Turns out I did have prostate cancer after all - had a radical prostatectomy 6 weeks ago, all went well with the operation, and I’m recovering quickly, but the doctors advised between 3 and 6 months off the bike after the operation.
So am wondering about tips for returning to fitness carefully from here on out? I can walk 10k ok, not sure about jogging just yet. I also need to take it easy on lifting any weights over 5kg for the next couple of weeks, need to avoid excessively straining my pelvic area. Did a lot of Wahoo yoga before, but not sure whether it’s a good idea to start again. I already do a twice-weekly rehab sport session which is 40 mins of gentle aerobics/stretching (which I scoffed at being too easy, and then promptly had to sleep for 2 hours to recover ).
Grateful for any tips, ideas, suggestions, experiences.
PS: I’m pretty sure that having done a lot of Sufferfest and yoga before the operation meant that I have been able to recover very quickly - thanks Wahoo and you lovely lot.
Photo is from my hospital bed - sneakily timed my prostatectomy to coincide with the Giro d’Italia
I had the dubious pleasure of a prostatectomy aged 51.
I’d very half-heartedly trained for a half marathon a month before surgery, and was told by my team that I could run again at 4 weeks, which I did. 12 weeks later I ran another competitive half twelve minutes faster than the first.
Just do not try riding a bike for at least three months. It will hurt …
TBF I did not have a great saddle, but my experience is that even with a good one I’d still have endured more pain than reasonable.
In two weeks I am cycling London-Amsterdam in 24 hours on my 65th birthday …
It also turned out that, for me, my prostate cancer is a unending - you could say bottomless - source of joke material, and finding the funny aspect (and making my friends squirm when over-sharing the graphic details) along my journey has definitely helped my mental health. And for us blokes, often humour is the easiest way to talk openly about difficult (you could say hard) topics.
Nowadays, prostate cancer has a very high survival rate, I think >98% for 5 year survival, and so it’s not necessarily such a life threatening condition as it used to be. But still, my experience has reminded me of one of my favourite quotes:
It really seems to me that in the midst of great tragedy, there is always the horrible possibility that something terribly funny will happen.
started Abi’s beginners yoga again last week, this is excellent - I can feel my lack of flexibility and strength since the operation, but it’s a painless way of improving again…
did my first jog this week (7.5 weeks since the operation) and it was (very) slow but no pain
did my first 5 minute swim this week, also slow but no pain
based on feedback here and elsewhere will stay off the bike until 1.1.2025
more importantly, my first PSA test following the operation indicates that the cancer is now gone. More tests over the following months and years, but it’s the perfect start…
1.1.2025 is a LONG time to be off the bike. I had a friend who had a prostatectomy and he was off the bike approximately six to eight weeks. I would continue to consult with your medical team and seek their advice, as did he, for when you should consider light riding indoors.
When you do get back on the bike, be gentle with yourself. Between the surgery, the recovery, your recuperation, and the lack of bike time, you will have lost a lot of fitness. You will get it back if you are careful.
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