Cycling after prostate surgery
 

Of course I will heed my doctor's orders, but if anyone has experience with this I'd appreciate input. I am having surgery (prostatectomy) this Friday May 31. Doctor projects 4 weeks before I can resume swimming, 4 weeks running, and 8 weeks before I could get back on the bike. Has anyone had shorter (or longer) timeframe ?
Should I presume I will need to change my saddle (I have a Allez Elite and whatever saddle came with the bike).
Finally - I hope to recover sufficiently to do a sprint triathlon on September 8. Is that a pipe dream or a realistic possibility?

Hope all goes well Friday, that is not something to take lightly. We have a couple of members that had prostate cancer and some other cancers too. Stapfam and John_V are the first that come to mind, they will be along to help you out and answer questions as best as they can. You will be in my prayers for strength and a complete recovery, please keep us posted on how you are doing during the treatments.

Bill

For me it was about a month before I was back on the Bike, a recumbent & I took it easy for a couple of weeks. Also had received the two month bike prohibition - I couldn't wait, listen to your body, do what feels fine.

Had the same surgery January 2012. Doc ordered me to take it easy on any strenuous activity for a few weeks. Had no desire to get back on the bike at first, and of course it was winter. I think you will find that you'll feel ready to get back riding in 6 to 8 weeks...it took me that long to really feel healed up. Just don't rush it. I feel fine riding now, except of course feeing a year older and slower. BTW, kept the same saddle I've always had, Brooks Flyer.

Radical prostatectomy and it was 4 weeks before I sat on a bike and I got off the saddle quicker than I sat on it. Down to the LBS for a saddle with a cutout and it made things easier but at 6 weeks went for a ride and it still hurt. Not long before I was back to 30 mile rides off road but the lumpy bits were done out of the saddle.

That was in 2001 but it left me with an expensive bill in saddles. NO saddle seemed to be comfortable for long and you name the make and model and I think I tried it. Even tried the Brooks that was in the shed and that was not good again.

There was a cure for butt ache and that was going road. The upright stance of an MTB put pressure where it should not have been put and when I went road in 2006 the problem was cured. Even used the stock saddle on the lowly OCR3 for 6 months so looked like Road biking was my cure.

Might be a good time to look into a recumbent or a trike. Especially one with a sling seat.

I had aggressive prostate cancer but because of my leukemia medication, I could not have surgery. I didn't have any restrictions on riding since my treatment was radiation and hormones but I was off the bike for a few weeks after they did the brachytherapy (seed implants).

If you should decide to change your saddle, I know that there are many out there that you can try that do good jobs on relieving pressure in the perineal area but when you are trying the different ones, don't overlook the ISM saddles. I ride one now (the Prologue) and have not had any pressure points in that area since I bought it, last June. Just make sure that you mount it correctly and sit on it where you are suppose to or it will be a very uncomfortable saddle.

I am assuming you are having the robotic surgery.

I had mine in 2010 and got on the bike again exactly 4 weeks later with no problems. If you had non-robotic I understand the recovery time is 8 weeks to ride again, maybe longer.

I use a seat with a cutout (Terry) and had no pain in the seat contact area at all. I did have a little muscle soreness at the incision sites on my stomach for the first couple of weeks of riding. It was mild and nothing to worry about though.

Good luck with the recovery

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm home now, one day post-op (robotic) and feeling relatively good. I'm already researching a new saddle...

Pre RP and I used a Flite Ti and it used to be comfortable. After sitting on it 4 weeks after op I went for a saddle with the cutout--then another one and another one. Each saddle worked for a while and then hurt. The saddles I ride now are a Flight Gel Max and a San Marco Aero. Not dissimilar to my original Flite but with just a smidgeon of padding. I still feel that it is getting long and low on a road bike that took the stress out of the butt and the pain. So try experimenting in getting the weight to a different place before spending a fortune on saddles as I did.

I had robotic removal 11/11/11. I found I could do most things (walk in the woods, long drives) almost immediately once I worked out the catheter bag problem.* I didn't ride for six weeks but that was mostly because it was cold and there was snow. I was given a dual pad seat (two completely independent butt cushions) but I never needed to use it.** I found it good to avoid potholes! Violent jarring if I was seated did NOT feel good (if I was standing so I could absorb the impact with my legs it was fine).

* I attached the big bag to a nylon belt that I put on under baggy sweat pants. I found the small bags useless.

** PM me if you're interested in the seat.

Glad to read that you are home now, the recovery will do better there than in hospital. Best wishes on your recovery and the return to riding when the time is right.

Bill

Results from TURP?
 

Thought I'd tag onto this topic instead of creating a new one.

I'm interested to hear from guys who have had a TURP procedure, as far as speed of healing and getting back on the bike again. Most of the replies to this topic and previous ones have centered around full prostatectomies, and I'm wondering about the less invasive procedure.

Other than riding again, how did the procedure work out for you? Due to my situation I'm looking at a "wire loop" method rather than laser, and I'm trying to get as much info as possible.

