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Richard's Story

Ethnicity
White British
Age
50-59
Work
Office
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Geography
Greater London
Relationship status
Married/In a Civil Partnership
Listen

Radical Prostatectomy (Surgery)

How this treatment impacted my life the most

Recovery from the radical prostatectomy took around 2weeks of rest at home. The catheter was in for about 10 days and was ok to manage, however when it was removed the ability to control pee leaking was an issue. I didn’t do much muscle control exercise pre op and found that I needed to that a lot post op. I found the worrying about needing a pee was far worse than I expected and would worry a lot about being away from a toilet. This was the case for a while and 6 years on from the operation the worry crops up from time to time! Other big impact was loss of erections, being honest this took the best bit of a year to fully recover, but they are back now. Supportive wife a big help here as this could easily become a worry

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose the same treatment?

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

For me this has removed the worry about cancer spreading as the prostrate has been removed. I do read about medical advances and wonder if alternatives will become available, but it’s done now and I have peace of mind

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