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Consider PAE by an IR as first option

Posted , 13 users are following.

bill20925
bill20925

(for enlarged prostate)

Hi everyone, Many of you have good and bad experiences. And many are reading these blog sites to try to figure out the best option to address enlarged prostate. I have a fair amount of experience in the matter:

1) I went to 5 different Urologists for help

2) I tried FlowMax (I called it "FloMin"!)

3) I had Greenlight - A waste to try for larger prostates

4) I had TURP - It provided less than 12 months reprieve

5) I had HoLEP - It has worked great, though I now have retrograde ejaculation and probably lower testosterone

6) I know a fair amount about PAE (Prostate Artery Embolization) because I have many IR (Interventional Radiology) Doctor friends.

The point of this note is to help out you all realize the following:

1) PAE may be by far the best procedure for enlarged prostates. Why? Because it is non-invasive, it does not gouge out portions of your body, it probably is the best at helping you keep your testosterone/libido high, you can go back in if necessary and do it again, and if you decide later it was not as effective and you want to try TURP or something else you can.

2) You are wasting your time asking Urologists about PAE because none of them do PAE, it is a different type of procedure only done by IR's. 

3) You are worth money to doctors, so expect very biased advice. They will only recommend procedures they are trained to do so they can make money off of your body. For example, I went to 4 Urologists who never once mentioned HoLEP as an option. When I found out about HoLEP through online forum sites I asked 3 of these Urologists what they thought of the procedure. All 3 said it was risky and not worth doing!! Most of them really tried to sell me on a 2nd TURP procedure. The bottom line is these doctors do not want to retool because it takes time and time is money, and there are too many of you patients out there who are not going to question the advice of your Urologist!

PAE is becoming mainstream in Europe and Australia and has started to be successful in the US. There are several very experienced IR doctors who can help you. 

I suggest you all just search "PAE (and major city name)" and see what comes up. Chicago is becoming a hotbed of experience for this non-invasive procedure. Just look for "top IR doctors (and a major city)" and see what comes up. I can help you find great ones in Chicago.

I am not upset I had HoLEP because it really helped me. But I wish I knew about it early on and had tried it. I am pretty sure it would have solved my problems and helped my manly functions work optimally. 

Lastly, if some of you are on anti coagulants,that may be another good reason to consider PAE, since it is non-invasive.

Remember, Urologists are not going to recommend PAE and many will not recommend HoLEP. It is up to you to do your homework!

7 likes, 24 replies

24 Replies

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  • bill20925
    bill20925

    Posted

    In reply to Ramblin, and others: In Chicago, 2 places I know of are trailing PAE and have done some cases:

    Northwestern Medical - Dr Bob Vogelzang is the top IR there.

    VIRChicago (owns and runs the IR group for 7 Chicago area hospitals) - Steven Smith is the only IR Doctor to make the Top 50 Chicago doctors list

    Both of these guys are pros. They both know each other. You will be in good hands with either.

  • james87669
    james87669 bill20925

    Posted

    Unfortunately this is not FDA approved therefore not covered by Medicare. Hope that will happen soon. I am on the verg of either a TURP or because of prostate size a "simple open prostatectomy". 
    • craig84609
      craig84609 james87669

      Posted

      The FDA needs to get their heads out of each others back sides so that they can get something worth while approved. I would opt for PAE if available.
  • bill20925
    bill20925

    Posted

    That is a real shame James. You might talk to Bob Vogelzang in Chicago to see if they are offering any financial relief or know ways for getting the procedure funded. Seems to me that Medicare would at least cover it up to the same amount as TURP. For me, TURP lasted only 12-15 months (and I had it done after I had Greenlight done!). The last procedure I had done was HoLEP which has taken care of things. But when you core out your prostate you can expect to lose some libido. I do not know the stats for either procedure on retrograde ejaculation, you might ask.

    But if you really feel you cannot wait, I would contact James Lingeman, a Urologist, in Indi, and get HoLEP. He is the founding father in the US of this procedure, he has done 3000+ I believe, and it has worked great for me. He has clinical studies showing near zero ongoing issues with HoLEP V's TURP. Your Urologist probably doesn't do TURP because he or she just doesn't want to lose the downtime and money trying to learn it. HoLEP is also done by one of the Mayo Clinic locations.

    But if you can hold out, go for PAE.

  • james87669
    james87669 bill20925

    Posted

    I have just seen some information on a procedure called iTind and the statements and details are quite remarkable. Have you looked into this? Says available in the EU, Canada, Hong Kong and elsewhere but not yet in the US. 
  • oystein42970
    oystein42970 bill20925

    Posted

    I have done PAE back in July 2013 with Prof. Martins Pisco in Lisboa when it was still a rather experimental treatment. Before the PAE, the size of my prostate was increasing every year and was before the procedure 109.9 cc and after the procedure, it have slowly, but surely decreased since then and my last screening a few days ago was 52.03 cc. None of my urologists recomended the PAE, but I am very glad that I tried it. My PSA is 1.99 and I would recomend everybody to eat/drink a lot of Tumeric and I have heard that in India where they use a lot of this, the rate of Prostate Cancer is very low.

     

  • Natureboy54
    Natureboy54 bill20925

    Posted

    Hi Bill, I had a PAE a year ago as I thought it would be the lease evasive, I did a helluva lot of research on this, didn't help at all and once they inject thoseb beads into the arteries involved, they are there forever, symptons got worse, so my Dr suggested the Thulium laser, had it done on 2/23/17, a little bleeding and discomfort for 2 weeks, can be very uncomfortable for some men during this time but now after 25 days, I'm almost ready for some good sex, taking my time on it though, also Bill, NO STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES during this time, I learned the hard way which set me back a week or so, my stream was immediately better right after the procedure, am finally crossing the corner for a full and happy recovery, I would highly suggest it to anyone, a good Dr helps also, I feel like I've got the best here in Spokane Wa. His name is Dr Deters, a urolisgist of course, hope this helps all of you some, it can be very frustrating this I know, have great day! Michael

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