Greetings from Mike

[mkejnr]

I got the website information from the New York Times article last Sunday titled “The Side Effect? Well, There is One” It really hit home. I had a radical prostatectomy at Johns Hopkins at age 57, 11 years ago. I knew the risks of ED but of course my main goal was a prostate cancer cure. The cure was achieved and I am thankful for that and with the help of Viagra am able the achieve erections most of the time. What I was not prepared for was adjusting the fact that it will never be the same. The anxiety factor and having to plan sex are two of the big adjustments I was not prepared for. My wife of 45 years has been great thru all of this and we have worked our way thru pretty well. My main goal by joining this support group is to see if I (we) can find ways to make it even better and at the same time maybe help someone else on the way.

[regain-is-the-aim]

Mike:

Welcome to the clan. It is good to have you with us. Your experiences show that one can go forward and develop a new normal for sex. Having a partner who is supportive is a big assist and it sounds as though you chose well lo, those many years ago! I like your thought of applying CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement) principals to our "task". But, of course we can get better!! Yeah! And using him frequently is one of the best ways to maintain and enhance our penile quality. A hint, hint to the bride. . .and yourself.

I'm also a PCa guy, robotic surgery, this month will be my 5 year anniversary- so far so good. My only thought would be- have you considered pumping? After 11 years I don't know whether it would help or not. I did not start to pump until after I also found this site, 3+ years after surgery, but have found it has helped and it's fun. It does seem to improve erection quality for me. But, like you, I have a ways to go.

I agree, we are not prepared for the change. Hopefully, as the Foundation we have just created from FrankTalk becomes financially stable we can begin to advocate for better research, penile rehab standards and even evolved surgery procedures to better enable us guys to return to a better sexual health status. Please read the many, many posts in the Discussion Forums and investigate the Treatments Section . There is a lot of experience there. This is a very frank place and we share the "what worked for me" and "what didn't"- understanding this is a journey that goes on. The guys here come with differing etiologies for the ED- but we all share the same challenge.

Please feel free to join the chatroom when you can and ask away! Sometimes there is no one there and at times 5 -8 may be there. It is a fun place that can get very direct, bawdy but is always supportive and encouraging.

Thanks for joining our band of brothers!!

Regards,

Dick