Surgical Castration

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Corey Hanson - 13 Oct 2004 16:41 GMT

a friend is undergoing surgical castration

would someone have any links (URL) to pages which describe the aftercare,
what will the days ahead require of the patient, the family, friends

what will pain levels be during recovery?
any useful tips are appreciated

Reply to this Message

Steve Kramer - 13 Oct 2004 17:15 GMT

My son required a single testical removed. He was pretty sore the first few
days, but mostly because he wouldn't stay sitting. He was back to work
light duty within a week to ten days (don't remember exactly). However, he
had to wait a few weeks before full duty as a fireman/paramedic.

I doubt that two testicals would be any different.

Signature

Prostate Cancer Survivor (so far), not a doctor
PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3bN0M0
PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32
Lupron (1 mo) 07/21/2003 @ 48
PSA .07 .05 .06
Lupron (3 mo) 8/03 (48), 12/03, 4/04 (49), 09/04 (50)
non illegitimi carborundum

> a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> what will pain levels be during recovery?
> any useful tips are appreciated

Reply to this Message

Allan Matthews - 13 Oct 2004 23:13 GMT

>a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>what will pain levels be during recovery?
>any useful tips are appreciated

I had bilateral oriectomy, (both testicles surgically removed) on
April 1 of this year..some April Fool's Day???)

Surgery was in early afternoon, I left the hospital a few hours later
and drove home...108 miles. I had no pain at all. Removed the
restarining bag (bandage) the following day. Had two or three drops
of bleeding each day for about three days. A week later was
completely healed. It will turn entirely BLACK so tell you friend to
be aware of this. Normal color returned in several days.. I have not
have the horrible side effects I had before with chemical
castration...Lupron for 25 months. Feel free to contact me by e-mail.

Allan

Reply to this Message

Stephen Jordan - 13 Oct 2004 23:42 GMT

> a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> what will pain levels be during recovery?
> any useful tips are appreciated

The procedure is called "orchiectomy."

If Corey Googles that word, he'll find a number of websites,
including a couple for transexuals.

One of the more helpful is
http://my.webmd.com/hw/prostate_cancer/hw77950.asp

Another method of castration, not involving surgery, is "chemical
castration." Drugs used are, for example, Zoladex and Lupron.
However, in the case of the drugs and where the condition treated
is prostate cancer, they may become ineffective as against cancer
cells over time.

Side effects are the same for either procedure. They include hot
flashes, eventual loss of bone mass if not medicated, possible
weight gain, possible breast growth (gynecomastia). But every man
is different; YMMV.

Regards,

Steve J
__
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or
small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of
honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the
apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Reply to this Message

Allan Matthews - 14 Oct 2004 00:53 GMT

>> a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>>
>The procedure is called "orchiectomy."

I believe my s[pelling of the word is correct.
Allan

>If Corey Googles that word, he'll find a number of websites,
>including a couple for transexuals.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
>--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Reply to this Message

Allan Matthews - 14 Oct 2004 00:55 GMT

>>> a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>I believe my s[pelling of the word is correct.
>Allan

Both spellings are correct.

>>If Corey Googles that word, he'll find a number of websites,
>>including a couple for transexuals.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>>apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
>>--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Reply to this Message

Stephen Jordan - 14 Oct 2004 01:52 GMT

Quoting me, in pertinent part:

>>>The procedure is called "orchiectomy."

He claimed:

>>I believe my s[pelling (sic) of the word is correct.

He had earlier spelled it, "oriectomy."

He later posted:

> Both spellings are correct.

First: well, folks, I spelled it the way WebMD does.

Second: the On-Line Medical Dictionary at
http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=+oriectomy&action=Search+OMD
has no such word as "oriectomy" listed.

Third: according to the On-Line Medical Dictionary, the prefix
"orchi" stems from the Greek "orchis", meaning "testis."

Fourth: a Google search of Allan's word shows it as used in the
castration of dogs. Why? Damfino. There are three pages of
articles on the subject of neutering dogs. It appears that every
article is a duplicate of all the others. Reading it leads me to
suspect, from the internal evidence, that the author made a
spelling error.

And I suspect that Allan did, too.

I have nothing further to say on the subject.

Regards,

Steve J
__
"There's nothing sadder than the brutal murder of a beautiful
theory by a gang of ugly facts."
--Unknown

Reply to this Message

Allan Matthews - 14 Oct 2004 11:43 GMT

Stephen,
I didn't mean to start a war over this.The spelling I had was from the
internet, as you said. I found it spelled both ways and am sorry for
correcting you the first time. Since I found it both ways, I assumed
that it was correct both ways.

