Prostate removal, Getting started back
 

Had a robotic assisted surgery, technically all when we'll(time will tell)
Says I can walk now & am doing that. Says I can slow jog after cath removal. Wants me to wait 6 weeks to ride ? I assumed I could at least ride a trainer to avoid rough roads. Anybody else go thru this? Anybody learn lessons the hard way?
Any advise would be appreciated , thanks.

I haven't but do have an avid fellow recumbent rider who did have his prostate removed a couple years ago. He wasn't back to riding for quite a few weeks and the recumbent seat is a lot easier on you than the regular saddle. Hope it works out better for you.

RP in June 2001. This involved a bit more surgery than robotic and a catheter for 4 weeks. At 6 weeks after surgery I sat on a bike and got off it very quick. That hurt so down to the LBS for one of the "New" types of saddle with a cutaway. They had only just come in at that time and it helped. I had kept riding up till the RP so at 8 weeks went for a gentle ride up on the hills. Spent a lot of time out of the saddle but managed a 30 miler without too many problems.

Now the problem started for me as the body adjusted to that void I had in the body. That anatomical saddle I bought that had helped initially went off after a month or so so down to the LBS for another saddle. Newbie "Sore Butt" had nothing on this as the pain used to start after about two miles. Spent a lot of money on new saddles for the next few years so try not to go down that road if you can.

But the main problem I had was mental. I had just got over Cancer and why should I push up that hill? Why should I chase the fit buggers up the hill? Why should I do the milage that would keep me in peak fitness? In fact it got so bad that I even considered going roadie to get an easier time on the bike. I was even talked into getting an offroad Tandem so a fit rider could carry me up the hills.---(That does not work by the way as a Tandem relies on two people that can work together and the problem I had was not finding the right co-rider till Stuart came along)--- By the end of 2002 I had a choice. Go road or a kill or cure choice. I chose the kill or cure and entered the hardest ride I had ever done in my life for June 2003. Stuart and I would do it on the Tandem but it meant I only had 6 months to get fit physically and mentally for the ride. I put everything into getting fit with 50 miles at weekends- and 2x 30 mile rides in the week. On top of that it was down to the gym to get the "Extra" fitness in. Suffice it to say that the ride was done-I was probably at the fittest I had been in years and the mental problem was cured.

I do not know how Robotic will affect the Groin and Pubic area when sitting on a saddle so you may be better off than I was. But I have spoken to several people post Cancer and they have said that the mental problem is the hard one to get over. Set yourself a target and make it a good one. Set it for a year or so ahead and train. That will be 6 months to get over the surgery and 6 months of intensive training. No need to go as mad as I did as that target I set was for an offroad 100 miler with 10,000ft of climbing in one day. You know what you have achieved in the past few years so go for something that will push you and push you hard.

So nearly 10 years later and a PSA of a big fat "0". But on the butt problem -I did not cure mine till 2006 when I went road. Don't know if it was co-incidence or the different saddle or the stretched out position on the bike- but as soon as I went road the "Pain" lessened a lot.

I don't think the surgery will have any lasting effect for the future. How it will affect you mentally is down to you. Good luck.

I'm a roadie most of the time any way. 90% of the time. 4 days after, most of my pain is in my ambdomen.
Thanks for the post,

I've been thinking about you lately and wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear that all went well with the surgery and that the doc is encourageing exercise in due time.

Continue to heal well.

Whatever it takes and however long it takes, just keep doing it. :thumb:

Walking every 2 hour during the day. Will try the jogging or a trainer after I see him next Friday. But he told me I should be back on the bike by summer before I left the hospital.
How you doing Cranky ? I hope well !

My boss (who doesn't ride) just had prostate surgery (robotic) a few weeks ago. He came back to work after 3 weeks (or was it two?). I'll have to ask him if he feels like he could ride now.

Why the rush to get jogging? My surgery may have been a bit more severe as I had 12 weeks off before I was allowed to go back to work. I needed 10 of those weeks to recover and no way could I have run anywhere so I walked. It is 1 mile into town from home so every day I walked into town for a Paper and a coffee. I say walked but 4mph and up a few inclines to get there. I am a gardener so I raked the Lawn- The lawn was spotless after the first week but it was either rake the lawn or Hoover the house. I don't do Hoovering.

Have to admit that the abdomen is still the weakest part of my body. No pain but no strength either and that is after trying to get it working at the gym over the years. One effect is that although I have not put on weight over the years- my body form has changed. 2" on the waist and it looks as though I am a 5 pint a night man. Pot belly has come about but when I look at others my age and a lot younger- I do not have a waist problem.

