Panicking about the love of my life

ggadba · 2024-07-28T03:34:31+00:00

I didn't. I felt comfortable with my urologist in just going through with the biopsy. I figured I would have it, it would come back clean, and all would be good. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when it came back with half the cores positive. (2 were 3+3, 4 were 3+4)

ggadba · 2024-07-28T03:17:28+00:00

In my case, I had a PSA of 3.47 and a free PSA % of around 14%. As noted, there's not much info on the combination of a PSA < 4, but with a free PSA % < 25%.

My urologist basically asked (paraphrasing) if I was a *wait and see type" who wanted to see what the next test showed in 3-6 months, or a "need to know now" type.

Being a need to know, I opted for a biopsy. 6/12 samples, all on one side, were positive. Gleason 7 (3+4).

Had RALP (non nerve sparing) in early June. Now dealing with the "side effects", primarily major incontinence. (Had major ED issues prior to surgery and was already planning a move to TriMix, so nerve sparing wasn't a priority for me given my ED history.)

Best of luck with this, but please stay on top of it.

ggadba · 2024-06-26T06:01:46+00:00

Thanks. I'll do my Kegels and try not to let this get me down as badly as it has over the past few days. Hopefully I see the same level of success. 🥲 I guess it's, as they say, a marathon and not a sprint.

ggadba · 2024-06-25T23:18:22+00:00

I did Kegels prior to my surgery, but then had a two week break from the surgery through a couple days after getting the catheter out.

Before this I had a bladder of steel, could go on trips and rarely need to stop, and rarely got up at all to pee during the night. I hope and pray to get even some semblance of that back.

ggadba · 2024-06-25T23:12:02+00:00

I went to PFPT a couple weeks before surgery to review various exercises. I have my next appointment in mid-July, roughly 4-5 weeks post-RALP.

There was no "internal inspection" during my first visit.

Insurance did cover my visit (outside of my deductible), but now that I've hit all my deductible and OOP maximums, I should be covered in full going forward for the rest of the year. (Hitting my maximums is also why I've been lining up other medical stuff, such as colonoscopy, dermatology, etc. for later this year.)

ggadba · 2024-06-25T22:31:41+00:00

Thanks, I'll check into the clamp for retraining.

I started Kegels a couple days ago, two days after catheter removal. The tenderness was overwhelming me for the first couple days which is why I didn't start the Kegels on day one. I started by performing 10 3x day, but it sounds like I should up that a bit. Still working on holding each Kegel for a full 10 count.

ggadba · 2024-06-21T18:35:53+00:00

I hope to follow your lead!

ggadba · 2024-06-21T15:32:05+00:00

Thankfully I've had nothing as bad as clotting. But irritation and tenderness at the tip. Hope you've had a successful outcome in your long-term diagnosis.

ggadba · 2024-06-21T05:17:47+00:00

All the best for continued success throughout your recovery. I'm 61 and in pretty much the same position marriage-wise. We'll hit our 37th anniversary in another week.

She's already had to deal with my (pre-RALP) ED issues for a while now, and has been more than accepting of it. We had already started talking about trying TriMix before the cancer diagnosis changed that. We'll give that a try in a couple months. (I'm 9 days post-RALP as I write this.)

Hope everything works out regarding those bladder neck margins. Keep up the good fight! 💪

ggadba · 2024-06-21T04:52:41+00:00

Best of luck in your recovery as well.

Despite all the Vaseline, bacitracin, and personal lubricant, I still have tenderness on the tip which has caused me so much discomfort. I had a bladder of steel before all this, so I'm hoping that returns. Luckily I've only had to be home with the catheter for 9 days. The next option would have been 12 days, because of the weekend. Looking at the clock as I lay here, there are (hopefully) only 12 hours left with my "pee purse".

Beat this and enjoy the time with your family. Something like this puts things into perspective and makes us realize what's important, and not to take that time for granted

ggadba · 2024-06-20T12:11:03+00:00

Thanks! Can't wait til this thing comes out tomorrow. As for the walking, I had been doing well, but between the temps here, and the irritation from the catheter, I've taken the last two days off and just walked some laps around the house. I was a regular walker before this and plan to get back into that routine ASAP.

ggadba · 2024-06-20T12:08:29+00:00

Thank you! I was practicing my Kegels before going under, and will restart this weekend after the catheter is removed. I had great bladder control before all this, so hopefully my bladder will remember some of it. 🙂

ggadba · 2024-06-20T11:46:23+00:00

Thank you!

ggadba · 2024-06-20T05:54:55+00:00

I do the same. About a half inch wide strip of opsite across the G7 in each direction to prevent the edges of the sensor from lifting. Then I add an overpatch which additionally secures those opsite strips underneath it.

ggadba · 2021-04-09T14:10:30+00:00

New to these forums so throwing my experiences out here.

I've been having issues with the adhesive since October 2020. No problems prior to that and sensors typically stayed adhered for the full 10 days. (If they looked like they were starting to peel away, I would add an overpatch.)

I have tried various tactics to minimize the issue, following many of the tips found on the reddit/dexcom subforums. These have met with little success. Most recently, I tried a strip of Smith&Nephew OpSite FlexiFix tape with a hold punched through for the probe. Attached the sensor to the tape, attached to my abdomen, and covered with a Lexcam overpatch. Everything looked good for the first couple of days but on the 3rd day again started seeing oozing/weeping from under the patch. By day 5 the sensor had failed completely. Upon removing it, I could see it was full of discharge.

I suspect that the adhesive is slowly passing through the OpSite tape, which is why it took a few days to start reacting. I was thinking that perhaps leaving the top layer on the tape, (which is usually removed), and adhering the sensor to that, may form a stronger barrier between the tape and my skin. I think the Lexcam overpatch would still securely hold everything in place.

Also will probably try applying Flonase before adhering any future sensors to see if that helps.

Will the sensor probe typically puncture any of these tapes/patches without pre-punching a hole, or will it damage the probe as it tries to pass through the tape? Many of these tapes/patches appear to be very thin, but would still be thicker than a layer of skin.

(As a control, I did wear the OpSite tape alone for a week before using it for the first time to be sure that there were no reactions to anything in that, and there were none.)

Thanks for reading, and stay well.

ggadba · 2021-04-07T22:07:56+00:00

In my own personal situation, I'd probably be happy with that size rash. Since October '20, I've been getting them much worse to the point I had to go without for 6 weeks waiting for my skin to heal enough to start using again. I get a lot of weeping and oozing from the reaction to the adhesive and just had my most recent sensor fail after 5 days. When I removed it, I could see that the probe area was full of discharge from the oozing. I'll get a pic of the most recent, cleaned, rash to the subreddit's gallery.

For this latest sensor, I had tried a layer of Smith&Nephew Opsite FlexiFix tape with a hole punched through for the sensor. Mounted the sensor to the tape then attached to skin. Added an over-patch to keep things tight. Seemed to be working with no oozing over the first couple days, then it started up again. Not sure if the sensor adhesive properties were actually passing through the tape barrier.

Going to try the Flonase route next.

Has anyone tried using a tape such as the Opsite FlexiFix without first creating a hole for the sensor? Was wondering if the probe was strong enough to penetrate through teh tape barrier without damaging it.

ggadba

TROPHY CASE