Jerry Klinger, 59, Sedona, AZ Date of Surgery June 2008
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When I went to the internist in December for my yearly physical, my PSA was substantially higher
than the previous reading and the velocity was also too great. We re-checked it three months
later recommended doctor who treats only prostate disease. He had personally undergone
prostate cancer and open surgery eight years before and was extremely sympathetic. He also had
the latest state-of-the-art equipment. I was inclined to put off the biopsy, but the doctor said that
would be a mistake and thankfully, I listened to him.
First, I had an MRI and then a color Doppler, US guided biopsy. Interestingly, neither test
indicated cancer and this surprised the both of us — particularly me. I must have been numb, or
maybe it is the fact that I am a veterinarian and have a medical background, but instead of
dwelling on the diagnosis, I just started researching my options. My son has a client who had
undergone surgery by Dr. Patel and was very pleased. The client had done extensive research
himself, which helped me a lot. I, however, did a lot of research on my own, reading books by
Walsh and by Scardino plus days of research on the web and talking to a number of people,
mostly friends of friends, who have had the surgery.
Dr. Patel made things much easier than I expected. I immediately wrote to him telling him that I
was considering him for surgery and he immediately emailed back the responses to all my
questions. He also phoned me on two occasions. In short, my instincts said surgery was the only
logical option at my “relatively” young age. My Gleason score indicated that the cancer had
probably not metastasized or moved outside the capsule (thankfully the biopsy report after the
surgery proved this to be correct). With that in mind, going through the open procedure with the
additional pain and no additional gain, made no sense. I quickly ruled out brachy, external beam,
HIFU and other forms of non-surgical treatment since I wanted the cancer out of my body. The
other treatments do not remove it, and in my opinion can leave you with more problems than the
surgery.
Having performed surgery myself for thirty years as a veterinarian, and having a number of
surgical specialists working at my animal hospitals, it is a simple fact that the more you do, the
better you become at doing any procedure. The fact that Dr. Patel had done 3000 procedures and,
since he had told me the time in surgery would be about an hour and fifteen minutes, made the
choice a no-brainer.
Most other doctors say time in the OR is between two to four hours. I am not an advocate of
unnecessary anesthesia. Also, the adage in any surgical procedure is “time is trauma”.
Once I made the decision to have the surgery done robotically, I made reservations with Dr. Patel’
s office and then booked a two bedroom suite at the nearby Mona Lisa Suites. I highly recommend
this fine hotel with its nice clean rooms and amazing staff service, close to the hospital and the
town of Celebration. I arrived on Thursday afternoon for a consultation with Dr. Patel on Friday
and spent the weekend enjoying the area and restaurants (I knew that I wouldn’t be eating well
immediately prior to or after the procedure). I have family and friends in the area who took turns
staying with me in the hotel. My son flew in from California the night before the procedure and
stayed with me for four days. All in all, I was not alone at anytime. I chose to stay at the hotel until
the catheter was removed, which in my case was the eighth post operative day.
I really was never nervous and always had a good outlook that all would turn out fine. Even until
the instant I was “under,” I was kidding with the anesthesiologist. Next thing I knew, I was in
recovery. The third and forth post op days were the most uncomfortable in my case and things
were pretty good by the seventh or eighth day. I was off the Percocet at the end of about a week;
being good and doing my Kegel exercises as directed.
Aside from not getting all of the cancer out (which Dr. Patel successfully did), my other big fears
concerned urinary continence and erectile function. I have heard all kinds of experiences from
fairly rapid returns to functionality to needing penile implants. I was prepared for a few months of
urinary incontinence, hoping I would be in the group that had almost none from the time the
catheter was removed, to expecting to wait a couple of months or more for any erections. I have
barely leaked at all. My leakage was mostly during the first two days, and then minimal leakage
after that. What I have finally figured out is that in a few cases, urine will leak out of the bladder
sphincter, but I am able to stop it with the sphincter in the penis until I locate a restroom. It has in
no way been a bad experience and I’m hoping it will be completely over very soon.
To my very happy surprise, I awoke on the eighth night with a partial erection (though it didn’t last
very long) and again with a slightly better one the next night. I have since had a couple more.
Though not as firm as I would like, I know that will be returning soon, too, and am very happy
about that. So, to sum up, in regards to both continence and erectile function, my personal
results were more than I could have hoped for.
My brother, who is only three years younger than I am, has recently reported similar PSA results
to mine. He was with me when the catheter was removed, met Dr. Patel and asked him many
questions. Though he has not scheduled any biopsies yet, he lives nearby the facility and already
decided between my experiences and meeting the doctor himself, that if the need arises, he
would not go anywhere else, or use any other doctor. About all that is left for to me write about is
my experience with the staff at both Dr. Patel’s office and the hospital itself. Let me answer this
way: In the mid 1980’s I was hospitalized in a New York City hospital. The staff was rude and the
facility was poorly run. I was a pin cushion for the residents. “Don’t ever get sick in a big city
hospital,” I was warned and I was in one of New York’s “finest.” I did, in fairness, have great
primary doctors, but they didn’t do enough themselves. Two years ago I spent a week in a Mayo
Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, near my home. The medical care and staff were amazing. Dr. Patel’s
staff in the office and in the hospital was right there at the top of the list along with Mayo. Trust
me, it makes a difference and Dr. Patel and his staff did all that and more. My thanks to everyone
concerned with my care. I think that anyone who finds Dr. Patel, and who needs a prostatectomy,
is lucky to have found him.
than the previous reading and the velocity was also too great. We re-checked it three months
later recommended doctor who treats only prostate disease. He had personally undergone
prostate cancer and open surgery eight years before and was extremely sympathetic. He also had
the latest state-of-the-art equipment. I was inclined to put off the biopsy, but the doctor said that
would be a mistake and thankfully, I listened to him.
