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After Prostate Surgery

I had prostate surgery by Robotics this past February. I have been on Hormone therapy for the last 5 months. I completed Radiation Therapy 1 month ago.
When my Prostate was removed the left nerve bundle was spared and the right one was infected. Everything else looked good and nothing else was infected. I understand that while on the hormone treatment, I am too experience erectyle disfunction, but there are many times day and night that my penile shaft bulges (a feeling of errection), and upon this blood flow into the shaft, I experience an excrutiating pain at the base of the shaft on the right hand side.
Question: Is this normal after prostate surgery? Or is there something my Urologist is not telling me?
My Doctor has told me that this is normal but somehow I feel that it is not. I would appreciate very much if someone has an answer to this question. HELP...
3 Responses
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242579 tn?1252111171
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Erectile dysfunction following radical prostatectomy is not uncommon. Even men who undergo nerve sparing may not recover their erectile function for up to two years and may require the use of erectile aids such as PDE-5 inhibitors (Viagra, Calais etc.) or PGE-1 (alprostadil (MUSE or Caverject)). Predicting who will recover erectile function is by no means an exact science, it depends on preoperative factors, intraoperative factors and post operative factors.  You should know that you having erections at 5 months is suggestive that you may have continued improvement in your function with time.  I should mention, however, that men who undergo radiation therapy may experience improvement within the first year of their operation but can experience decline of their erectile function as more time passes.  

It is difficult to offer you an absolute explanation to your question about pain in the base of your penis but I am reasonable sure your Urologist is not withholding information.  I must remind you that you had a major operation and it may take some time for you to heal completely.  Your symptoms may be a result of the radiation therapy or changes to the nerve fibers that carry signals from that region of your body.  Although rare, some men can experience pain in the groin or pain with orgasm following the operation - Your symptoms may be due to similar factors. I must stress that it is not possible for me to provide you with a definitive explanation in this situation.  I would continue close follow-up with your Urologist and seek medical attention if you experience erections that last longer than 4 hours.

Best,
Ash
Helpful - 2
Avatar universal
Since my surgery, my Urologist prescribed the following:
Casodex
Prostate 2.2 Supplement.
I have discontinued Casodex because I had Hormone Therapy shot, but I'm still taking the Prostate 2.2 Supplement.
My question is, What would be your recommendation or suggestion if I was to start taking L-Arginine w/ Ornithine after my prostate cancer surgery? I am weight lifting and need the extra boost to build muscle mass and also to use in place of Viagra.
The reason I ask is because one of the warnings is to prohibit the use of such supplement if a person has cancer.
I would be very appreciative of your response.
Thank you very much,

Ben
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I want to thank you very much for your response to my question. I'm highly appreciative for the response.
I have spoken to my Urologist about the concerns I have with the pain and He was not to clear about his answer. I will be revisiting him in the short future. I also wanted to say that July 3, 2008, I received my last 3 month Hormone shot. I can say that I can't wait till it starts wearing off so I can get back to feeling normal again. I also thought that the Hormone Therapy or Radiation Therapy itself would have cause some of the pain to appear as a side-effect. Nevertherless, I comprehend your explanation a lot better.

Once again, Thank you for your time and response.
Ben
Helpful - 0

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