Going with Focal Laser Ablation for BPH

"Going with Focal Laser Ablation for BPH"....Yes! That was the headline on a Google website that more or less has changed my life. I will admit, it is still a little early to completely define my experience but for the benefit of others who suffer from this condition with or without cancerous lesions, I thought my journey would be interesting. 

My prostate size was never really large. Just 50 grams, but it wasn't about size. It was about location. A very large median lobe had engulfed about 2/3 of my prostate interfering with my urination and literally as I was told, forming a plug around my bladder neck. Of course, getting up at night to pee multiple times interfered with my sleep and my energy levels. I had tried multiple holistic solutions including saw palmetto, nettle root, hormone balancing, green juicing etc etc. all to no avail. I even traveled to Israel, spent $17,000 for the Gat Goren procedure which embolized my internal spermatic veins (ISV's) but to my consternation I later learned this promising procedure did not work for those with a large median lobe nor did PAE.

And after 6 years of suffering, that Google website caught my attention. I learned a large group of individuals who all had the same BPH affliction were members of a club called the K Club. What did K stand for? It stood for Karamanian, a doctor who had treated each individual, with success, compassion and a deep knowlege of the affliction at hand.

On January 7th, I traveled from South Florida to Houston, Texas and underwent a 3 hour focal laser treatment at Houston Medical Imaging under the care of Dr. Ara Karamanian. Why undergo the expense of traveling to Houston and incurring hotel and airline costs in addition to the $21,000 for the surgery? The answer was simple! Dr. K not only had a medical degree but also was a graduate of Duke University with an engineering degree. When he examined the MRI of my prostate, unlike my urologist and those in South Florida who do FLA, he found two other areas that needed ablation aside from the median lobe. It was both his engineering and medical experience that convinced me (despite my initial objection) that to do the job right, as much as 50% of the prostate tissue needed to be removed. The facility was Houston Medical Imaging. In all of Houston, I learned that there were only two Siemens Skyra 3T MRI Magnetom imaging machines. Just about the latest technology with each machine costing $3 million dollars. Obviously, if surgery were to be done on my prostate, I wanted a machine with the latest web technology that was MRI compatible, unlike the older GE machines that some doctors use at more that half the price.

Approximately 30% of my prostate was removed. Intravenous IV conscious sedation presented a higher level of care. At no time during the 3.5 hours of surgery did I feel any pain or discomfort. I have heard of patients that have had oral valium sedation with nerve block. This I learned is less costly but can involve some pain for the patient.

It is now 18 days since I have had the operation. For a 75 year old man, having a catheter in his bladder for 8 days was no fun. I was warned of spasms and though I took uribel (?) to ease the discomfort, the spasms which occurred several times a day initially, can make a grown man scream like a baby. Throughout this period I began to understand why a fan club grew around Dr. K. When it was an unusually cold day, below 15 degrees in Houston, Dr. K came to my hotel not once but twice to check on how I was doing. I did not expect that level of care as most doctors do not provide home visits anymore. Not even 30 minutes in an office before you are rushed out for another patient. Today it is hard to fine optimized clinical care, much less a doctor who is willing to speak to you for multiple hours and even be on call at any time of the night. Dr K was the exception and I am very thankful.

Results so far have been beyond my expectations for such a short period of time. Of most concern to me was that my pipes were all working well. No damage to the neuromuscular bundle or the ejaculatory ducts etc. Yes, this 75 year old previously had a perfect score on a sexual health questionnaire and I didn't want that changed. After 10 days, ejaculation was better than I expected....A climax that a 30 year old would relish!!! Imagine that! Ejaculatory fluid actually increased. Hard to expect that when 30% of your prostate is removed. No retrograde! Those poor naive TURP sufferers. They forgot what they are missing. I currently release close to 200 ml upon urination, double the increase before the surgery. I have been told the best results come after 30 days for which continual improvement will happen for 6 months. Yes, their is still some blood in the urine which I was told can be expected for a while as the prostate inflammation goes down and healing progresses. 

I hope I haven't bored anyone with my journey. Good luck and success to all of you!