THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2017 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I received the results of a annual physical from June 1, 2009 and my PSA was 4.34 up from 2.02 the year before. My doctor recommended I see an Urologist and on July 10, 2009 a Biopsy was performed by the Urologist. The lab results confirmed my fears, I had cancer in my prostate. My Gleason Score was 3+3 giving me a 6. My Urologist recommended Surgery using the Da Vinci Robot. I asked to talk to a Radiologist and he set up an appointment the next week.

Then I started searching (desperately) for information on prostate cancer and the treatments. Before this I knew nothing about this and needed a very fast education. I did not find this site until weeks after surgery, would have loved to have found this first as there is lots of helpful stuff here. My Radiologist recommended I have surgery based on my age and condition. So after much soul searching (done very quickly) I decided on the surgery using the Da Vinci Robot.

I went in for surgery on August 3, 2009. Surgery lasted about four hours with no complications. I was released the next day around noon, about the only thing I had to get used to was the catheter being attached to me. Not the most fun thing but I got used to it.

Looking back I know I was lucky to have a urologist who was very good at using the Da Vinci Robot, wish there was better ways to find this stuff out than trial and error.

On August 10, 2009 I returned to have the catheter removed and that was a relief, would not be tied down to the bag. I had some incontinence (expected) and had to wear a pad. Otherwise things went very well.

A week later I met with my Urologist and found my post operative biopsy raised the Gleason Score to 7, making my choice of having surgery the correct choice.

November 19, 2009. I had my three month check-up and had blood work for my PSA, I was waiting for this more than I thought and was very happy with the results, less than 0.1 - undetectable.

I still have some incontinence issues, they call it stress incontinence where I only have some leakage if I cough or move the wrong was, only use one pad a day now so I guess that is not to bad.

ED issues are there, just does not happen. I am going to try the Pump and see how that works.

This has been more of a struggle emotionally than I thought it would be but getting the great lab results and both the Urologist and the factory rep for the pump gives me hope that the ED things will improve in a year or so.

I know I have put a lot of stuff all at one time but waited to wait until I had the Lab work back. Will keep posted as I find out more.

Just completed my six month check-up. My PSA was 0.00, great news and seems to confirm the success of my surgery.

I have very little incontinence issues now but still wear a pad most of the time, believe it is a security blanket.

The ED issues are still there however I am seeing some improvement. I am using the pump and Cialis and at least things look good inside the pump tube.

As I look at others experiences I know I was blessed to find a good surgeon who was skilled with the Da Vinci robot, I just have not had any other problems or side effects other than the usual incontinence and ED.

I will update with my next PSA in three months.

Well, it has been nine months since Surgery.

First my nine month PSA is 0.00. That is great news as always. I am having very little incontinence issues and that is also good news. For those two things I am doing very well.

I still have ED issues and that seems to be coming along very slow. I am seeing some progress and my urologist says all will be well in a year or so. Time will tell. I am seeing some improvements with erections, small but that is better than nothing. I am using the pump as a exercise and that seems to work well, at least things work inside the tube and that is good at least for my mind.

All in all I am doing very well following this surgery. I cannot express enough the importance of getting a good surgeon who has performed this surgery many times. Well, I will update at the one year mark.

Thanks, Ronnie

I have had my one year checkup, PSA is 0.00. That is great news as I am told when you make it to the one year mark all should be well.

About the only thing I still deal with is the ED issues, the Doctor still says it will come back, another year or so. It seems they always say one year, must be something taught in Med school. To be honest there is improvement, I am seeing improvements in erections to maybe one half of what is was, that is better than nothing I know and it is improvement. Time will tell on that, I know the most important thing is I am cancer free at this time and that is what I have to dwell on. As long as one is living he can make other things work.

Will update in three months after my next doctors' appointment.

Ronnie

Well, I went in for my 15 Month check-up, PSA is still undetectable, that is of course great news. I find I am not as concerned now about the results as I was in the begining, it is still there but not as bad waiting for the test results on my PSA.

I have very little incontinence now, only a little bit when I move certain ways and I can live with that. My ED issues are still improving, I can get an erection of about 75% now and my doctor believes it will continue getting better. That part has become a lot more important than I thought it would. I think most doctors down play this in how bad it will be maybe so we will have the surgery. [See the results of two polls on this site - "What Were You Told?" and "Did You Get What You Wanted?"] I know it is better than dying of cancer but I also know it has become more important than I thought. To anyone considering surgery, I think doing this is the right thing to do, you just need to understand what is going to happen.

