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rick_c
Total messages: 1
Registration date: 04/25/2007
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Created: 04/25/2007 11:32:17
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I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 8/06. I live 100 miles from NYC. A GI doctor whom I know very well told me to get Robotic Surgery. His friend had gone to NYC a couple of years ago and was doing great. I visited David Samadi in 10/06 and found a wonderful caring person. As a matter of fact, I posted a question on this web site and he called me on my cell phone the same night. Now, I challenge ANYONE, except another physician, to tell me that you think you would get a call like that from ANY other doctor, except a personal friend of yours. Dr. Samadi spent about 15 minutes on the phone with me explaining the procedure and asking me questions about my condition and the results of tests that I had done.
I traveled to Dr. Samadi?s office in NYC to meet with him personally (and find out if I was really talking to HIM on the phone) because I was in such shock that a world renowned surgeon would call ME!! While sitting in the waiting room, thinking all the bad thoughts we all have when diagnosed with cancer, Dr. Samadi walked out of his office to leave the building for 15 minutes. However, he stopped by where I was sitting to introduce himself and tell me he was glad to meet me and that he would be back in 15 minutes. While waiting I filled out all the long forms that are required of all doctor?s visits. However, the warm exchange with him, in the lobby was comforting. He seemed like he was genuinely interested in me. When he returned (in 15 minutes ? not 45) he called me into his office and we talked more about the disease. He went over my reports and told me I was a good candidate for RLAP. He discussed open surgery and the fact that he was trained at Sloane-Kettering. He told me he really wanted to help me and assured me that the surgery and post-op would be fine. However, the problem was that I needed to wait until January because he was so busy and that the last two weeks of December were not the best time for him to operate and that he was going on vacation. This is where the mistake began.
Since it was only mid-October, I visited with another surgeon much nearer to home and he also seemed very well-qualified. However, I was informed that he was able to do my surgery a month earlier than Dr. Samadi. I chose not to wait another month and went ahead and had the surgery performed nearer to home.
The surgery seemed to go well and I felt pretty good when I got back in my room. The next morning I noticed a ?pool of blood? around my waistline that was about 4 inches wide and about 1 inch high. That night I was visited by the surgeon?s assistant who told me not to worry about it. I was discharged the next day and two days later my entire abdomen, along with my scrotal area was the worst black and blue that you can imagine. I called the surgeon?s office and the assistant called me back and told me that it happens and that the blood would seep back into the skin and cause no damage. A week later I had the catheter removed and they saw my abdomen and said that, yes, it was really black and blue and that it would just go away on its own.
I suffered the usual urinary incontinence issues the first week but started to get better after that. However, I stayed on Levaquin a couple extra days because I was urinating every 20 minutes. I called the office and asked if they thought I had an infection because of the problem and they said to stay on the medicine a couple more days. Then the constipation started. I had to strain very badly the second and third week to move my bowels. By the end of the fourth week I couldn?t move my bowels at all. I went to the GI doctor and was given medicine to add fluid to my stools. I still couldn?t go. A week later he told me to start taking enemas every other day. Two weeks later, still taking enemas and nearly out of my mind with anxiety, I remembered the very good compassionate man that I met in NYC. I emailed Dr. Samadi and told him about my problem. The next day I received a phone call on my cell phone from him and he gave me advice about drinking a lot of fluids, etc. etc. and let him know in a few days how I was doing. Nothing worked except enemas. I emailed Dr. Samadi again and he told me to come to his office ASAP. I called for an appointment on a Tuesday and they gave me an appointment on a Thursday. When I saw him, he told me to calm down and that he would help me through this issue wherever it led. I told him about the black and blue and he was incredulous that I wasn?t brought back into the hospital for examination to determine if I was also bleeding internally. I told him that I called them to complain but was given the explanation above. He then examined my rectum (the usual prostate exam) and felt a ?fluid buildup? in my prostate area which he thought was a hematoma (collection of blood) and told me that I needed a CT Scan. I went and got a CT Scan the next week which showed two small collections of blood in the area that were the result of the surgery. However, that was nine weeks after surgery. The question was, how large was it the two weeks after surgery when my constipation began. Was it large enough to put pressure on the rectum and cause constipation? I believe he felt so. One GI doctor told me she thought I had some type of nerve damage and the condition would be permanent. I hung up on her. Another doctor put me on Miralax (a laxative), which made my bowels start to work in about 3 days. I am now 13 weeks since surgery and still taking Miralax to go to the bathroom. Hopefully, some day I?ll be able to stop and go on my own.
The reason for this story is that Dr. Samadi is the most caring, compassionate man that I have ever met in the medical profession. He told me, first of all, that the hematoma wouldn?t have occurred with his surgery because he would have made sure the blood was drained. However, he also told me that he visits his patients personally the next day and asks them to call if there is any issue. He would have had me back in the hospital for a CT Scan the next day. I firmly believe that if he did the surgery I would not be writing this horror story. So??.pray for me and pass the word to all that have prostate cancer: Dr. David Samadi is the man!!
