April 12, 20215 yr Hi all Received Good advice to buy gazelle grenoble bike approx 2 years ago from you good people Done approx 9000 miles in 18 months so good advice. I am now back for any further advice I am to have radical robotic prostatectomy (look it up on Google) at end of month and I wonder if anybody else has had same and can give any tips particularly about possible new saddle. Some advise saddle with no front protrusion but with pads for butt checks to take pressure of perineum between scrotum and anus. Others seem to advise long protrusion to maximise contact area. Gel saddle as supplied is comfortable but unsure of plumbing arrangements after surgery. Thanks PS if you are having delay in peeing make sure youbinsist on mri as the 3 years it took to get my doctor to acknowledge problem has almost certainly contributed to fact I need radical surgery now. Thank God it had not spread to bones but they were unsure and had to have further mri to check
April 12, 20215 yr Old age may take much from me, but I am determined that cycling will never take away... https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/can-cycling-cause-erectile-dysfunction ...which is why I tilt my saddle, to such an extreme angle: It's pretty much a wide bottomed saddle without protusion, when angled like that... and comfortable for 40+ mile rides.
April 12, 20215 yr Author After such major surgery - rest up and heal for a long time first. Absolutely. will take time to heal. Surgeon reckons a month but I am reckoning on 2 months before I get in saddle literally as well as figuratively
April 12, 20215 yr Absolutely. will take time to heal. Surgeon reckons a month but I am reckoning on 2 months before I get in saddle literally as well as figuratively Surgeons always say things like that - I've had a couple of major surgeries, and each time it's taken many months to heal completely. One was for a jaw tumour in 2000 - it still could come back. I was initially very angry, drank a lot etc. Then for a couple of years, I did nothing but grow my own veg. The overall experience does very strange things to your mind. Reflecting on it all, many years later... I realised that it's a lot like the stages of grief: https://www.healthline.com/health/stages-of-grief#order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_stages_of_grief ...with all the fine blood vessels down there, I'd definitely schedule some serious time out, before potentially complicating the physical healing process.
April 12, 20215 yr PS if you are having delay in peeing make sure youbinsist on mri as the 3 years it took to get my doctor to acknowledge problem has almost certainly contributed to fact I need radical surgery now. Thank God it had not spread to bones but they were unsure and had to have further mri to check Best wishes for your forthcoming operation and for an optimal outcome, sorry I can't help with saddle advice. My prostate gland packed up at the young age of 49 years with BPH resulting, but with no chance of MRI back then in 1985 with the first unit here being installed that same year at the Royal Brompton. Nor was there the advanced prostatectomy of today, so I took my chances with plenty of exercise and lots to drink and managed to maintain reasonable micturition for 25 years more without any medical intervention. For the decade since then I've used Tamsulosin to assist with that and am still managing ok. Of course at 85 now and with heart problems I no longer worry about the possibility of full blown prostate cancer since there's plenty else that is likely to get me first! .
April 12, 20215 yr Many men seem to survive with prostate scares for a long time, eschewing surgery. But I could be completely wrong about that.
April 12, 20215 yr Author Many men seem to survive with prostate scares for a long time, eschewing surgery. But I could be completely wrong about that. You are so right. It is said more people die with prostate cancer than from it but in my case it had nearly spread to my bones which would have meant "Good night Vienna" or major chemotherapy all because I was not as assertive as I should have been. If spotted earlier it could merely been removal of growth instead of the whole plumbing.if in any doubt insist on MRI not on DRE or PSA.it takes approx 5 years from start to removal so if you insist you have time. In my case it has only taken 4 months from acceptance by my GP that there was a problem to admission to hospital.
April 12, 20215 yr if in any doubt insist on MRI not on DRE or PSA. Thank you, I'll definitely bear that in mind. I'm a big fan of private scans - it's costs a few £hundred to about a thousand, for a swift MRI. One in two of us will get some form of cancer, sometime - it used to be one in three.
April 12, 20215 yr in my case it had nearly spread to my bones Cancer's spread through soft tissue (vs bone - but marrow is a big problem) can be extremely swift. One of my neighbours died so rapidly from testicular cancer - I barely registered that he had it. He had a secondary in his kidney, then it travelled into his brain, so he had some of that removed too, plus an ear cochlea, which meant he had an electronic gizmo installed where his ear used to be... then I loaned him an electric oil radiator because his central heating had packed up, then his dog tried to maul my cat, then he died. (The last two events, are not related). My tumour was very slow growing, but it had to go - left to itself, it would have grown through my sinuses into my brain and slowly driven me insane and then killed me brain first, after some years of agony. Some surgery decisions are easy. I'm sure that in a decade or two, surgeons will marvel at the barbarity of today's cancer surgeries. I would much rather have had a targeted tumour gene killer pill, made from my own stem cells.
