How good was your stream right after Aquablation catheter removal?
Posted , 6 users are following.
I finally had aquablation on Thursday after dealing with BPH issues over the last 4 years. I am only 49 w/ an 80cc prostate and went into complete retention about a year ago. I had already undergone a median lobe removal earlier. That procedure improved the issue where I could barely go if I held my urine too long but after a couple months I started having obstructive symptoms again and a weak stream.
The aquablation procedure was uneventful and I went home the same day. Funny story is that they made an annoucement about 6am that they were going to be testing the backup power generator that morning. I was somewhat uneasy that may glitch the aquablation system, but they finished that before I went in for the procedure.
I went home the same day and was told to keep the catheter in until Monday. I had issues with a blood clot clogging up my cather Saturday night despite drinking tons of water. I was able to clear it and left the cather in until Monday. After I removed the catheter Monday. I wasn't able to go at all initially which was scary and disappointing. I had hopes of immediately being able to pee like a 20 year old. After a few attempts with just a few drops coming out, I passed a huge clot and finally I was able to go small amounts. I called my doctor and went in to get my bladder scanned to see whether I was emptying. When I got to the doctor's office(about a 30 minute drive) I had to go urgently and actually had a decent stream. My PVR was 90 which was still much higher than I expected. Since I am about 30-45 minutes from my doctor, he offered to put in another foley for a couple more days if I wanted. Since I had just peed a decent amount, I declined the catheter and went home. Since then I have been able to go, but the most at one time has been 200ml. My stream is still weak and sometimes just a splatter. I don't get a strong feeling to urinate, and sometimes I just go because it has been a couple hours. I still have a lot of hesitation, particularly at night. I'm surprised that after removing so much tissue that I am not seeing immediate improvements. At the moment, I feel worse off than before. My Dr said it may be inflammation possibly due to the removal of the calcification he found in my prostate, so he has me on celebrex for a few more days. I went back on the alfuozoin, which I had optimistically stopped a day before my surgery.
Since I passed that large clot, I have had almost no blood in my urine. The bleeding stopped Saturday which was just a couple days after my surgery. After my first TURP earlier this year, that only removed about 5g of my prostate, I was peeing blood for 3 weeks. I figured this would be at least as bad. I feel like I could go back to normal activity tomorrow and be fine. After my first procedure, I would pee a lot of blood if I walked up the stairs too fast.
My main question to the guys that had aquablation, after you removed the catheter, was your stream better than before? How long did it take to really improve, or was it immediately good? I'm frustrated as this is my second prostate procedure this year and I really want to get back a normal life without medication and worrying about having easy access to a bathroom all the time.
0 likes, 9 replies
WilliamUSA not_too_shabby
Posted
I just had aquablation on 9/12 so I can't provide long-term results. But after catheter removal (on 9/18), I can say that my flow was much improved. Maybe 3 times the pre-aquablation rate.
I'm 68, had a 45gm prostate, and was told that the post-aquablation size was on the order of 15gm. Much more was removed than I anticipated.
I had a Rezum procedure 6 years ago (prostate was 54gm then), but my flow had gotten to the point that something else had to be done. Removal of a bladder stone at the same time as the aquablation got my bladder pretty stirred up, but it is settling down now. At this point, it seems that my aquablation recovery time is going to be significantly longer that the Rezum. I just hope that my flow continues as it is today.
Keep getting better,
Bill
michael55618 not_too_shabby
Posted
When I had my catheter removed, my flow was initially very strong. I vaguely remember laughing out loud because it was so strong it seemed ridiculous. But that happened maybe once and within a day or two the stream had gotten a lot weaker. As I have stated in other posts, I ultimately found out after eight months and a cystoscopy that I have scar tissue. According to my doctor scar tissue is less common with Aquablation than TURP but it can still happen. As for PVR, mine was initially around 75, which is what they want to see, but in more recent tests has been in the 200-300 range. I'm not sure if I said this in my other posts, but the doctor told me that I will eventually need a procedure to clean things up, although that may not be necessary for a very long time.
Let us know how you are doing.
not_too_shabby
Posted
3.5 weeks since the surgery and still not seeing any real improvements. I'm totally perplexed as to how a bunch of tissue can be removed, but my urinary symptoms haven't improved. My doc is doing a cystoscopy at the end of the month to figure out what is going on. At that point, it will be about 6 weeks.
not_too_shabby
Posted
I had a cystoscopy on Monday. The good news is I had no strictures or scar tissue build-up. The bad news is that my lack of improvement from the aquablation procedure seems to be caused by the calcification in my prostate. According to my doctor my channel is defined by the calcium deposits. He actually showed me the ultrasound and the calcium looks like little pebbles in my prostate. He tried to remove it after the aquablation procedure, but he didn't have much success. It appears there is no more than can be done using Aquablation, and I am looking at another procedure at some point to remove the calcium but it seems like it he doesn't even know what tool would work to remove it.
jim37085 not_too_shabby
Posted
I'm having a cytoscope and TRUS next month and now I'm a bit worried about calcium deposits in my prostate. Shouldn't these be visible with the TRUS procedure before going through Aquablation? The last thing I want to do is to go through a second procedure after the Aquablation because the calcium deposits caused a failure to resolve the problem. How have your doctors explained this?
not_too_shabby jim37085
Posted
My doctor's explanation is still a bit unclear to me, but in my most recent examination after the aquablation, he did show me in the TRUS what looked like small pebbles in my prostate. He also did an ultrasound before the aquablation but didn't mention anything about calcium deposits. I am sure they were there, but he must have assumed they could be easily removed. In my case the calcium pebbles are either embedded in or behind tissue that was too dense for the aquablation water jet to remove. The odd thing is he said he was also unable to remove it during the hemostasis part of the procure using a monopolar loop. I will also mention that I had issues with prostatitis in my 30's that was never resolved, which likely led to the calcium deposits. My MRI done a couple years ago also described calcium due to prostatitis.
jim37085 not_too_shabby
Posted
Thanks for the reply. I am just worried that should I chose Aquablation and have calcification in my prostate that I would be looking at going through another procedure. I wonder if the GreenLight Laser procedure would be unaffected by calcification. I have never had a case of prostatitis.
not_too_shabby jim37085
Posted
I would go with aquablation. You'll definitely get RE if you do greenlight. It sounds like my condition where my tissue is calcified and hard is rare as my doctor is in his early 60s and hasn't seen it before. Also another doctor I consulted with hadn't encountered my condition either.
jim37085 not_too_shabby
Posted
Thanks. After all my research, Aquablation was my #1 choice. I read where it will overtake TURP as the best option for most men. I pray that my prostate is not too large for Aquablation as I understand that there is a size limit, but I feel that I will be ok there. I also worry that my taking Xarelto for my proclivity for blood clots won't be a problem. Thanks again for your comments. They are backing up my beliefs in choosing the best treatment.