Anyone know if Kegels will help guys with orgasms?   I've heard that
some women do them to enhance their experience.   OK, I'll admit that
years ago, I had a girlfriend who was really into the quality of her
orgasms.  She did Kegels as way to tone up and claimed they helped her.

Then she'd show off by pinching my pecker while it was in her pocket.

-kh

G'Day, Cliff.  Glad to see you back.  How did that first PSA come out?

Hi Mike.

Thanks for the reply, as well as to the others who replied on this
thread.

True, as you say, when I was first dx I posted here that based on what
I had heard and read to that point, I "*much* preferred" robotic
surgery. However, the more I read and the more doctors I spoke with, I
began to question this technological prejudice. More specifically, I
met with two local urologists (my present and former doctors, who work
in competing practices in the same town) to discuss RRP options. Both
said they regularly perform robotic and open procedures at Westchester
Medical Center and local hospitals upstate. Both cautioned against
leaning too firmly toward the robot based solely on anectdotal reports
and marketing information provided either by the manufacturer or by
surgeons who have a need to justify the investment. They each told me
separately pretty much the same thing: that robotic surgery is a
promising laproscopic technique, and in the hands of an excellent
surgeon may produce yield results; but that robotic surgery is simply
laparoscopic surgery using a new tool. I then met with a radiation
oncologist who, of course, recommended radiation. After that, I then
with a medical oncologist whom I knew from a prior unrelated consult a
few years ago, looking for an unbiased opinion from a general cancer
doctor whose practice involves almost no surgery or radiation. After a
lengthy and detailed almost classroom-style lecture on the subject of
prostate cancer, citing probabilities and percentages, she ended with
the conclusion that the odds of me living a long and cancer-free life
would be slightly but significantly better if I were to have an RRP as
opposed to some form of radiation tx. Asked about robotic or open, her
reply was that there isn't enough evidence-based research to allow her
to make a recommendation on which tool is preferable, and I should
address that question to the surgeon.

My wife and I then went down to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
for a pre-surgical consult with Dr. James Eastham. I selected Dr.
Eastham based on a recommendation that he was an eminently skilled
urological surgeon specializing in prostate cancer, who was equally
skilled and comfortable using a robot as he was with a scalpel. We came
away from the meeting feeling that this recommendation was born out by
our impression of his presentation. When, at the end of the
consultation, I posed the question of which tool he recommended --
robot or scalpel -- consistent with the others, he replied that he
could go either way, and there was no clear and convincing evidence
that he would recommend as strong and evidence-based supporting robotic
techniques, though a number of surgeons and patients have reported
excellent results with the robot. To my surprise, he then commented
that in his practice, the patients who tend to recover most quickly
from side-effects are those who had conventional open anatomic surgery.
I expressed dismay at this, remarking that it seemed contrary to the
"media hype" that I had read and seen. He smiled slightly agreed that
he thought I had chosen an appropriate phrase. He closed with the
statement that if I wanted to try the robot, he was confident of his
skill with the robot, and the important thing he was recommending was
that I have RRP surgery. As others before him had said, by this point I
had become convinced that what really mattered more than the selection
of the tool was the skill of the craftsman using the said tool. Having
chosen Dr. Eastham, I thought it was best to accept his
recommendations, allowing him to use the tool of his choice. He chose a
scalpel.

I remain as confident in Dr. Eastham's expertise as I was the first day
we met with him. I believe he performed well in the OR, though I won't
know for sure about side-effects for a while. I only had surgery on
11/17/2006 and am just starting to recover. The bottom line, I think,
is that I put my trust in God and in a surgeon that I had chose based
on his reputation for the surgical care he provides, not in a
particular surgical instrument or device. Having done this, I allowed
myself to follow his instincts and consented to the open procedure.

Thanks.

Tom

* * *

I used mine on top of the sheets. It stayed in place quite well, and
averted a couple of midnight bedding changes.

I.P.