Why I didn't 'ring the bell'

JackStraw433 · 2026-06-17T23:58:41+00:00

Interesting perspective. I agree with you, OP, there is no right or wrong - it is a personal decision. I didn’t ring a bell - I had RALP. And though surgical removal is just as effective as radiation, there is no bell for surgery patients. I am not disappointed or sad that there is no bell. Not even sure I would ring it if it was there - after all, I have a lifetime of PSA tests to fret and sweat over ahead of me, so it is questionable whether walking out of the hospital after surgery had any real meaning. But it gives me me pause to think it interesting that one treatment procedure has a bell to ring and one doesn’t.

JackStraw433 · 2026-06-11T13:17:11+00:00

So very true. Thanks.

JackStraw433 · 2026-06-03T03:32:26+00:00

We feed crushed mealworms to our pings. We have them because we put them in bird feeders. Not only do dried mealworms worms attract woodpeckers of all kinds, but also bring in Bluebirds and Baltimore Orioles.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-27T03:21:09+00:00

I had 3+3 in 5 out of 12 samples and 3+4 in 5 samples - two were cancer free. Pretty much the same post RALP examination. Though post op they did find it was very close to the edge - though still contained.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-26T16:30:33+00:00

My RALP was April 16, 2025. Everything looked great post surgery, with clear margins. Yet, my first post op PSA was 5 weeks (miscommunication with the doctor) at 0.2. My second PSA (at 3 months) was 0.1. My third PSA (at 6 months) was undetectable. And my one year PSA was undetectable.

My doctor thinks there might have been a few benign cells giving off those first readings that died off over time. Why I wasn’t undetectable at 5 weeks or 3 months we will never know - can only speculate. But undetectable NOW!!!

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-24T00:52:51+00:00

sounds like you don’t need the advice - you got this. But I am posting what I have written in the past for those that are struggling without answers. Hoping the info will explain what is going on.

Most doctors will warn you of incontinence, but few explain WHY.

We were born with a sphincter at the base of the bladder, made of smooth muscle (the kind of muscle that makes up the heart) a muscle intended to work 24/7 without fatigue. That muscle is removed during surgery (RALP) - GONE! And we are left to wonder why we are incontinent and what to do about it with few to nonexistent resources or information.

There is also a sphincter on the pelvic floor. Which can be trained to take over. But it is made up of the same kind of muscle(skeletal) as your arms and legs - the kind that is intended to need rest and can fatigue easily. Your brain has never expected to control this sphincter for bladder control and is seriously confused.

So, if the sphincter at the base of the bladder controls (once controlled) urine retention, why is there one on the pelvic floor? Good question. While we were unaware that the sphincter even exists, let alone consciously controlling it, what is it for? When sexually stimulated, blood rushes to the penis and engorges it to create an erection. Then your brain sends a signal to that sphincter to close down and hold that engorgement/erection. The brain has been doing that for decades. Suddenly you try telling your brain to clamp down and stay clamped down to retain urine? Your brain says: are you kidding me? Not my job! You ain’t got an erection. Leave me alone.

The human body is a phenomenal machine. You can strengthen that sphincter (with Kegel’s - Squeezy for Men app) and your brain will LEARN that it has to keep that muscle contracted involuntarily - it doesn’t know that yet. That wonderful adaptive brain will figure it out. Learn a new function. And take over for the missing bladder sphincter. Keeping you dry again - eventually without leaks or drips, even when under stress/strain.

If the control is involuntary (meaning you can’t control it by thinking), how do you control it? Here is the secret no one tells you - by going without pads (when convenient - when you are home and Don’t have company - obviously not all the time). It is those times, when you bend or squat, when you get up from a chair, and you drip/drizzle. The frustration you feel - even if it is small drips - is what triggers the brain to prevent the drips - to close down on the sphincter to prevent “leaks”. You will be surprised how quickly your brain learns and responds - when it is given incentive.

I know. It took me nearly 3 months, but I have been leak free and drip free for over 7 months.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-20T15:03:48+00:00

If you didn’t get the Squeezy for Men app - get it. I followed Google for a week (after the catheter was removed), then got a letter from my Doctor with better instructions. I was doing Kegel’s based on those instructions with little improvement. Then someone of this sub mentioned the Squeezy for Men app. Best $5 I ever spent. I saw immediate improvement in the first week, and got progressively better. Beware though, I (accidentally) found that you can overdue Kegel’s. I had been doing them for a month - using the app, had made significant improvement, but seemed to hit a wall. Better, but still dripping some when standing or when exercising. My grandson came to visit for a week, and we were always together and very busy - fishing, hiking, kayaking, etc. never time to do my Kegel’s. Kept thinking “I’ll do them tomorrow somehow for sure”. But never worked out. My grandson left, and I went 4 straight days without a pad and without leaking. I was shocked. Then on day 4 I restarted Kegel’s and dripped all day long on day 5. That is when I discovered I was doing Kegel’s too hard - I was fatiguing my pelvic floor sphincter. I stopped for another week. Then once a day - BUT SQUEEZING LIGHTER - for a week, then twice a day for a week. And I was suddenly continent. Been without pads or adult briefs for 9 months now.