That said, I have to say again, if you are going to have surgery, the Da Vinci is the way to go, just make sure your doctor has lots of experience doing this and he has lots of good results. There are to many surgeries that are not done well, so find a very good doctor who uses the Da Vinci and you will do much better.

Well, I have made this longer than I intended, I hope I have made this positive because my surgery surely has been that. Will update with my next test in four months.

Ronnie Miller.

This is my 19 month check-up:

PSA results are still 0.00 and that is always good news.

I still have some incontinence and believe this will be a way of life from now on.

My ED issues are getting better now and with 100 mg Viagra things are begining to work. not perfect, not great, but working.

Next PSA in four months, will update then.

Thanks Ronnie.

This is my 2.5 year update, time goes fast but the healing not so fast.

The good news is my PSA is still "0" and that is of course great news. Incontinence is mostly gone, when moving arms above my head sometimes a small abount leaks out. ED is still around but is much improved, I have nearly 70% - 80% and still "slowly" improving.

When I see results of other men I know my surgery was done well and finding the cancer before it had spread was very luckly for me. I am not going to say everything is great, but I am alive, a good thing, and have no sign the cancer will come back. Learning to live with the ED has been more difficult than I thought it would be.

I do not want to leave this on a bad note, It is good to be alive and well and the recovery process is still ongoing. Will update in six months.

Well it is three years now, and no PSA is still good news. I continue to have lingering issues with ED, things work just not as well as before, believe this will be what I live with now, the surgery and my age kind of dictate that. I also have occassional incontinence but not enough to wear a pad anymore, could be just my age doing some of this even though I don't like to admit this.

My checkups are every six months now and believe in one more year they will be yearly.

Believe I have pretty much covered everything about the overall process in past updates, the main thing I deal with now is the ED and that sometimes overrides my being cancer free. This is a slow process and requires a lot of honestly from me, guess it is still a work in progress.

Thank you for reading this and if someone needs help or advice dealing with this please let me know.

Ronnie Miller

This is my one year update, meant to do it at six months but put it off. First my PSA levels are undetectable, always good news. This puts me at 4 1/2 years past surgery, at five years my urologist says my visit will go one year, another good sign.

I think this is a good time to reflect on how my choices of having surgery has worked out for me, I believe I made the right choice in having the robotic surgery performed, having the option of surgery instead of radiation was huge, my doctors taking the conservative actions gave me that choice.

The unknown question here is in knowing how fast your cancer will grow after it has been detected. Anyone newly detected with prostate cancer will have to make that choice on having surgery or using the wait and see approach. I chose to have the surgery instead of waiting because I intended to live a lot longer, and the surgery gave the me the highest percentage of success.

I still think that was the right choice, but there is a cost, the ED stuff is still there and it is real, anyone looking into doing this has to take that into consideration. Things just will never be the same after having your prostate removed, but dying tends to stop those things also. For me the ED stuff was bigger than I thought it would be, but in the light of day, I know I made the right choice.

I will update at five years, thank you.

This is my five year update, also five years since surgery. My PSA is 0.01, nearly undetectable.

My next doctor appointment is in one year, have waited a long time for this. Unless things change they will stay at one year, just like normal doctor visits.

This is a time to look back and reflect on this past five years. Having no sign of cancer has to be good and I remind myself of that every so often. The ED stuff is still there and pretty sure it is not going to get better so it is a way of life for me and that is ok, I can work with the ED and do not think I could have worked with the long effects of prostate cancer killing me.

There just is no other long term issues from the surgery, and that has to be a good thing.

Well, I will update in one year, thanks.

Well it is six years post surgery and I just received my lab work and it is 0.04 a good number they tell me. I think now is a good time to talk and reflect on the long term effects of all this.

I do not have incontinence now, just some when I finish urinating and they tell me that is normal, nothing I cannot work with.

I still have ED issues with erections close to 80 or 90% and believe that is as good as it will get, the prostate cancer and age both attribute to this so that is what it is I guess.

Long term, I have no sign of cancer returning, no incontinence, and health is otherwise good. The hardest parts have and have been from the beginning dealing with the ED issues. On good days I accept that easily and on bad days not so well, then I look around at men who are fighting this with radiation treatments and loosing the battle and I know this was the right choice, still is is hard.

I do not mean this to sound negative, it is not, It is just part of the whole process of dealing with the prostate cancer. I am alive and that is a good thing.

Will update in one year.

Ronnie's e-mail address is: ronnie-miller AT charter.net (replace "AT" with "@")

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