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Had robotic surgery on October 18, 2006 at Ohio State University with Dr V Patel. Surgery took 55 min and I was home morning after surgery, catheter removed 4 days after surgery. I am currently 8 days post surgery. Very little pain. Dr Patel uses On Q pump which virtually eliminates surgical pain after surgery. Was prescribed Percoset and never used the first one. Only Naprosyn.

Back home walking 3 miles a day with no problems. Biggest problem is incontinence. Am dripping with regularity and doing Kegels on a regular basis. Dripping is worse when I'm walking or exerting. Sitting around not a big problem. At night slightly wet and getting up once a night, Expected the incontinence problems and overall think I'm on schedule. Most pain experienced was bladder spasm in recovery room. Got something put in IV every 8 hrs while in hosp and had no problems.

Very happy with Patel and his team. He called me at home prior to surgery and called at home on Sunday after the surgery even though he was out of the country at the time. Was well cared for at James Center in Cols.

If anybody has any questions would be happy to answer them if I can.

Just to update you. It is 3 months since surgery. Had first post visit with urolgist today and PSA was 0.1 ng/ml which is about as good as it gets. Incontinence nearly gone. Still leak if I sneeze or cough. Life pretty much back to normal and am glad I made the choice I did. ED still a problem though am seeing signs of life. At my age being free of cancer and getting continent again far outweigh the ED problem.

Hope this helps somebody.

It's been 6 months since surgery and had second PSA check. Still at 0.1 ng/ml which is good news. Incontinence is just about nil. Occasionally drip with exertion or sneezing. Find if I feel like coughing or sneezing, squeezing and if possible crossing legs pretty much stops leakage. As far as ED the ERecaid really works. A bit inconvenient but really gets the job done. Still take Viagra. It helps but not enough. With the cost of Viagra and minimal results the Erecaid seems the best way for me to go. Any opinions on taking Viagra over the long term on routine basis would be helpful.

All in all am very happy with robotic surgery, Dr Patel and the results. It couldn't have gone much smoother.

Another question. As I read the varying reports on post surgery pain, I wonder why more doctors dont use the On-Q pump. In my case it really cut the pain to practically nothing. I rarely read of it being used in the various reports.

All in all I am a happy camper and would recommend robotic surgery to anybody in doubt.

It's been nearly 2 years since surgery and everything is going great. My PSA has been 0.01 all 4 times I've had it checked. Have it checked twice a year and am going to go to only once a year. Feel confident I've got the cancer licked.

Have regained complete continence and about 80% potency. Nothing a Viagra won't cure. Also I am now 74 years old. So if things hadn't worked out on the potency issue wouldn't have been surprised. All in all would recommend Robotic surgery to anybody. Also think the right doctor makes a difference. Dr Vipul Patel was great and very pleasant to deal with.

Would be happy to answer any questions that anybody has.

Regards, Don Sharp

How time flies. It will be 3yrs this month since my surgery. Happy to report everything is A OK.

PSA is 0.10 and hasn't varied since the surgery. Still have an occasional drip now and then; have come to realize the drip is probably here to stay and is not really a big deal as it happens mostly when I exert myself like lifting something heavy.

Able to have sex with aid of Viagra, once in a while even without it.

All in all for 75 going on 76 very well satisfied with robotic surgery. One bonus is I can pee like a race horse. If I had it to do over again would do the same thing.

Nothing has changed since last year. Will be five years in October 2011.

As far as I know surgery was complete success. Have no problems other than occasional leakage. Especially when I have a cough. No other physical problems.

Glad I had the procedure I did as I am cancer free.

Nothing has changed since last year. Would use same doctor and same procedure if I had to do it all over again. Hopefully after nearly 7 years I'm home free.

Nothing has changed. Getting along fine with no problems. I'm very fortunate to have gotten cancer early and have a great doctor.

Don's e-mail address is: tigertoby68 AT yahoo.com (replace "AT" with "@")

NOTE: Don has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.