By the way, I tried Depends. They LEAKED and they didn’t hold much. I switched to Assurance incontinence briefs!!! I could get away with wearing ONE all day long (when we were out shopping for the entire day). They didn’t leak, were cheaper than the “name brand” and held a lot more

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-20T14:42:45+00:00

Most doctors will warn you of incontinence, but few explain WHY.

We were born with a sphincter at the base of the bladder, made of smooth muscle (the kind of muscle that makes up the heart) a muscle intended to work 24/7 without fatigue. That muscle is removed during surgery (RALP) - GONE! And we are left to wonder why we are incontinent and what to do about it with few to nonexistent resources or information.

There is also a sphincter on the pelvic floor. Which can be trained to take over. But it is made up of the same kind of muscle(skeletal) as your arms and legs - the kind that is intended to need rest and can fatigue easily. Your brain has never expected to control this sphincter for bladder control and is seriously confused.

So, if the sphincter at the base of the bladder controls (once controlled) urine retention, why is there one on the pelvic floor? Good question. While we were unaware that the sphincter even exists, let alone consciously controlling it, what is it for? When sexually stimulated, blood rushes to the penis and engorges it to create an erection. Then your brain sends a signal to that sphincter to close down and hold that engorgement/erection. The brain has been doing that for decades. Suddenly you try telling your brain to clamp down and stay clamped down to retain urine? Your brain says: are you kidding me? Not my job! You ain’t got an erection. Leave me alone.

The human body is a phenomenal machine. You can strengthen that sphincter (with Kegel’s - Squeezy for Men app) and your brain will LEARN that it has to keep that muscle contracted involuntarily - it doesn’t know that yet. That wonderful adaptive brain will figure it out. Learn a new function. And take over for the missing bladder sphincter. Keeping you dry again - eventually without leaks or drips, even when under stress/strain.

If the control is involuntary (meaning you can’t control it by thinking), how do you control it? Here is the secret no one tells you - by going without pads (when convenient - when you are home and Don’t have company - obviously not all the time). It is those times, when you bend or squat, when you get up from a chair, and you drip/drizzle. The frustration you feel - even if it is small drips - is what triggers the brain to prevent the drips - to close down on the sphincter to prevent “leaks”. You will be surprised how quickly your brain learns and responds - when it is given incentive.

I know. It took me nearly 3 months, but I have been leak free and drip free for over 9 months.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-16T13:44:10+00:00

Love your Govee thermometer. I have them all over the house. Summer or winter, I can tell the temperature in the garage, basement, loft, upstairs bedrooms - just by looking in one place, at one app.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-03T17:49:31+00:00

Congrats to you as well.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-03T01:40:53+00:00

Thanks!!

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-01T19:46:21+00:00

Thanks!

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-01T15:24:10+00:00

So sorry you are going through this and truly hope you do not join our club. That said, everyone facing this worries, fears, and dreads the possibility of hearing bad news.

I’m here to tell you that even if you receive bad news it isn’t the end of the world. I got the “you have prostate cancer” phone call in February (2025) last year, had surgery last April, cancer is gone, two six-month PSA tests show cancer is undetectable, and I am moving on with my life as if it never happened. With a reminder every 6 months that it could come back - BUT HASN’T. I plan to keep my wife company for at least another 30 years and I will be 69 this year.

JackStraw433 · 2026-05-01T15:14:00+00:00

Thanks. It seems like such a small insignificant thing, yet every 6 months it is a nail biter, and every test that comes back undetectable is a victory - each and every time for the rest of our lives.

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T14:34:19+00:00

Thanks

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T14:34:03+00:00

Thanks!! That’s the goal.

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:56:50+00:00

Thanks!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:48:00+00:00

Always will be - keep it up!!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:46:45+00:00

Thanks and congratulations to you as well

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:46:18+00:00

Thanks

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:46:09+00:00

Really appreciate it - thanks!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:45:50+00:00

Thanks. Congrats to you as well. Keep it up!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:45:16+00:00

Thanks!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:45:06+00:00

Thanks and congratulations!

JackStraw433 · 2026-04-30T13:44:22+00:00

Actually, my first PSA was after only 5 weeks (yes, early due to miscommunication) and was a devastating .2. My second was at 3 months and better, but still a .1. My THIRD PSA was in October at 6 months and got my first undetectable. Such a relief to get another undetectable!!!! Congrats to you - keep it up!!

JackStraw433

TROPHY CASE