In the video, alongside his wife Debra, Hacksaw said he had been living with the disease for "a couple months" and was preparing to undergo surgery last Friday, Oct. 29. The announcement of his diagnosis was made on the heels of an emergency surgery Hacksaw had on Oct. 20. It's unclear whether that surgery was related to his cancer, but it apparently went well.

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Hacksaw, 67, asked that everyone pray for him as he prepared for prostate cancer surgery. It's also unclear what stage Hacksaw's cancer is, or what type of surgery he had. The main type of surgery for prostate cancer is a radical prostatectomy. In this operation, the surgeon removes the entire prostate gland, as well as some of the tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles.

Related: An Overview of Prostate Cancer Surgery

Debra knows how invested WWE fans are in Hacksaw's health and well-being, so after his surgery, she shared a photo of Hacksaw from his hospital bed with the news that surgery went well. And on Sunday, she shared another update on her husband's condition he's at home recuperating from surgery.

"When given the choice to stay one more night in the hospital or go home to recuperate, home definitely wins," the post reads. "Jim wants everyone to know he is thankful for the doctors and all of you. Please continue to pray for us."

 

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Hacksaw's Cancer Battles

This is the second time Hacksaw has battled cancer.

The illness nearly cost him his wrestling career in 1998 when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He beat the disease, however, and returned to the wrestling ring in 1999 for a match at the WCW Fall Brawl.

Hacksaw has faced some other serious health conditions as well. Over the years, he's had surgery on his heart to treat atrial fibrillation, often called AFib or AF, which is the most common type of treated heart arrhythmia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prostate Cancer Surgery: What Are Your Options?

Removing your prostate is "a big operation," Dr. Stephen Freedland, director of the Center for Integrative Research in Cancer and Lifestyle at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet. The goal of the surgery is to completely remove the cancer.

Laparoscopic Surgery vs. Traditional Open Surgery: What's the Best Choice for Prostate Cancer?

There are several different options when considering surgery for prostate cancer; you can either choose traditional open surgery, or laparoscopic surgery.

Traditional surgery consists of making a large incision, but doctors tell us that laparoscopic surgery is used more often now because it offers a smaller incision and a shorter recovery time. And an even newer approach, known as a robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP), or robotic surgery, allows surgeons to make these small incisions with more precision.

"It's probably a good month or so until you're getting back to yourself," Dr. Freedland says.

But probably one of the most important factors in deciding what type of surgery is best for you is your surgeon's experience and skill.

How to Choose a Surgeon Does Volume Matter?

When it comes to picking a surgeon, experience is obviously key. But Dr. Jay Shah, a urologic oncologist at Stanford Medicine, tells SurvivorNet that you shouldn't simply ask surgeons how many operations they've performed volume isn't necessarily the best indicator of the right surgeon for you, he says.

On the other hand, you don't want a surgeon who is inexperienced. Ultimately, Dr. Shah recommends going with your gut and choosing someone you feel you can trust.

Contributing: SurvivorNet staff

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