Welcome to the club no one wants to join.

I'm sure a few of our LRP'ers will give you their experience.

Also have you read about the new robotic surgery? Lots of positive things
going on with that surgical procedure, too.
Bev    (wife of brachytherapy recipient)

Yes, well of course you would hate it.  We all do.  You came to the right
spot!

At 49 you are going to have but one choice, surgery.  Since I had my surgery
in 2000, robotic LRP or RLRP has come on strong.  At the time, my doc was
the best in Cincinnati and he didn't do LRP, so I did RPP.  However, if it
were today, I'd choose RLRP.

There are people here who did LRP, and I'm sure they will chime in with
better information.

ProTek,

Be sure to search the archives too.
http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg&q=

I had perfect results from standard RRP, but if it were all happening to me
today I would look harder at LRP as you are doing.

Suggest a second opinion on your biopsy slides, especially if your case is
Gleason 6.

jimhoney

I had a regular open RRP for my prostate cancer and more recently
laparascopic surgery to remove my gall bladder.   The two procedures are
quite different, and gall bladder surgery is a lot simpler in any case,
but I certainly recovered from it much more quickly than from the RRP.
The main difference of course was that I didn't have to spend any time
with a catheter.   With LRP, the time with a catheter is usually
reduced, but it is not eliminated.

If I were doing it over again, I would certainly consider LRP if I could
find a surgeon skilled in that procedure that I trusted as much as the
man who did my RRP.   Also, I would be somewhat concerned about the
additional time under anesthesia.   Those are the two main issues to
consider, I think, in addition to the more rapid recovery usual with LRP.

As Bev said, many of us have had the LRP, and a few (like myself) have had
the Robitic LRP.
I have beaten the Robitic LRP drum so much on this newsgroup, I'm hesitant
to do so again (for fear of boring other members); however, should you wish
to contact me directly via email (jhlms@sbcglobal.net), I'd be happy to
forward my experience......if you so desire, you may give me a phone # and
I'll contact you.
Jeff

Hi, guy.... and welcome to the club nobody wants to join.

I was diagnosed at age 51, and had been on HRT for one year... due to low
testosterone.  I figured, too, that it had contributed to the *flare up*...
and in a way I guess that was good luck, as it caused the cancer to show up
earlier than it may have otherwise.

I chose to have LRP... It went very well.  I went into the hospital early
one morning for surgery.... and went home the following morning.  I was
continent within 6 months after the catheter came out.  18 months post-op,
I'm still hoping for some sort of erectile function to return. Nerves are
slow to regenerate, and I was already having some problems before the
surgery.

If I had it to do over, I would do it exactly the same way.  My surgeon was
great.... I think he was very skilled.  I had never had any major surgery
before, and I liked the idea of the shorter hospital stay and the less
invasive surgery.  If you have not already visited www.krongrad-urology.com
, please do so just for informaitonal purposes.  It gives much information
about the procedure.

If you'd like to talk one on one, please email me at domiha@hotmail.com  .
If you'd like to talk on the phone, just send me your number and tell me a
good time to call.  I'll be happy to share more with you if you think it
might help.

Take some deep breaths.... yes, you have been diagnosed with PCa... but it's
not the end ... as all of us here can tell you.  There *is* life after PCa.
Yes, there are struggles sometimes... but it's great to be alive!

Take care!
MikeH
domiha@hotmail.com

One piece of advice that probably applies to all treatment
modalities is to get yourself in the best shape you can before
treatment.  If you're overweight, lose what you can.  If you
haven't exercised, start now.

If I were choosing surgery at this point, from what I've read,
and from the pictures I've seen, I think I'd choose LRP over
RRP.  However, it is still true that there are more surgeons
who have done RRP than LRP, and more experience with
the results.  So RRP may be a slightly more conservative
choice.

That's two cents, or maybe a cent and a half, from a person
who is totally unqualified to give advice.

  Alan