1. Community
  2. Men's health
  3. Prostate Problems

FLA for BPH and Chronic Prostatitis.... Long Post

Posted , 25 users are following.

joe74831
joe74831

Hey men, as some of you know, I am scheduled for FLA (focal laser ablation) with Dr. K in Houston TX next Thursday

A little back ground, I am 54 with a 45 gm prostate that has the dreaded median lobe.  I had a failed PAE in Jan 2016, I had a really bad allergic reaction during/following the procedure, and it took months to get over it. Myself and the Pae Doc assumed since it took so long to clear up that it was a reaction to the beads used. HOWEVER yesterday in prep for the FLA procedure, I took ONE Bactrim (which I had  taken tons of several years ago with no problems. ) And within 2 hours my whole upper body was covered in blisters and hives. Went straight to the Doc, and he started me on a IV of prednisone, and then gave me a second round 4 hours later, and a 3rd round this morning. It seems to have helped tremendously, and stopped the spots from blistering and peeling this time.

So needless to say Dr K has switched me to a different oral antibiotic.

Dr K is going to be trying something new with me, in addition to the FLA for the BPH, he is going to try and cure my chronic prostatis at the same time,he says obviously that is causing lots of scar tissue in my prostate,

Step one, I sent a sample of my prostate fluid for a DNA result. To my surprise, even tho I had no current symptoms that I could notice. I had medium bacterial load, with 3 different bacteria present in the prostate fluid.

I sent the results to DR K, and actually called and discussed the results with the CEO to get his recommendations.  I have NEVER seen a doc do something like that So needless to say I really feel like he goes above and beyond. He gave ne a call, and said the antibiotic that he strongly recommended was VERY expensive, and his cost was $1,000 he was very apologetic for having to charge extra, but I was totally fine with it. Most men with chronic prostatits  would pay anything for the possibility of actually curing it.

Here is the current plan:

Cefdinir 300mg orally twice a day for two weeks starting two days before the procedure

Invanz IV the day before the day of and the day after the procedure

Ceftriaxone 1 gram intraprostatic the day of the procedure

He is going to inject that last one directly into the prostate after he finishes with the ablation.

The hope is LOTS of the bacteria will be killed by the ablation itself, and the follow up with all the other meds will completely get rid of any that remains.

And hopefully since he will be removing most if not all of the blockages in my prostate, it will not be as easy for bacteria to set up shop again.

Even tho this is a very expensive approach, and its not clear if insurance will cover any of it, even tho they gave a pre-approval letter. Dr K says not to get my hopes up, but I am sure gonna try to turn it in.

Thanks to John and all of the other men who give such great support.

I will keep everybody up to date.

 

3 likes, 137 replies

137 Replies

Prev
  • dantec
    dantec joe74831

    Posted

    I haven't seen any more posts by you since about 8 months ago. I was wondering how you are currently doing after having had the FLA. I have had chronic prostatitis now for about 25 years and it gets worse with time. It is very debilitating and I am considering various options at this point including FLA, robotic prostatectomy, and looking into aqua ablation also. I also have slight BPH.

     

  • joe74831
    joe74831

    Posted

    Hey Dan, I have posted a few times, but on different threads. Unfortunately I am about the same, if not a little worse than before the FLA. I also now have retro ejaculation. And I do still have chronic prostatitis as well. I just done yet another test and got the results back yesterday. I have a medium bacteria load. It has actually increased since the last test.

    i agree it is debilitating and depressing to say the least.  I have no idea where to turn next.

    Joe

    • hank1953
      hank1953 joe74831

      Posted

      Hi Joe, have you looked into pelvic floor muscle exercises ? I've read that many chronic prostatitis problems are the results of poor pelvic floor function ? Hank

    • jim81578
      jim81578 joe74831

      Posted

      Hang in Joe I'm right there with you. Keep digging.

      Jim

    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 joe74831

      Posted

      Sorry that things did not go right for you.  Who did yours.  And what did they say happen  Ken
    • joe74831
      joe74831 kenneth1955

      Posted

      Hey Kenneth Dr K done mine, and he has been great about trying to figure out why it failed. He thinks The prostatitis/infection is the reason it did not help.
    • joe74831
      joe74831 jim81578

      Posted

      Thanks Jim, you do the same. It sure gets harder and harder. I can surely understand why men eventually decide to just get it taken out.
    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 joe74831

      Posted

      Joe   That is not a reason to have it just removed.  That can cause a whole set of different problem.  I know Dr. K. Is doing trails.  Were you part of the trail.  I will have to e-mail him to see what is going on all of a sudden.  We have had about 30 FLA done by Dr. K on this site.  A lot of the men have done well You are about the third I think that did not work.  I wonder if it was the size of the prostate or it was the infection  Ken
    • joe74831
      joe74831 kenneth1955

      Posted

      Hey Ken, I was not a part of the trial, I did not qualify since I had had a prior PAE. My brother was a part of the trial, and his did not work either. He also had a small prostate, but no infection issues.

      J

    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 joe74831

      Posted

      Good evening Joe.  I don't know what happen.  Maybe it has something to do with the size of the prostate.  There is still a lot to learn when it come to the prostate die section from FLA.  I think it has been the last 4 men that had FLA did not work  Before Dr. K. did the trails he had a good record with the men on here.  Well I will be up for some time and I will sent him a e-mail  Take care  Ken

    • jay111
      jay111 kenneth1955

      Posted

      Hi Ken... there have been 6 that the FLA has not worked on. Five with prostates 45 CC or smaller, and one with a larger prostate. The five smaller prostates the FLA did not work on are: myself,  Joe and his brother, Jim and Motoman. Mike588 also had a poor outcome, and he is the one with the larger prostate... total of 6... you could possibly call it 7 very poor outcomes since Jim had 2 goes with the FLA... Cheers- J
    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 jay111

      Posted

      Thanks Jay  I know there was something like that  Ken
  • peter45673
    peter45673 joe74831

    Posted

    Joe, not sure if this is meant for me as there are a few Peters here. However, it's nearly a year since my operation in Houston with Dr K. Things have worked well enough that I rarely give a thought for my prostate problems anymore. Dr K is really fantastic. The most engaged, caring and committed Dr I have ever met, you are in good hands. Unfortunately I left my operation a little too late and I'm now having kidney problems. I'm told I have 70% function, which actually is not too bad for a 70 year old. Don't leave your op too long.

    Pete

    • hank1953
      hank1953 peter45673

      Posted

      Hi Peter, if your eGfr is 70, it's great for any one, any age. I would not call it a kidney problem. Hank

    • peter45673
      peter45673 hank1953

      Posted

      Hi Hank, I wasn't being technical when I said 70%. After one of those collecting 24 hour urine tests the doctor said your kidneys are working with 70% efficiency. I know the left kidney is looking shrunken because I have seen the image from PET scan. The right appears to be pretty good. I said to the doc that the right kidney could be doing all/most of the work. He agreed.

      I had BPH for years and years before the operation and I had kidney stones removed on at least two occasions. I sure this helped do the damage.

      I am not complaining though. However, the kidneys have started to get me up in the night. It is a completely different experience to the prostate though. No straining or dribbling, just straight forward peeing.

      I would urge people with BPH to get something done though before it results in kidney disease.

      Is there any consensus on this site yet about which operation is bringing the best results? Be it, FLA, holep, urolift or whatever is out there?

      Best wishes to all

      Pete

      I

Back to top
Prev

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.