April 12, 20215 yr Had a (robotic) prostatectomy 18 months ago, age 64 then. Surgeon said get back exercising within a month or so...... I didn't cycle for nearly 3 months, that was my choice. Did fast walking /slow jog at 6 weeks. No issues, no altered saddle. Normal biking then resumed. Have a pee before setting off, that control takes a bit longer to achieve, Good luck. Steve
April 12, 20215 yr I can’t help with the saddle advice but I do wish you all the best with the op and the subsequent recovery. I like the attitude of the old guy interviewed on the news who, after his Covid vaccine at a ripe old age, summed things up as “well there’s no point in dieing now !”
April 12, 20215 yr Hi flecc Also wish u all the best , i know someone who had such and he is doing away fine now after getting rid of it ..
April 12, 20215 yr If I was going under the knife again, I'd find it reassuring that it was robot-assisted. Surgeons seem to vary in skill quite a lot - you only have to look at dentists... some are clumsy, heavy handed morons. You can't learn manual dexterity from a book, it has to be practised and if the individual doesn't have a natural aptitude, it takes a very long time to acquire. Thank goodness the robots are taking over. Or taking over assisting. Immediately before one of my operations, a medical student asked if I could sign consent for him to assist... to get experience... I said no. There was a consent form for sampling your DNA for storage somewhere, "Anonymised". Who knows what happens to that. Best not to worry, worrying only ever makes things worse. I trust that it all goes well.
April 13, 20215 yr managed to maintain reasonable micturition I hope you don't mind my asking flecc, but could expand on this? It sounds very interesting. Are you talking about trace minerals, like selenium?
April 13, 20215 yr possible new saddle. Here's a recent thread about saddles and shock-absorbing seatposts - there may be some useful products mentioned: https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/saddle-advice-and-help-identifying-pain.40774/
April 13, 20215 yr Just a thought to throw into the mix - how about a recumbent bike? Spread the load over your body rather than on its most sensitive bits. Best wishes for the op, hope all goes well!
April 13, 20215 yr I hope you don't mind my asking flecc, but could expand on this? It sounds very interesting. Are you talking about trace minerals, like selenium? Nothing fancy at all, just plenty to drink and lots of exercise for 25 years, then helped over the remaining ten years by the Tamsulosin capsules which dilate and relax the urethra. Apart from vitamin D I dont use any supplements but do have a healthy wide ranging diet which includes meat in moderation. .
April 13, 20215 yr Nothing fancy at all, just plenty to drink and lots of exercise for 25 years, then helped over the remaining ten years by the Tamsulosin capsules which dilate and relax the urethra. Apart from vitamin D I dont use any supplements but do have a healthy wide ranging diet which includes meat in moderation. . I, too, am on Tamsulation, It started to work almost immediately. How did they find that, accidentally like Viagra I wonder?
April 13, 20215 yr Nothing fancy at all, just plenty to drink and lots of exercise for 25 years, then helped over the remaining ten years by the Tamsulosin capsules which dilate and relax the urethra. Apart from vitamin D I dont use any supplements but do have a healthy wide ranging diet which includes meat in moderation. . I try to avoid heme iron, but usually fail: https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1957 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.679662 https://www.livescience.com/45330-iron-meat-raise-heart-risks.html
April 13, 20215 yr I try to avoid heme iron, but usually fail: https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1957 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.679662 https://www.livescience.com/45330-iron-meat-raise-heart-risks.html I don't eat processed meat containing nitrates etc, sticking to that which comes directly from the animals after suitable hanging times. And the quantities I eat are far smaller than the norm, typically between one third and one half when present in a typical main meal. A proportion of those meals are with fish rather than land animal meat and some of my main meals are meatless. I don't buy all the vegetarian and vegan arguments, humans from their earliest recognisable form have eaten small quantities of meat and vegans have to take care to compensate for its absence or suffer the consequences. On a personal level all the vegetarians and vegans I've known have died in their seventies, including from cancers or heart attacks. Meanwhile I and some equally carnivorous friends are still very much alive in our late eighties. Natural meat is fine so long as the amounts consumed are not excessive, and dairy is fine in the usual quantities. .
April 13, 20215 yr Author Had a (robotic) prostatectomy 18 months ago, age 64 then. Surgeon said get back exercising within a month or so...... I didn't cycle for nearly 3 months, that was my choice. Did fast walking /slow jog at 6 weeks. No issues, no altered saddle. Normal biking then resumed. Have a pee before setting off, that control takes a bit longer to achieve, Good luck. Steve Thank you for your input. I think 3 months is likely to be my time period also. If you could share your experiences re peeing and time schedule. In order not to derail thread maybe private email to geoffkendall101. At. Hotmail. Dot com. thanks
April 13, 20215 yr Have a pee before setting off, that control takes a bit longer to achieve, Good luck. Steve Kegel/pelvic floor strengthening exercises might help with that : https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/mens-health/in-depth/kegel-exercises-for-men/art-20045074 https://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/kegel-exercises-treating-male-urinary-incontinence ...an easy way to strengthen pre-op is to stop pee mid flow a few times, whenever you pee.
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.