I recently had the good fortune of meeting Dennis who was diagnosed with
prostate cancer during a routine physical and elected to have a radical
prostatectomy. Unfortunately, a side effect of his prostatectomy was ED. He
and his wife had questions about penile implant surgery and were frustrated
with being unable to connect with someone who had gone through this type of
surgery. Dennis offered to share his experience so that others might be
saved the same frustrations.
After serving as a naval officer, Dennis led a successful business career as
president of his Seattle company and as an outside Director on the board of
a privately held New York company. After retiring, Dennis and his wife have
remained active in their community and church. This is his story.
“I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer during a routine annual physical and
elected to have a radical prostatectomy. There are two worrisome side
affects: urinary incontinence and ED. I have been lucky in that my PSA
readings for the past two years have been undetectable. Looks pretty good
that the cancer is gone. I have had very little problems with urinary
control but I did end up with ED. I am fortunate to have chosen Virginia
Mason Medical Center for all my health care needs as they have a large
Urology department and take a team approach. Soon after my ED was diagnosed
I started an educational process that took me through Viagra, Cialis, vacuum
and injection therapies. I had negative reactions to these, which led to the
question, ‘what now?’
I met with Dr. Govier,
the Chief of Surgery and also the head of the Urology Department at
Virginia Mason, where
he explained the IPP (Inflatable Penile Prosthesis) procedure. I
instinctively felt this was what I was looking for but had a very difficult
time researching what one’s life style is like post surgery. I had lots of
questions about the recovery, how one felt with this implement installed
inside the body and its reasonable functionality. Because my questions were
not getting answered I postponed the surgery almost a year. I was finally
able to connect with a couple AMS patient advocates and their partners. My
wife and I had questions about the surgery and they were able to answer all
our questions. I am now convinced this is what I want and am scheduled for
surgery in November. I am confident the AMS penile implant, Virginia Mason
and Dr. Govier come together as an exceptional team and am looking forward
to the outcome."
I am so happy Dennis offered to share this deeply personal experience and
look forward to his thoughts on questions I hear regularly from patients. As
Dennis’ story shows, it can be frustrating to find information from a
patient’s perspective. My hope is for this to become a place for you to find
answers. Please feel free to ask questions or share your experiences below.
And remember, there aren’t any dumb questions!!
