On Friday 15th September 2023 we pulled it together and set up a stand at the Men's Health Event at the Riversmeet Leisure Centre in Gillingham. I think the pressure of taking a place forced me to get material together. I must confess feeling a bit stressed. Initially, I did not get much material from Prostate Cancer UK and I felt a bit like I hadn't got anything to display. The cancer support lady at Salisbury Hospital got me off the ground and I came away from there with a nice selection of materials. Tackle Prostate Cancer stepped in again and ordered a box of resources for me from PCUK with a bit of clout. The result was ample material to hand out and display. The event was a great success for us. Two of our members set up and I joined them with another member just after lunch. By the time we arrived, many of the materials had gone. So many guys stopped and chatted and it was a real buzzing atmosphere. Despite plans to hand over to the two of us turning up for the second shift, the two early shifters were keen to stay until the end. There was no time to feel bored as we had a steady flow of guys wanting to ask questions. We were able to direct many men to the website using the QR code.
This week I went down one of those rabbit holes looking for answers about erectile disfunction and followed up on a question that came up in the group about penile shrinkage after surgery or treatment. As some may know, I spent a time living and working in Oxford. In that time, I worked for a period in a conference centre and remembered watching a talk by an eminent doctor and researcher at the university. She spoke of the Cochrane Library. This is often used by Oxford University in checking research. If you ever have a question about natural remedies you can rely on the Cochrane Library to find genuine medical studies to check efficacy. As an example, there is that common myth that ginseng helps with ED. The medical studies in the library refute this. The trick with the reports is to find the conclusion. The technical stuff can get overwhelming. Here is what I did find: I was quite keen to make sure I was not affected by the dreaded shrink. I haven't had that issue and I wondered why when others had. I discovered that Tadalafil (phosphodiesterase inhibitor)sis not initially effective for ED following Radical Prostatectamy, but......it can be effective for prevention of shrinkage and as part of the rehabilitation process. The other bombshell from the study was to that it takes up to 2 years to get normal erections back. Here is the link to the first study.
After further digging in an around this subject, it became clear to me that rehabilitation is important after surgery and you should talk to your specialist nurse or urologist to look in to what is best for you.