5 Days Post-Aquablation
Posted , 6 users are following.
Had Aquablation done on Saturday.
61 years old with history of BPH over 10 years. Had to the bathroom 4 to 5 times at night, 12 times or more during the day. Have been on tamsulosin and tamsulosin. Although these help initially but later proved to be ineffective. I was sent to a urologist who proscribed finesteride. I took this for 7 months but couldn't stand it. I felt it was causing more problems for me. My sex drive was dead. I feel that I was experiencing shrinkage as well.
Subsequent visits to different urologists eventually recommended HOLEP procedure. After doing my homework, I felt that preserving ejaculation is very important to me aside the prospect of resolving the BPH symptoms.
Checked in at 7:30 am to the hospital. Woke up in recovery at about 8:30.
Spent 2 nights at the hospital. I was supposed to spend 1 night but the colour of my urine (light red) was still not satisfactory to the urologist.
I was discharged without the catheter on Monday. Initially constipated and prescribed stool softer. Have been able to move my bowel today.
This forum have done a lot of good preparing me for this surgery. I had dreaded the removal of the catheter and the burning when passing urine.
The removal wasn't as painful as expected, although there is burning and a bit of pain in the first two days but has since gone less painful. The urine colour is now pale or clear at interval but the dripping or leak has not stopped. So I am still wearing a pad to catch the leakage on top of my tip. There is no rear damage and certainly no pain from the backside. (someone made references to damage by ultrasound in this area) .
Frequency is still there as expected because am drinking lots of water to flush the blood out. Urgency was there on the first day back home but has reduced now.
So it is too early to make any conclusion on day 5 but I will keep updating. The only thing I have noticed is when I have the urge now, I pee and the flow is much better than before when sometimes I had return to bed without passing urine. The pain if any now has been minimal but I was prescribed paracetamol and ibuprofen just in case.
Thanks for creating this forum, it has helped me a lot.
1 like, 13 replies
ed68391 james16058
Edited
Hi James - It sounds like you're doing well, healing on schedule. By all means check with your doctor, but if you are experiencing pain on passing urine, you might try Azo. I was given a prescription for that when I left the hospital, but they told me at the pharmacy to buy the over the counter strength (a fraction of the cost for the Rx strength), and simply take two tablets at a time, instead of taking one of the prescription strength. I found it helped for the first few days, up to a week, when you will be passing a lot of blood and it hurts to urinate.
The bloody urine may come back after about a week or two post procedure. Don't freak out when and if it does, it's part of the healing process. You may also start passing small scabs or sediment in the urine at that phase, which can hurt. So if it's acceptable to your doctor, I suggest you get some Azo on hand. It is a Rx to treat pain on urination specifically, as opposed to paracetamol and ibuprofen, which are all purpose pain relievers.
It sounds like your control over urine is improving - it took me about ten days - and the blood content is decreasing. That's great.
Preserving ejaculation was important to me too - and I am pleased to say it worked! I was told no sex of any kind for six weeks. It seemed way too long for me a the time, but in retrospect, I think it helped.
Hang in there - it was a longish (about 4 weeks) road to recovery, but in my case it seemed like everything got better all at once.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions - Ed
james16058 ed68391
Posted
Thanks so much Ed. I really appreciate it. I look forward to passing the scabs sometime next week.
I would love to buy Azo as I have read it works wonder for this purpose but am in UK and I don't think we have equivalent here but I will ask around.
I will take your advice and refrain from sex for 4 weeks to test for the RE.
By the way, when did you go back to normal exercise? My urologist said I could do upper body after 2 weeks.
Thanks
ed68391 james16058
Edited
Hi James - Ask about Azo. It did help. It's probably available by Rx over there if not OTC.
Talk to your uro about how long to refrain from sex. I was really anxious to get back into it, but my uro said to wait six weeks from the date of the procedure. I reluctantly followed his advice, but I was glad I did. The orgasm felt a little weak the first time out, then it got progressively stronger after that. And no RE!!
The six week moratorium might have been something specific to me and the anatomy of my prostate, so don't deprive yourself without discussing with your doctor. You may be set to go much sooner. (My prostate was unusually large. I'm not bragging - everything else is pretty average - but the larger prostate and larger volume of tissue removed might have been why he told me no fun for six weeks.)
