Tips and advice for any bladder or bowel side effects of treatment
Undertake proactively pelvic floor exercises before (start 2 months before planned date of surgery, or as soon as you can) and after treatment to maintain strong bladder control to prevent leaks.
Tips and advice for any sexual side effects of treatment
If you can get access to psychosexual therapy this might be helpful. The reality is that after radical surgery the plumbing is not the same - and one does not "feel" the same. Our individual journey will dictate the time it takes to become sexually active - be open with your partner about your feelings/ concerns, be patient for your body to respond to the "new you".
Tips and advice for any physical side effects of treatment
the RARP procedure is major surgery - the body will take the time it needs to heal - give yourself the time needed to overcome this - its physical, emotional and has a mental toll...there is no quick fix. Adapt, improvise to overcome the situation vs fighting it.
How this treatment impacted my life the most
When I was diagnosed I was aware that I had 2 very significant tumours - one of which was on the cusp of breaking out of the prostate wall - I felt pressured to make a decision quickly, as didn't want to risk the cancer spreading (we found after the operation that there was cancer creep into the urethra going towards the bladder). My initial thought was to have HIFU treatment thinking my side effects would be less than RARP - I was 56 and wanted to avoid ED if possible. Further tests showed that I had cancerous cells everywhere in the prostate - there was no option then other than RARP to remove the prostate completely, which I think was the best decision for me at that time.
Why did I give this answer?
The other forms of treatment offered to me were ADT and Radiotherapy. The Radiotherapy would have been able to target the 2 tumours, but it would not have been able to see the microscopic cancer cells (that showed up in the PSMA-PET scan) - this would have left me at risk of the cancer remaining in my body - which I did not want.