Thanks in advance,

-- Sam

Just in case anyone's interested...

I had my TURP procedure on 9/18, and was able to take a very brief ride yesterday (9/30) afternoon. Sitting on the seat wasn't an issue as I had feared, but after a short time pedaling I felt I was working my abdominal muscles too much at this point in recovery.

Tomorrow marks the 2nd week since my surgery. It'll probably be another week or two before I feel like I can do any distance without undoing some of the healing that's been happening, so I'll wait. But overall, the recovery is coming along faster than I'd hoped, and most of my worries about the procedure and its aftermath have turned out to be unfounded.

-- Sam

You guys are making me glad that I don't have any prostrate problems, or at least don't think I do.

Amen. Glad you guys are doing well.

Don't let your guard down
 

Get your PSA checked! It's the reason I still get to ride my bike.

As far as saddles, after my robotic surgery two years ago I followed docs orders and stayed off the bike for 8 weeks and had no problems. Stayed with my Brooks B17 and still love it.

I'll never forget the day that I got to take my first ride. It was early December and COLD. I wasn't fast and didn't go long but it sure did feel good.

Good luck, be patient and don't jump to a new saddle too quickly is my advice.

I'll second the bit about the first ride feeling good. Even though it was short, my thigh muscles showed their appreciation. But yeah, I really need to give it some time.

And I agree, this stuff is nothing to mess around with. If you're having BPH symptoms get it checked. I treated the symptoms for about 4 years before really doing anything about it, and as a result have some bladder (and other) issues that I could have avoided. The idea of a TURP, or even the cystoscopy used to determine the need for the TURP, really turned me off. There can be complications, but they are much rarer than comments on the Internet would lead one to believe. It's like the old bit about customers: A happy one usually doesn't say much, because he expected a good experience. An unhappy one will scream his dissatisfaction from the highest mountain to all that will listen. We tend to hear far more complaints and negatives than praises.

BTW, and FWIW, and all that: I'm 53, which is on the low age side for dealing with this kind of thing, so I'm told.

-- Sam

I did the low dose radiation treatment during the summer. It's been a couple months,
still trying to work up the guts to get back on the saddle.

I am a colon cancer survivor. My rump was too tender for the first year after they removed some of my colon, but, it was due to the increased bowel activity that many people experience who have had some of their colon removed. It's been three years since I went through the surgery and I am clean at last check. I am still tender at times due to the bowel activity, but, I just have to deal with it. I have the ARS Men's Ergo-gel seat and it does a pretty fair job over all. I don't weigh that much so, the seat is still not actually broken in completely and I have had it on the bike since April. You might check out this seat on Amazon and other gel seats, too. There are tons of options.

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-A-...%27s+bike+seat

Every prostate removal situation is different. What type of removal? DiVinci, straigt out removal or HIFU? What stage is the cancer? Is it aggressive? All factor into the answer. I had HIFU last year. I can't remember if there was a restriction. I think I had to wait 6 weeks, but I remember it wasn't long, but that's thee least invasive of the removal techniques.

[QUOTE=John_V;15684957
If you should decide to change your saddle, I know that there are many out there that you can try that do good jobs on relieving pressure in the perineal area but when you are trying the different ones, don't overlook the ISM saddles. I ride one now (the Prologue) and have not had any pressure points in that area since I bought it, last June. Just make sure that you mount it correctly and sit on it where you are suppose to or it will be a very uncomfortable saddle.[/QUOTE]

No personal experience, but two of my friends use ISM saddles after prostate problems.

I had my total prostatectomy two years ago at age 53. My PSAs were still within the 'normal' range, but the rate of rise (doubled in just one year) led my Dr to retest six weeks later - results were even higher. That led to a biopsy where cancer was found in 3/4 of the samples.

The initial Dr was pushing (too hard) for the new cryo-freezing technique. He didn't seem to want to answer any questions regarding other types - so Wifey did some research and found another Dr. This one listened, and gave us all the options, and the expected results, both in cure rate success and side effects - traditional radical prostatectomy, laproscopic removal, DaVinci (robotic), radiation bombardment, radioactive seed implants and the old 'wait and see'. Some methods (radiation) would make subsequent attempts much more difficult. He said there was no 'right or wrong' and that it was our decision. I opted for a laproscopic removal.

Surgery went well. The worst part of the whole deal was the dang catheter for the ten days following the surgery. Never having had to use one before in my life, my penis was in extreme pain at the insertion point until I used a little triple-antibiotic cream as a lube, which I later learned was the proper treatment.

I had none of the expected potential side effects from the prostatectomy. I was able to sit on a Brooks bicycle seat ten weeks after the surgery with no problems.

Question for those of you who had a prostatectomy and resumed cycling shortly thereafter - Were you continent or were you still dealing with leakage issues?

Matt

I started this thread so I may as well answer first. Post-op recoveries vary considerably among individuals. I had an excellent recovery. I had only minor incontinence initially, and even that disappeared within 3 weeks post-op. Since I didn't resume riding until 8 weeks post-op, incontinence was a non-issue.