My original intent was to give info to the person who is going to ahve
this done. I went through it April 1 of this year. I had no pain and
was healed within a week. The thoughts of allowing this done went
against everything in my body and I still wonder if I made the right
choice. My doctor had given me three months to choose betwen going
back on Lupron or having surgical castrastion. Since I had been on
Lupron for 25 months before and had become depressed and suicidal I
chose the surgery. My PSA had been very low after the Lupron and 41
radiation treatments, using a proton accelerator. In late 2003 it
started doubling every two months and by March it was over 7.0 so I
set the date up one month and made my choice. My PSA dropped to .43
and has remained there so far. I know that sometime in the future it
will start to climb again and I will have to make new choices. I am
now 70 years old and have been fighting this horrible thing since
March 28, 2000 when my PSA was 39.6, gleason 7, inoperable.
Have a good day, good luck to you and I am truly sorry that I goofed
on the spelling thing.
Allan

>Quoting me, in pertinent part:
>>>>
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>theory by a gang of ugly facts."
>--Unknown

Reply to this Message

c palmer - 14 Oct 2004 13:04 GMT

hi allan - i had to chuckle about the way you wrote about the "april
fools joke"

i remembered a cartoon and it was showing the ex-wife walking out of
divorce court holding the bag with the family jewels in one hand and
telling her girl friend, "yeah, i got those too!!"

but to a lot of guys, that's not an april fool's joke.

may you have a many, many .43 psa's.

~ curtis

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."

Reply to this Message

ButtercupsDad@dog.net - 14 Oct 2004 13:23 GMT

Allan:
Two comments (unsolicited advice, free for the asking, and worth
every penny you paid).
Sometimes you put your foot in the sh.t over some innocent comment
(I learned that the hard way here). The only solution is "thick
skin". Do not dwell on it. Let it go. Years from now some post
graduate student working on a Ph.D. in internet newsgroups will wonder
why anyone got hot over how to spel having one's balls cut off right.

On your comment about "and I still wonder if I made the right
choice", there is an unwritten rule here. Make the decision, a life
or death one in our case, take action, and never look back. There is
no point of course. It is done. But the main reason is that the
doubt is corrosive and just brings you down. No sense replacing one
disease with another one. Reject the doubt. Think positive. Look
ahead and enjoy every day.
Good luck and God bless you.
By the way, spelling orchiectomy is one thing, but how the heck do
you pronounce it?
Thank you.
David S.

>Stephen,
>I didn't mean to start a war over this.The spelling I had was from the
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>>theory by a gang of ugly facts."
>>--Unknown

Reply to this Message

Stephen Jordan - 14 Oct 2004 15:44 GMT

On October 14, Allan Matthews replied to me:

> I didn't mean to start a war over this.The spelling I had was from the
> internet, as you said. I found it spelled both ways and am sorry for
> correcting you the first time. Since I found it both ways, I assumed
> that it was correct both ways.

This was no war; it wasn't even a skirmish, so far as I'm concerned.

I'm sometimes a bit stiff and formal in my writing, and can
inadvertently give the impression of anger. But if I'm angrily
flaming, there will be no doubt what's happening.

In this case, I was just trying to be informative. Sorry if it
looked like more than that.

> My original intent was to give info to the person who is going to ahve
> this done.

(snip)

And a laudible purpose, too.

I would not want to be forced to make such a choice as Allan had
to make.

It is, as we all know, indeed horrible. I call the tumor "The
Devil Within."

Regards,

Steve J
__
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or
small, large or petty,
never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Never yield to force;
never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Reply to this Message

Temporary452 - 14 Oct 2004 01:13 GMT

Underwent orchiectomy on Friday before Christmas holidays about 2 years ago.
It did not interfere with any holiday activities - OK, so there were no
major physical activities planned. Went to work 1 day between Christmas and
New Years - back to work full time after New Year holiday with no one at
work being any the wiser. The scrotum was wrapped tightly with bandage so
no pooling of blood. No real pain to speak of - Tylenol and ibuprofen were
sufficient to keep everything going smoothly. Was told not to lift over 25
lbs for the next few weeks, but other than that nothing altered in
day-to-day activities.

I felt this was a far better (and in the long run cheaper) alternative to
pharmaceuticals to block production of testosterone.

I wish them the best of luck and other than the "psychological" aspects I
found no down side to the procedure. The loss of libido will happen just
the same if you take lupron or similar treatments.

Chin up.

Sam H.
Kansas

>a friend is undergoing surgical castration
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> what will pain levels be during recovery?
> any useful tips are appreciated

Reply to this Message