According to Cancer.org, “Surgery is a common choice to try to cure prostate cancer if it is not thought to have spread outside the gland (stage T1 or T2 cancers).The main type of surgery for prostate cancer is known as a radical prostatectomy. In this operation, the surgeon removes the entire prostate gland plus some of the tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles. A radical prostatectomy can be done in different ways.”
There are different kinds of surgeries, though, to remove your prostate. “In the more traditional approach to doing a prostatectomy, the surgeon operates through a single long incision to remove the prostate and nearby tissues. This is sometimes referred to as an radical retropubic prostatectomy.”
Radical retropubic prostatectomy is where, “the surgeon makes a skin incision in your lower abdomen, from the belly button down to the pubic bone. You will be either under general anesthesia (asleep) or be given spinal or epidural anesthesia (numbing the lower half of the body) along with sedation during the surgery.”
Now the cancer may have a chance of spreading, so doctors are cautious and wary of that, “If there is a reasonable chance the cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes (based on your PSA level, DRE, and biopsy results), the surgeon may remove lymph nodes from around the prostate at this time. The nodes are usually sent to the pathology lab to see if they have cancer cells (it takes a few days to get results), but in some cases the nodes may be looked at right away.”
In terms of how it may affect your life afterwards, I found this quote really interesting, “When removing the prostate, the surgeon will pay close attention to the 2 tiny bundles of nerves that run on either side of the prostate. These nerves control erections.
If you are able to have erections before surgery, the surgeon will try not to injure these nerves (known as a nerve-sparing approach). If the cancer is growing into or very close to the nerves the surgeon will need to remove them. If they are both removed, you will be unable to have spontaneous erections. This means that you will need help (such as medicines or pumps) to have erections.” So, you might not be able to have erections.
Another surgery is the radical perineal prostatectomy, “In this operation, the surgeon makes the incision in the skin between the anus and scrotum (the perineum), as shown in the picture above. This approach is used less often because the nerves cannot easily be spared and lymph nodes can’t be removed. But it is often a shorter operation and might be an option if you don’t want the nerve-sparing procedure and you don’t require lymph node removal.”
And, “After the surgery, while you are still under anesthesia, a catheter will be put in your penis to help drain your bladder. The catheter usually stays in place for 1 to 2 weeks while you are healing. You will be able to urinate on your own after the catheter is removed.
You will probably stay in the hospital for a few days after the surgery and be limited in your activities for about 3 to 5 weeks”
