3 months of Hormone Treatment then Prostatectomy

I'm now 11 weeks post surgery.  At 8 weeks I had my second PSA test in preparation for the post op consultation with my surgeon on 19th November. I was worried about asking for the result but was relieved to hear that it was less than 0.1 ng/mL.  In February 2018 it was 33.3 ng/mL. 

The surgeon started the consultation by asking me about my incontinence. I explained that I wear Tena pants for men at night and get up 2 or 3 times for a pee but am otherwise mostly dry at night or when sitting.  On the move it's a different story and my bladder quickly empties.  He assured me that things would gradually improve over the next few months and recommended that in the meantime I try using Sainsbury's nappies for 3 to 4 year olds during the day.  https://community.prostatecanceruk.org/Scripts/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif

I was keen to ask about my pathology results which confirmed the original T3b N0 diagnosis but I was concerned to hear that although the surgical margins were mostly negative there was a very small area where the margin was positive. The surgeon said that he was not concerned about this and was very pleased that my PSA was now undetectable. He told me that he was a worrier by nature but he was not worried about me. I said that I didn't know if this was due to the 3 months pre-op hormone treatment or the surgery.  He was a bit non-committal on this but proposed a follow up appointment with him in 6 months time to ' make sure everything was progressing nicely'. 

I am now waiting for the effects of the hormone treatment to wear off and hoping my PSA remains undetectable. 

Well certainly some good news J. I'm obviously worried about the 'positive base margin'. I'm thinking of asking for another PSA test in three months time. My hormone treatment should be out of my system by then. 

It's now nearly 9 months since my surgery. I had a PSA test at 2 months post surgery and two more at 5 months and 8 months. All results have been undetectable at < 0.1. I plan to have another test at 9 months just before having a check up with the surgeon. I face each test result with some trepidation but have to remind myself that in February 2018 my PSA was 33 probably rising rapidly and with hind sight my operation was still 7 months away.

I have now almost recovered full continence. I wear the smallest of Tena pads in case I cough or perform extreme gymnastics. I ride my bike to the gym and walk my two energetic Staffies (Sky and Oscar) 3 times a day. Both I and my partner gave up drinking alcohol a year ago.

ED is an ongoing problem but I'm having some success with a pump. Life is good for now and I'm living it just one day at a time.