First, I had an MRI and then a color Doppler, US guided biopsy. Interestingly, neither test
indicated cancer and this surprised the both of us — particularly me. I must have been numb, or
maybe it is the fact that I am a veterinarian and have a medical background, but instead of
dwelling on the diagnosis, I just started researching my options. My son has a client who had
undergone surgery by Dr. Patel and was very pleased. The client had done extensive research
himself, which helped me a lot. I, however, did a lot of research on my own, reading books by
Walsh and by Scardino plus days of research on the web and talking to a number of people,
mostly friends of friends, who have had the surgery.
Dr. Patel made things much easier than I expected. I immediately wrote to him telling him that I
was considering him for surgery and he immediately emailed back the responses to all my
questions. He also phoned me on two occasions. In short, my instincts said surgery was the only
logical option at my “relatively” young age. My Gleason score indicated that the cancer had
probably not metastasized or moved outside the capsule (thankfully the biopsy report after the
surgery proved this to be correct). With that in mind, going through the open procedure with the
additional pain and no additional gain, made no sense. I quickly ruled out brachy, external beam,
HIFU and other forms of non-surgical treatment since I wanted the cancer out of my body. The
other treatments do not remove it, and in my opinion can leave you with more problems than the
surgery.
Having performed surgery myself for thirty years as a veterinarian, and having a number of
surgical specialists working at my animal hospitals, it is a simple fact that the more you do, the
better you become at doing any procedure. The fact that Dr. Patel had done 3000 procedures and,
since he had told me the time in surgery would be about an hour and fifteen minutes, made the
choice a no-brainer.
Most other doctors say time in the OR is between two to four hours. I am not an advocate of
unnecessary anesthesia. Also, the adage in any surgical procedure is “time is trauma”.
Once I made the decision to have the surgery done robotically, I made reservations with Dr. Patel’
s office and then booked a two bedroom suite at the nearby Mona Lisa Suites. I highly recommend
this fine hotel with its nice clean rooms and amazing staff service, close to the hospital and the
town of Celebration. I arrived on Thursday afternoon for a consultation with Dr. Patel on Friday
and spent the weekend enjoying the area and restaurants (I knew that I wouldn’t be eating well
immediately prior to or after the procedure). I have family and friends in the area who took turns
staying with me in the hotel. My son flew in from California the night before the procedure and
stayed with me for four days. All in all, I was not alone at anytime. I chose to stay at the hotel until
the catheter was removed, which in my case was the eighth post operative day.
I really was never nervous and always had a good outlook that all would turn out fine. Even until
the instant I was “under,” I was kidding with the anesthesiologist. Next thing I knew, I was in
recovery. The third and forth post op days were the most uncomfortable in my case and things
were pretty good by the seventh or eighth day. I was off the Percocet at the end of about a week;
being good and doing my Kegel exercises as directed.
Aside from not getting all of the cancer out (which Dr. Patel successfully did), my other big fears
concerned urinary continence and erectile function. I have heard all kinds of experiences from
fairly rapid returns to functionality to needing penile implants. I was prepared for a few months of
urinary incontinence, hoping I would be in the group that had almost none from the time the
catheter was removed, to expecting to wait a couple of months or more for any erections. I have
barely leaked at all. My leakage was mostly during the first two days, and then minimal leakage
after that. What I have finally figured out is that in a few cases, urine will leak out of the bladder
sphincter, but I am able to stop it with the sphincter in the penis until I locate a restroom. It has in
no way been a bad experience and I’m hoping it will be completely over very soon.
To my very happy surprise, I awoke on the eighth night with a partial erection (though it didn’t last
very long) and again with a slightly better one the next night. I have since had a couple more.
Though not as firm as I would like, I know that will be returning soon, too, and am very happy
about that. So, to sum up, in regards to both continence and erectile function, my personal
results were more than I could have hoped for.
My brother, who is only three years younger than I am, has recently reported similar PSA results
to mine. He was with me when the catheter was removed, met Dr. Patel and asked him many
questions. Though he has not scheduled any biopsies yet, he lives nearby the facility and already
decided between my experiences and meeting the doctor himself, that if the need arises, he
would not go anywhere else, or use any other doctor. About all that is left for to me write about is
my experience with the staff at both Dr. Patel’s office and the hospital itself. Let me answer this
way: In the mid 1980’s I was hospitalized in a New York City hospital. The staff was rude and the
facility was poorly run. I was a pin cushion for the residents. “Don’t ever get sick in a big city
hospital,” I was warned and I was in one of New York’s “finest.” I did, in fairness, have great
primary doctors, but they didn’t do enough themselves. Two years ago I spent a week in a Mayo
Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, near my home. The medical care and staff were amazing. Dr. Patel’s
staff in the office and in the hospital was right there at the top of the list along with Mayo. Trust
me, it makes a difference and Dr. Patel and his staff did all that and more. My thanks to everyone
concerned with my care. I think that anyone who finds Dr. Patel, and who needs a prostatectomy,
is lucky to have found him.
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