I feel like an expert on the subject. I have read three books, visited 3 Robotic surgeons, viewed various web-sites, etc. etc. and what I never expected, or was warned about, happened to me. If I can be of any help to anyone I would be happy to answer any questions for prospective patients. I will, however, guarantee that if you visit Dr. Samadi you will be as impressed with him as I was and you will immediately feel like the weight of the world is off your shoulders. I wished I had waited!!
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Louie G
Total messages: 22
Registration date: 08/25/2006
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Created: 05/06/2007 07:02:08
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I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. Hope your getting better and back to normal. Dr. Samadi is truly a once in a lifetime person who truly cares about people. Combine that with being an excellent surgeon and you have a wonderful human being. I waited for about 3 months for Dr. samadi to do my surgery and honestly you think after being told you have cancer that it would have been the most stressful time in my life, it wasn't. I know the second I met him that this was the most important decision I would make in life. I knew that having Dr. Samadi as my doctor was the best decision I made in all my life. I have had numerous surgeries due to knee and joint problems, and at the time I was diagnosed I was recovering from joint replacement surgery, with all that was going on in my life that one meeting with Dr. Samadi calmed all my fears. And yes he does personally visit with his patients, I was operated on a friday and Dr. Samadi was in my room saturday morning to see me. There are not enough hours in the day for him. Think of this, what doctor would look at you after some other doctor did surgery. I couldn't even get my car mechanic to look at my car if some one else worked on it. He is a wonderful person. If there is anything that I can do to help you through this please don't hesitate to write. We are a community of Dr. Samadi's. Good luck rick
Louie G
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BobG
Total messages: 2
Registration date: 05/07/2007
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Created: 05/07/2007 10:05:13
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I had robotic surgery last Monday and have done fine except for a burning sensation in my penis about once every four hours. Has anyone else has anything like this? 
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jwh
Total messages: 3
Registration date: 06/04/2007
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Created: 06/05/2007 09:24:38
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If the catheter is still in I had the same thing until they removed my catheter. About three weeks after catheter removal I got a urinary tract infection that after three weeks I am still taking antibiotics. I feel much better, but not completely back to normal feeling yet. Still get the occassional sting in my penis, like it's trying to wake up or something. 7 weeks after surgery and I am still a little sore around the scrotum area although much improved, I used to have to sit on a donut cushion. Still using about two pads a day for incontinence but only when I walk. Good luck Bob. Stay in touch, as this forum helped me because I found other people having much the same experience I was having.
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JVig
Total messages: 8
Registration date: 08/22/2007
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Created: 08/22/2007 15:21:50
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Rick, I too am very sorry about your problems. "YOU ARE NOT ALONE," YANA, is a website where those who are contemplating treatment can see about 300 case histories. The outcomes described range from excellent, like my story, to tragic.
Please consider posting your story there so that others can benefit from your experience. The robotic surgery stories are under LAPARASCOPIC SURGERY. The URL is
http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html
Good luck to you,................John Vig
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coxjam
Total messages: 1
Registration date: 04/30/2009
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Created: 04/30/2009 14:36:49
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Rick, I'm so sorry about your extended problems. I had the RLAP Monday April 13th, was released late afternoon of the 14th and had the catheter removed 8 days later. Constipation caused the greatest pain and I am still taking a stool softener and eating lots of prunes, so it is getting easier once a day.
What I was concerned about, tho, until I read you other fellows' experiences was the periodic painful "spasms" of the penis and the almost burning sensation when I urinate, as well as the periodic extreme discomfort between the scrotum and the anus. Apparently that's pretty standard?
BTW, I had mine done by Dr. Gerald Andriole Chief of Urologic Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine here in St. Louis.
Also, to anyone who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer...get a second opinion. My second biopsy by Dr. Andriole (2nd opinion Dr.) found more cancer than the first biopsy. However, some second opinions (I've heard) find LESS cancer which doesn't require the radical P.
Good luck to you all.
coxjam
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dopplerjockey
Total messages: 2
Registration date: 07/01/2009
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Created: 07/01/2009 01:28:42
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Well, guys your posts here are not very encouraging for me. At 56 yrs. of age, I underwent robotic radical prostatectomy on May 04, 2009. The post-op course was rough, as I have to be on anticoagulants due to previous cardiac and stroke issues, so I had bleeding pretty bad.
Although I am only 7 weeks post-op, I struggle physically and emotionally with what I am left with, incontenance, and ED. So far, no erections, using Levitra/Cialis nightly, and a VED pump daily for 15 mins.
I still have considerable perineum pain, especially with any bowel movements. I have had an occasional climax without erections, but that are so very different from pre-surgery that they are almost frightening.
I don't hold out much help that the erections will ever come back, and not sure how I learn to live with that.
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