Damn!  You almost became a prostate cancer survivor!

Glad you're still with us and converting oxygen to carbon dioxide.

From: gripshift5@email.com (Tdub)

I have had great success with the AMS 800. In the four weeks that it has
been activated I only noticed dripping once - I assume it was from
sitting in a position that caused the cuff to deflate temporarily, or
something like that. Otherwise, I could go without a pad if I wanted to
- once I forgot to take a clean pad to the gym and had to walk back to
the office with just underwear, and had no wetness as a result. I had a
heart attack 3 weeks ago Monday. (56 yo.) Was lucky my office is 5
minutes from Rush Hospital, and no traffic. Jumped in a cab after
feeling slight pressure in chest along with right arm (mild) pain that I
hadn't felt B4. It wasn't until I had been in emergency room for ten
minutes that I KNEW it was a H.A., because of increased pain. They
quickly got me up to the "catheter lab" and inserted a stent. I felt
immediately much better, and feel great today. Only one artery was
blocked, the others clear. I had expected this because I have known for
15 years that I have a very low HDL (good cholesterol) (=30). My heart
stopped five times right after they got me hooked up in the cath lab, so
I was very lucky to have been able to get to the hospital so quickly,
otherwise I would have been a gonner (or "croaked" as I like to say with
a smile). I don't fear death at all, and I learned this even more after
this experience. I didn't know my heart stopped until the "Super" nurse
Fia Torres told me afterwards about it. I had no consciousness of my
heart stopping or them restarting it - it seemed like a "seamless"
procedure to me (no general anesthesia for these types of procedures).
So if you die of a heart attack you may feel some modest pain followed
by no consciousness and a perpetual "sleep" (RIP). The only difference
to me now is that I know I am unlikely to live to 100, I'll be lucky if
I can pull off another 20, and will be highly dependant on the
performance of Torcetrapib and other drugs currently under testing to
raise HDL and clean out the arteries. The HDL is obviously my only HA
risk, since I am fit and eat a pristine diet. After the procedure
Urology was called to come down and deactivate the sphincter so they
could uro-catheterize me. I was required to stay prone and hooked up to
the monitors, etc for another day, and my bladder by this time had close
to a liter in it. Well, uro finally arrived after an hour and my bladder
was pushing the fluid out (somewhat painfully) despite the sphincter
being activated. This is the other part of the AMS 800 I have noticed.
My bladder muscles are capable of pushing fluid out despite the 800's
cuff. But this only happens in unusual circumstances and I expect my
body will "re-learn" not to let this happen. E.g., it has happened in
"stressful" social situations (times when I more less "lose
consciousness" of my bladder function). So sorry to learn, David S, that
you are not having as much success. I vote for having the extra cuff put
in - it wouldn't be anywhere near as painful as the original procedure
since your body is already adjusted to the 800. Life is too much nicer
not having to worry about bladder control not to get the AMS 800, and
get it right. So what if a revision is needed?

========

boy Tdub - that's like jumping from one train track in order to avoid
the train (pca) and getting hit by another (H.A.)

and then there is another way of looking at it.  if nature would have
taken it's natural course of events and without modern medicine, you
would not have died of pca because the H.A. would have been the reason.

but when it's all said and done, i'm glad you're back.......  told the
grim reaper to go find someone else...... and to at least send you a two
week notice ahead of time before he tries to stop by for a visit next
time.

now, we have two congrats to say to you.  one for beating pca, and one
for beating the heart attack.   lead on......

~ 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."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc

Tdub:

   Very sorry to hear about your recent health problem, but very glad you
were able to get help quickly and avoid the grim reaper.  I am also glad
that your experience with the AMS is what it should be.  I must admit to
some disappointment with my experience, but in all honesty it is so much
better than what it was that I am still glad that I had the surgery.  But
from now on when I think about you I will be thinking heart, not
incontinence and PCa.

   Take care of yourself and please do keep us informed of your progress.
Others that consider the AMS 800 need to get a balanced view of the outcomes
and mine, I do not think, is typical.  Real, but not typical.  I do wonder
sometimes how I got so lucky, i.e., incontinence and impotence both, and
then still leaking after the implant.  Wonder if the Big Guy upstairs is
trying to tell me something?  :))

   Take care all and have a great weekend.  Sorry for the delay in my
response, but I still cannot, and probably never will, be able to get on the
ng from work, and this has been a very busy week at work and I did not turn
on the pc at home at all.  The dog got me up this morning early, that was a
great idea wife, to get a dog (she is still sleeping of course), so I have a
chance to get on and Road Runner decided to cooperate today and let me sign
on to newsgroups, something which it frequently does not bestow on me
despite my bills being paid on time.

   Thanks again to all for the kind remarks for my reappearance.  I am
still here, just muted somewhat due to technical problems and a job that is
certain to kill me long before PCa could ever do so.

David S.  (Buttercup's Dad - she is fine by the way for those interested).