Can't get rid of the last few dribbles

It has been almost 4 months since my catheter was removed. I have been dry at night from the get go. I started out at 2 pads per day for the first 6 weeks then 1 pad for the next 6 weeks. Now I'm using just a small liner because I'm not completely dry. If my bladder is full, and I cough, sneeze, or lift something I will dribble a little. I'm doing Kegels but that hasn't stopped those last few drops. How long should I expect this to go on? Any one with a similar situation? Thanks

---

Age: 67
PSA 9/05 1.15; 8/06 1.45; 12/07 2.41; 8/08 3.9; 11/08 3.5 free PSA 11%
Dx 12/30/08
2 cores out of 12 were positive Gleason (4+4) and (4+5)
Negative CT scan and bone scan done on 1/16
Robotic surgery performed 2/9/09
Surgeon: Dr. Randy Fagin, Austin TX.
Pathology report:
Prostate weighed 57 grams size:5.2 x 5.0 x 4.9 cm
Bilateral 10-20% involved
Gleason 4+4
both nerve bundles removed,
pT3a Nx Mx
Negative margins
seminal vesicles clean
Lymph nodes: not dissected
1st PSA test 4/7/09 result <0.1

Ed, I am now just over 12 months out, and am very near dry and have been this way since about six months. I have some days where I don't leak at all, but also do occassionally get a squirt here and there so to be absolutely sanitary I continue to wear a very light liner. If I have a very physical day - recently did some serious landscaping and shoveling dirt all day, I will likely get a few more drips than usual. I am also affected by how many diet cokes I drink (I am trying to wean myself). The minimal amount of dribble is so small that I don't think much of it, and have not done any kegels for months, but I did want you to know there are people like self out here. Hopefully, you will be more like those who have a completely tight faucet. RB Age 62 Original data - pre-operation PSA: 5.1 T1C clinical diagnosis, Needle biopsy - 10 cores, Gleason 7 = 3+4 in 1 core (40%), 7 cores Gleason 6 = 3+3 ranging from 5% to 12% All scans negative Lupron administered 4/9/2008 for 4 months (with idea I would undergo external beam radiation followed by seed implants - then I changed my mind). Robotic DiVinci surgery - Dr. Fagin (Austin) 5/19/2008 Post operative - pathology pT2c NX MX Gleason 3+4 Margins - negative Extraprostatic extension - negative seminal vesicle invasion - uninvolved PSA <.04 7/12/2008 PSA <.01 10/30/2008 PSA <.01 4/03/2009

Ed C.

I don't want to depress you, but I am 13 months post op and still wearing one light pad a day. I'll just have a random squirt once or twice a day, or sometimes I'll be dry all day.

But - I've gone from 7 heavy pads a day to one light pad, so I can't complain. I've gone from soaking a heavy pad during soccer practice (I'm the coach) to sometimes not even having to change my light pad after practice. So, improvement all around, but I am beginning to believe that I will never get over that last little hump.

The type and intensity of activity has an impact, tiredness has an impact, too much caffeine has an impact, and for me - very curiously - wine has an almost instantaneous impact. Beer does not seem to bother me, but if I take just a sip of wine I squirt. Very weird. But this has NOT stopped my consumption of wine. That's what the pad is for, right?

Good luck,
kcragman

---

Age: 53; 52 at DX
March 2006: PSA 2.5
Dec 2007: PSA taken for insurance application. I did not see the results until late
Jan '08 - after I was rejected. Their lab said PSA 4.5.
Feb 2008: PSA 3.7.
March 2008: Biopsy. Gleason 7 (4+3) 12 cores taken. 5 on the left side were
cancerous and the 6th was suspect.
May 5, 2008: Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy at GW Hospital, Washington DC.

Post op: Gleason 9 (4+5). 15% of prostate involved. Stage: pT3a. Negative margins. Lymph node and nerve samples taken, and appeared to be cancer free.

July 2008: PSA at 7 weeks was undetectable.
August 2008: PSA at 14 weeks (3 months) was undetectable.
Nov 2008: PSA at 6 months was undetectable.
Feb 2009: PSA at 9 months was undetectable.

May 2009: PSA at 12 months was undectable.

I am in pretty much the same situation.  I qucikly shed the pads surgery in April and pads pretty much gone by July.  But here it is almost a year later and the dribbles are still a reality.

They come like most have described.  When I go to lift something heaving or try to pass gas.  I have noticed that when I drink Caffinated drinks I am more likely to leak as opposed to decaf.  Sex is an issue to, can seem to seperate the orgasm from the big pee leak.

I have hope it will get better.  Until then I were clothes were it is not as obvious it happens.

---

Age 51

Father died of prostate cancer at 73

Yearly PSA testing.

Biopsy after PSA went up .75 in one year

6 of 12 in needle biopsy where cancerous

DaVinci surgery 4/15/2008

Last PSA .008

corvetteman3 - How weird is that with the wine? I wonder if anybody has studied that at all.

SebringR - Lifting and passing gas - yes, big issues. I worry about the sex issue, but what seems to work for me is to use the bathroom right before we get busy, and that seems to help. I try to be very alert to that issue before and after sex, but leaking heavily during orgasm has not been a problem.

dawgfan - The Walsh book says men continue to go dry up to one year post surgery. I can tell you from experience that I am MUCH better now (at 13 months) than I was at 6 months. It is slowly dawning on me that I might have to wear a light pad for the rest of my life, but that is not the end of the world. I mean - I HOPE I knock out the last dribbles, and I am still improving - especially during exercise. But I can happily complain now that the biggest issue with me getting back into the physical shape I want is the limitation of my knees - not my prostate.

Good luck to everybody -
kcragman

---

Age: 53; 52 at DX
March 2006: PSA 2.5
Dec 2007: PSA taken for insurance application. I did not see the results until late
Jan '08 - after I was rejected. Their lab said PSA 4.5.
Feb 2008: PSA 3.7.
March 2008: Biopsy. Gleason 7 (4+3) 12 cores taken. 5 on the left side were
cancerous and the 6th was suspect.
May 5, 2008: Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy at GW Hospital, Washington DC.

Post op: Gleason 9 (4+5). 15% of prostate involved. Stage: pT3a. Negative margins. Lymph node and nerve samples taken, and appeared to be cancer free.

July 2008: PSA at 7 weeks was undetectable.
August 2008: PSA at 14 weeks (3 months) was undetectable.
Nov 2008: PSA at 6 months was undetectable.
Feb 2009: PSA at 9 months was undetectable.

May 2009: PSA at 12 months was undectable.

I think that we are lucky that none of the women here have stepped in to flame this thread. My wife has worn light pads ever since our son was born. She is sympathetic to my situation but she also knows that some things are not so hard to live with.

---

Age at diagnosis 66, PSA 5.5
Biopsy 12/08 12 cores, 8 positive
Gleason 3 + 4 = 7
CAT scan 1/09 negative, Bone scan 1/09 negative

Robotic surgery 03/03/09 Catheter Removed 03/08/09
Post surgical pathology report. Lymph nodes negative, Seminal vesicles negative
Surgical margins positive, Capsular penetration extensive Gleason 4 + 3 = 7
At 6 weeks: 1 pad/day, 1 pad/night -- mostly dry at night.