walking and leaking?

    Hello All,  I have enjoyed and appreciated reading all of your stories.  I wish mine would have been a bit easier.  But still would not trade it for having the cancer still in my body.

Just to give you an idea - we kept track of Bob's pad numbers via the calendar just to kind of get an idea of progress. He is 7 weeks post surgery and using one pad a day now. One week after the catheter was out he had used all 52 in the package. The second package took him 2 additional weeks; we are now at just over 3 more weeks on  the third package.

The continence comes back slowly but surely. For the longest time he was fine at night; semi-fine when sitting (but had to hurry to the bathroom whilst leaking) and walking was a disaster. This last week the biggest change has been noticed in even being able to "hold" better.

So it just keeps going along, but progressing nonetheless. I can see the second to third month being just about the norm. The younger more fit men seem to get it the fastest.

Take care, good luck and kw - please keep us posted.
;o) Linda & Bob

---

Bob (60) had laproscopic prostate surgery on Sept 27, 2006 - 2/12 malignant biopsy samples - gleason 3 + 3 = 6.  Follow up PSA results and pathology results received Nov 14th are NO MORE CANCER!  Gleason changed to a 3 + 4; cancer completely confined to prostate; (even a second more agressive, previously undetected cancer)      PSA UNDETECTABLE.

I would be about two miles behind you after 47 minutes!
A month or so after my operation (3-10-06) I did some treadmill and elliptical work, maybe 45 minutes with maximum pulse rate of 155+, but that rate only for a few minutes. (I'm 59, and have been jogging on and off since 1968, when it was called "Coopering".) Mostly I go at a 12+ minute pace. For a while I tried just walking wearing a weight vest, which I really liked. Then, once the weather warmed up, I layed off the gym and played golf once or twice a week, walking and carrying my clubs.
I'm not so lucky in the continence department. I'm mostly dry at night, am okay when sitting, but soak my pads when standing, walking, or exerting. Not great for seven months. I have to say I was not religious about doing the Kegels until this past month. I read that ultimately the results are the same whether you do them or not, but my recent experience leads me to believe that that is not the case, at least with me. I have notice a marked improvement over the last month.
Over the years I've also lifted weights (intermittently), and have a nifty setup on my indoor patio, which I'm looking forward to using again. Which brings me to my question. Where is the literature on post-rpp fitness and conditioning? I've googled until I'm blue in the face and can't find anything worthwhile. Besides Kegels, aren't there other things we can do to strengthen the ol' pelvic floor? Yoga, Pilates? And what are the risks? Can we retard the progress or actually screw things up by doing too much, or the wrong exercises?
Even just reading this forum, some people say to do as many Kegels as you can, others say twice a day. And do we all agree that walking is beneficial?
Anyway, I have to wait until after my nuclear stress test next week. My GP picked up a variation in my EKG, and the cardiologist told me to "lay low" until after the test, althought I had an echocardiogram and the technician said it looked good.
I think I'll start another thread about this. I assume I'm not the only one whose cancer has motivated them to get back in shape.

KW, I sometimes do a partial Kegel while walking. But usually I'm so involved with what I'm doing that I forget. It's like the old "walk and chew gum at the same time" joke.

josal