment most guys, me included liked it. take care.

    Eddie

  • Hi Eddie

    Thanks so much mate for your speedy reply very much appreciated can I ask why you chose not to have a radical Prostatectomy ?

    Cheers

  • Hi Falconry, Two reasons for not having surgery, my cancer is metastatic and had already spread and my heart does not like anaesthetic so I would probably not have survived the operation.

    Eddie

  • Hi Eddie

    Thanks for that and sorry to hear it had spread.

    Best wishes