Dr. Tewari, of the Dept. of Urology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, presents an insightful perspective on the emotional dimensions of prostate cancer and the critical role those emotions play in treatment and recovery.

I think that emotional preparedness is a key in the recovery after prostate cancer surgery. Especially with prostate cancer surgery, I think that emotions play a major role. Sense of security, sense of confidence in their own decision and the surgical team that's going to take care of them and the support system they have at home all combine together to make a major difference in terms of how a patient is going to heal and be emotional after the surgery. Sexual and urinary recovery may take some time in some patients. Most patients do reasonably well on these two scores. Urinary control tends to come back sooner than the sexual function. I always tell patients that it may take six months to nine months for these two functions to come back, but I feel disappointed if it takes that long.