You will need exercise to get your fitness back and plenty of it but do not overdo it. Keep the fitness you now have till you can get back on the bike and if I am anything to go by- put the exercise into the legs. Those first few rides back on the bike for me hurt.

I had robotic prostate surgery June 1, 2010. I was having a problem free recovery so my uro said I could ride again 4 weeks post surgery. Two of my riding buddies also had robotic prostate surgery and one was also told 4 weeks and the other was told 6 weeks.

My first ride went really well. I planned to do just 5 miles but ended up doing 15. I had been using a Terry Butterfly for several years and it worked fine (it has a cutout for pressure release). I had bought a Terry Liberator (bigger cutout, more cushioning) but never needed it. No pain at all in prostate area, but I was a little sore the next day, across my abdomen.

I steadily increased mileage and was a little sore across my abdomen for a few weeks and that eventually went away. I was back to doing 50-70 mile rides on the weekends two months after surgery. I average about 15 mph.

Good luck on your recovery and I hope you become a lifetime member of the Zero Club (PSA test of less than 0.1)

I'm not a doc, but I would think jogging would put more strain on your innards than moderate cycling would...of course running is a natural activity whereas cycling is not...but then prostate surgery is pretty unnatural too.

Thank guys. The story of the 4 to 6 week time is OK. I can deal with. Start on smooth roads & enjoy. How much with bladder control, did you adjust your bars or seat to take pressure off the area ?

Bladder control is mainly down to how long the catheter was in. Have heard that with robotic it is not in for long but I had it in for a month. Took 3 months before control became anywhere near normal. Three words-PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES. Ask the doc about them but you should have been told before the op.

On saddle adjustment--Road bike and get the tilt of the saddle right so that MOST weight is taken on the sit bones and not the Pubic bone. That may mean tilting the nose down so slipping forward on the saddle may become a problem.

But can assure you- no matter how much you think the op has affected you---Ask that question in 6 months time. The answer will be nothing.

Thanks so much to all for your input.
My cath is in for 10 days, why 1 month, problems ?
Hope all is well now.

10 years ago and a month was the norm for RP. Robotic was not in the UK and came about a few years later.

Forget to mention it but you will have to have a PSA check every 6 months or so from now on. I also had to see the surgeon every 6 months for 5 years only to be told that every thing was fine. Seemed pointless at the time and it was only when I told him that it seemed pointless that he agreed.

Thanks, I have to go 10 days, 6 weeks, 3 months & so on for to years.

Had radioactive seed implants about 6 years ago.
Outpatient procedure. No chemo (as was suggested by doctor) or other radiation.
Off the bike for 3 weeks (tried, but was a bit too tender). Re-adjusted saddle a bit and was off like nothing happened.
Three days after sugery I drove car 1,000 miles although doctor suggested not to.
If you feel up to it, do it.

I had a very aggressive and advanced prostate cancer in 2003 and had to have a lot of margin removed along with some other extra bits and pieces so my recovery was longer than some. My doctor wanted me off the bike for 12 weeks but relented to let me ride a recumbent around 6 weeks, so I bought one and rode gently.

At 12 weeks, I climbed on my Serotta and the pain was excruciating and only rode a mile. I continued with my recumbent and sold it for a faster and fancier one and then sold that one and then another, and on and on. I now only ride bents along with an upright tandem and the occasional upright.

FWIW, my cancer came back in 2008 and I underwent 41 radiation treatments along with hormone therapy.

I didn't ride after my Devinci robotic prostate removal. Mainly because of the wounds to my abdomen. I just gave it about 6 months to heal. Didn't rush anything, walked a lot. When I got on the bike I was fine. Give yourself time to heal properly you have your whole lifetime ahead of you.

I had an RRP in Jan. 2004. Just got my seventh "zero" PSA test (yay).

You just don't want to damage the healing of the urethra-bladder where the prostrate was removed. If that resection doesn't heal right you may have to have additional surgery. Otherwise, just do what you feel ok with. I walked a lot, and ran a little. In the fall of that year I ran the Columbus Marathon in 3:54 and qualified for Boston, which I ran the following April.

Best of luck with the erectile and continence issues. Mine are totally ok now. Sometimes it takes a year or more to recover full function.

I know a guy who is 64 years old, and has been growing strictures (growths inside) closing off his urethra. He also has pain in his testicles. He's decided to have his entire penis and testicles-scrotum removed and is preparing surgery with a surgeon. Word is it will only be 3 months of healing until he can be back on his mountain bike.

Thanks a bunch for all the feedback, Its been very enlightening.

At the Rans rally last summer I rode for a while with a guy that had the surgery about 5 weeks before the ride. He switched to a recumbent, and said he was having no pain at all.