My 2nd PAE 2021

I wrote about my first PAE procedure back in April of 2019 ( you can see here https://patient.info/forums/discuss/my-pae-at-ucla-april-2019-700378 )

With great success and very easy recovery time back in 2019, only 18 months later and I could see that my BPH symptoms were sadly returning. Mostly in the quality of life category. I was still free of all drugs and had no acute retentions. The issues of frequency and urgency were returning and starting and stopping and difficulty starting after holding it in too long were the symptoms. My IPPS score results show where I stood:

IPSS Score:

04/03/19            24

07/29/2019        3

06/01/2020        8

03/29/202116

In July of 2019 I went from a 24 to a 3! Now that is a miracle! And that is what I wanted back in my life for QOL!

I had enrolled in a 3 year PAE study UCLA medical so in April 2021, I was due for a full scan to measure the size my prostate. Well sure enough my prostate had grown back to about 71cc. Before initial PAE it measured around 80cc. In June of 2020 it was down to 53cc.

Dr. McWilliams told me that my arteries had revascularized and that my prostate was getting full blood supply and growing! He attributed my good health, regular exercise, and young age of 56 to the revascularization.

He said 18 months is a very short time to have my prostate grow back. At this point I was not in an urgent situation, my symptoms were still manageable, but going in the wrong direction. I told him I wanted to be proactive and do something now.

He said these are my options:

1. Drugs, we all know them.
2. He could refer me back to Urology.
3. He could do a 2nd PAE.

I asked him point blank if he thought PAE could work again. ( Obviously, PAE being his specialty, he wanted to try again ) But he said he thinks he can help and I trust him! The ease of the procedure and the short recovery time and the great success I had before all lead me to decide right then and there in his office- LETS DO PAE AGAIN!

And so on April 29th, 2021, exactly 2 years post PAE, I had my 2nd PAE procedure done. My experience with the procedure was pretty much as I described it back in 2019, only a bit easier ( probably because I knew what to expect ) but none the less I was back to exercising and working out 1 week later.

Doc said he had to block 7 arteries , which was a new record for him! He also used some kind of special embolization coils in addition to the normal PAE embolization particles he uses to block blood flow.

Well, whatever he did, now 3 months post PAE #2 and I am back to an IPPS score of 5 or 6! Hallelujah! My QOL is absolutely back! I can pee, I have no urgency, I can hold it when I need to and I can void completely.

I am still a HUGE FAN OF PAE! However I do hope I get more than 18 months this time around!

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