I was given the green light to start exercising again after about 3 1/2 weeks. I felt ready to try exercise sooner, but I wanted to discuss with my uro, and that's when my appointment was. He said I could do whatever exercise I wanted at that point (except sex). I am a former competitive swimmer, so I started swimming laps again right after that 3 1/2 week appointment. It went perfectly fine, although I did feel out of shape after about a month out of the pool. I'm swimming much better now. If you lift a lot of weights, you might want to hold off on leg day until you discuss with the doc . Long distance running might be a little tough for a while too. You want to avoid straining anything in the "bathing suit area" until you are healed, to avoid further complications.
Good luck with your recovery, and I hope it goes smoothly for you.
james16058 ed68391
Posted
Thanks Ed.
james16058 ed68391
Posted
Hi Ed, One thing I would like to know is how soon and how far were you walking around outside your home after discharged. At the hospital I was encouraged to walk around just for the purpose of moving my bowel. I was still bleeding so I didn't so I didn't pay much attention. Since I have got home I have been walking around the neighbourhood (less than a mile) twice a day. I found out that I do bleed afterwards. So now am not sure if walking is part of the healing process. All the urology say is give 3 weeks before exercise.
ed68391 james16058
Edited
Hi James - Good for you to be able to get so much walking done. I think if you feel comfortable doing it, the walking should be good for you.
I was encouraged to walk in the hospital, but also just to make sure I could walk, and to loosen up the bowels. I wasn't given much instruction on when and how much to walk in the first week or two after the procedure. I think I stayed in the house for about the first week, only walking around inside. I was called back to the hospital on about the fourth day after the procedure, because I had told my uro (he called me) that I had lost a lot of blood and I was still feeling unsteady after the surgery. I walked from the car (I was not driving myself) to his office and back, which was a considerable distance - several hundred yards each way. Otherwise, I don't think I left the house much for about ten days. It was winter where I live, and there was snow on the ground, so walking was limited anyway.
By the second week after surgery, I felt fine to go outside and walk, pick up some more depends and pads at the store, go to my office to retrieve mail, etc. Nothing too strenuous, but I was mobile.
I would say that if you find the walking causes you to bleed more, then limit the walking for a while. The bleeding will stop soon. By about ten days post surgery, my bleeding had slowed to an oozing, which can be controlled with pads instead of depends. At that point I felt comfortable getting out and walking around. There's no rush to get back to exercise. My advice would be to allow yourself time to heal.
I was walking fine and unrestricted by the third week post-surgery. At the 3 1/2 week mark I got the green light to do whatever form of exercise I wanted.
Good luck! - Ed
james16058 ed68391
Posted
Thanks so much for the info Ed. They will come useful. By the way I was able to place an order for Azo (Max Strength) here, should be delivered tomorrow.
I will keep you updated of the progress.
Grateful!
compiler james16058
Posted
What was the prostate size, residual urine volume and rate of urine flow before the therapy?
james16058 compiler
Posted
Prostate size was 165ml, can't remember the exact residual (though he told me) but the urologist said I had a lot left in my bladder after voiding during the flow rate test before the procedure was recommended. The flow was weak and stopped at intervals, again I will ask on my next appointment because he told me but couldn't remember the exact measure.
One thing for sure is that the flow is not weak any more and one I start, it goes on till it stops. Again the comparison will be confirmed on my next appointment. But from what I have been reading in this forum, it is possible I may still experience diminishing flows during the healing process.
compiler james16058
Posted
Your prostate was very large. What was the PSA before the Aquablation therapy? Had you ever been biopsy/MRI diagnosed for the enlarged prostate before the therapy?
james16058 compiler
Posted
PSA was 4.48 , Yes I had MRI (MRI Pelvis prostate). I asked the Urologist about the result and he said nothing unusual came out from previous diagnosis. The MRI was to help in preparation for the surgery.
Previously you asked about residual urine volume and rate of urine flow before the therapy? peak urine flow 8ml/s, residual 68ml.
compiler james16058
Edited
Your pre-surgery BPH condition looks not very bad except for the prostate size. How was your prostate volume 165 cc measured, by MRI or a transrectal ultrasound? You had stopped any BPH medication before the therapy?
james16058 compiler
Posted
Yes on paper, it wasn't bad but I was still waking up to pee 4-5 time per night and lots of time during the day. The worst is nothing comes out or dripping when I tried to pee sometimes. This was obviously the prostate because the flow is good for now after the surgery and no more stop and start (touch wood). Although still early to make judgement.
Prostate was measure by MRI scan, I had two, one six months before procedure and the other 2 weeks before procedure.
Your guess was right. I felt the medication were not doing any good so I stopped them long before the procedure.