Posted , 14 users are following.
I would like to hear specifically hear from those who have have had the aquablation procedure, and your experience with it and your recommendations. I am seriously considering having this procedure myself and want to educate myself. It's either aquablation or PAE.
0 likes, 29 replies
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jim09449 gary37907
Posted
I am also interested in evaluating this procedure instead of HoLep.
rishikumar gary37907
Posted
what is PAE ?
is yr insurance covering it in USA ? UHC doesnt
michael55618 gary37907
Edited
I'm 56 and had Aquablation on Aug 18. I would consider the procedure a big success. Before the surgery I could urinate about 14 oz. of fluid, maybe a little more. After the surgery, I almost immediately went up to 20 oz. Two weeks post surgery I hit 26 oz. This past Sunday I reached 31 oz.
I urinate less frequently, and over the weekend I slept 8 hours without waking up for the first time in a very long time.
I have a strong stream when I urinate, although not overpowering yet.
My only complaints are short term stuff. I had a lot of pain the day of the surgery. My surgeon does Aquablation on Thursdays and removes the catheter on Monday. So, that was a weekend I would like to forget. I also got a UTI and had a 24 hour period where I was very sick. I'm still healing and only in the last couple of days has the blood left my urine.
compiler michael55618
Posted
What was your prostate size? Have you got improvement in urinary urgency, post-void dribbling etc?
michael55618 compiler
Edited
My urologist told me that my prostate was about twice the size of what he would expect for a man of my age. I believe he said it was about 70 grams.
I would give a tentative yes to the other questions as I am still only 20 days past surgery. My bladder still seems to be adjusting to the new reality. In terms of urinary urgency, after I got the catheter out, for the first couple of days, the urgency was quite intense and I would miss the toilet when I started. That has gradually improved and now I no longer need to urinate every one to two hours. If I let my bladder get really full (like this past Sunday when I basically peed a whole quart) I can still feel a sense of urgency, but I would assume that is normal. Dribbling is much better, although it has not gone away completely.
cali-mike1970 michael55618
Posted
Hi michael, seems like waiting that long to pee 32oz is extending your bladder quite a bit. most bladders give a signal to pee way before 1L of water. i am currently having OAB and get a signal often (50ml to 100ml I think). can you pee before you need to pee a quart? or is that how your body gives you the signal? seems like at a slow stream that would be a long pee!
michael55618 cali-mike1970
Posted
Hi Cali,
Yes, I can pee before getting to 32 oz., I did not mean to imply otherwise. Before my surgery, the most I could pee was about 14 oz. It has become a rather bizarre hobby of mine to see how much I can pee post-Aquablation. Usually I start getting the feeling I need to pee at about 20 oz. But I think you are probably right that I should not stress my bladder by waiting until I have a liter in it.
PS, the stream is now quite strong so I don't need much time to pee a quart!
compiler gary37907
Edited
Thanks for sharing. How soon did the bleeding stop or you still have it? Any bowel dysfunction?
michael55618 compiler
Edited
It took a little over two weeks for the bleeding to completely stop. No bowel issues.
ken86416 gary37907
Edited
60 year old man, just had my aquablation procedure today in Florida. I chose this particular procedure based on a number of factors, I like the robotic approach which should provide more consistent results, from everything I've read, this solution is very durable, and has minimal / low incidents of negative side effects. I also made sure that my Dr. knew that full preservation of sexual function was important to me. He assured that he would use an approach that would preserve ejaculatory function BUT it is always a possibility. He estimated between 15 - 20 % possibility of retro ejaculation, I am hopeful he was being cautious in managing expectations.
I will try to be as specific as possible to help you folks who are considering.
Pre Op preparation was nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before, also had to use an enema. Shower was allowed morning of operation but was asked to use anti-bacterial soap. One thing to point out ... was also asked NOT to take my blood pressure medication on the day of the procedure. This is something for you folks to discuss with your Dr.
Surgery was scheduled for 90 minutes, most of which i was informed was prep and positioning. I was put under general anesthesia, so really no idea what was done while i was under.
Woke up in recovery almost 90 minutes later, very slight soreness, felt a bit bloated. Catherer was attached and they had starred irrigation *basically two large ( i believe 3000 mL) bags of 0.9 % sodium chloride irrigation.
Irrigated flow was bright red (fruit punch gatorade color) to start.
Was given some water and ice chips and soon left recovery room and headed to my hospital room ( maybe 15 - 20 minutes)
Have been in room since, made one attempt to move my bowels but it just isn't happening yet. Also, irrigation flow had slowed down but when I got up to go to the bathroom, I had an intense feeling that i needed to urinate. This pushed out several small blot clots into the irrigation tubes and some blood flowed from the tip of my penis ... it burned, but again, not too bad. This episode also seem to clear up my slow irrigation flow but to be sure the nurses flushed the catherer.
Irrigation bags seem to last about 45-60 minutes before they are empty / need to be replaced.
5 hours post recovery and irrigation flow is now light pink, so all seems to be going well.
Thus far, I have not needed or taken any pain meds so thats a plus. Will let you know if that holds true tomorrow.
Hoping to be released from the hospital tomorrow afternoon. Follow-up appointment with my Uro is scheduled for Monday. So catherer will be in roughly 5 days.
Will try to give updates as things change so you can get an idea of what my experience has been, although yours can always be quite different.
bcb1 ken86416
Posted
Thanks for the good report Ken, please continue to post updates every few days if you can. Very helpful for guys like me that are seriously considering Aquablation.
compiler ken86416
Posted
What symptoms caused you going for the surgery instead of medication, catheterization, unable urinating, very large prostate size, urinary frequency, recurrent bladder stones, nocturia, etc?
ken86416 compiler
Edited
well ... other than catherization, for me it was all all of the above. I tried medication and didnt tolerate it well. Difficulty urinating, frequent and urgent need to urinate during the day and just getting worse, getting up two - three times a night. To be honest, my fear is / was that it would continue to get worse to the point where i couldnt urinate on my own and the impact of my quality of life. I chose to look for a durable solution where ideally it wouldnt have a high incidence of side effects. I was also looking for a "once and done" solution as i would rather not have to deal with this again.
ken86416 bcb1
Edited
Post Aquablation Op day 2 .... for the most part, not much to update as I still have the catheter in. On that point, I will say this ... tolerable for the most part but I am also getting bladder spasms which i have to say are NO FUN AT ALL. Also, was advised to use a stool softener as constipation is your enemy. I am finding that this is helpful as bowel movements with a "foley" in are an interesting experience.
compiler ken86416
Posted
The bladder spasms could be due to the catheter use. Your doctor can prescribe medications to control the urinary discomfort. Hopefully your bleeding will go away quickly. What was your prostate size, by the way?
cali-mike1970 ken86416
Posted
i have similar symptoms. when you urinated, did you have hesitation? how long on average to get stream started. is that because of obstruction? did you get large volumes out when you did urinate? i'm assuming not and that's what caused the extra trips to the bathroom. thanks
compiler ken86416
Posted
Any update? Are there any persistent symptoms or side effects after the aquablation procedure?