Nerve sparing

[Nate_the_Great]

I had a Radical Prostatomy on 16 January 2007. I am in 8 weeks post operation. I had the "nerves ‎spared" to my penis so that I can maintain erections. So far nothing! Doctor says that there was ‎alot of loss of blood; however nerves were spared. My question is, if there is damage to the ‎nerves how long does it take the body to repair and how do we know if nerves are actually ‎spared? I have tried Cialas 20mg's, Viagra 50mg's, 100mg's and I have not had any erectionsat ‎all;though I know that with these medicines for ED you need to be excited sexually. I do ‎sometimes get the feeling that penis want's to get erect, but not hard enough to penatrate.I do not ‎know if this is "wishful thinking." This is very hard on me (or any man) knowing that after this ‎‎"major" surgery that ther is a possiblity of impotency. Anyone out there feel like I do. I talk to my ‎wife about this, but she say's that she does not know what to do as a wife, and could go ‎without sex if I should never gain potentcy. "What a horrible thought!" For some of us men to go from a sexually active man to man ‎who is incontinent, has no control, has severe ED problems after surgery and everyone is saying ‎"be patient.” Though I do not have the problems with “incontinent”, other than the erections I have ‎no other problems.‎

[bghjul]

Yes I've been there I had my surgery September 3, 2005 it was nerve sparing with the Da Vinchi method. I had successful intercourse with my wife 18 months later. I read some books that said it would be six weeks that was a crock of bull. It is going to be difficult to go through this and your mind is going to play some serious games with you. No one is going to understand this unless they have gone through it. My best advice is to stimulate your mind because after a while I noticed I no longer thinking about sex anymore. Which at 44 was unthinkable. So keep your mind going. Find a way for both you and your wife get along (you'll have to change how you do thing). Once you get a little further down the line I'll let you know how I handled the situation. But be patients it is going to take time to heal.I'm not back all the way but it was strong enough to get in. There is also a book called The Hardness Factor that offered great tips on exercise and supplements. If you have a pump use it regularly to keep your size. I know I've lost some from lack of use and bloodflow over the past 18 months and the pumps helps with keeping the bloodflow. Just hang in there I know when I went back to doctor about 6 months after sugery complaining I was not getting erections and he told me it could take up to 18 months I know from the look on my face he thought he was in physical jeopardy. But the books I had been reading gave me false hope it takes a long while for these nerves to recover. But little by little I saw progress, keeping taking your ED medication, and I found exercise was a great stress relief. Hang in there. I hope this helps. Let me know how you are doing. Reach out if you need to.

[EB02]

Eight weeks isn't long enough for nerves to heal. Even though the nerves are spared, they have been traumatized and it takes a while for them to start functioning again. And they will probably need lots of help to jump start them. Hopefully your doctor has you on an aggressive regimen with a vacuum pump and ED drugs. Many guys have found that starting on ejection therapy (Caverject, Bimix or Trimix) at an early stage gets them over the hump before they start functioning again without any help. This all gets very complicated but you need to keep working toward the prize. My wife and I became more sexually active during this time period and it helped with the frustration. There are plenty of ways to give your wife orgasms without a hard penis and you can have orgasms without erections as well. I think there is a lot of danger that you will drift apart if you shy away from each other physically. I felt more vulnerable and maybe even a little foolish without an erection at first, but without the sense of urgency I was able to focus a lot more on her needs which paid dividends in the long run. It's important to keep stimulating the mind if you ever want your penis to get the message. It is the brain that will ultimately trigger those nerves. So stay sexually active even if you aren't doing what you like to do best. This can take anywhere from six months to two years, so don't get too upset after only eight weeks. Relax and get your mind in the gutter. Your penis will follow someday.

[Nate_the_Great]

EB02,bghjul...thank you for your words of incouragements. I have heard and read boards where people say that they were up and going in weeks. But I somehow find that hard to believe, as some people are not honest in what they are or actually wnet through. You two are one of three people that have posted that actually are truthful. I agree that I need to get my mind focused on other things, more time with wife and to see how she is doing. I was into music, and other stupid things took me away from it, and I need to get focused back into doing music, and reading. Wife feels that I am not getting any pleasure out of it. I tell her I am. That my pleasure is that she is happy. I have always felt that if your woman feels happy you in turn will both be happy in life, love, sex. So I am not going to concentrate on when my penis is going to get erect. (Like you said bghjul, at 42yo that is a hard thing to do!) So I will keep my mind going. I will take my meds again. I was soo upset that the ED meds did not work that I trashed them, I never knew they were so expensive for so few. EBO2, I have seen the pump, but only in those novalty stores or magazines are they the same ones that the doctors prescribe? Are they safe? Do you know any sites that I can order ED meds on-line that do cost so much? This is a great site. Thank you both

[Ron Z]

hope it works for you -

my age 53 - four years past RRp - I am dead - winkie curled up and died like a dandelion in a summer drought!

good luck to you!