I had my holelup surgery 34 months ago

Posted , 12 users are following.

After having had multiple urinary tract infections, several trips to ermergency to have a cath I finally got my urologist to refer me to a great Dr at the Univ of Michigan who performed my holeup on an emergent basis since I had a cyst on my prostate that he was concerned might burst. He told me once I recovered from the surgery that my sex life would return to whatever it had been pre-surgery, it has with the exception that it would cause me to have retrograde ejaculation, which it did. For me that has not been a problem, there has been no loss of sensation or satisfaction in the act!

After the surgery I did not have any pain in the prostate, my urethra was stretched out because of the catheter that they use to do the procedure and left in for about 12 hours to make sure that blood clots would be flushed out and that caused me discomfort for several days and night erections caused me a little discomfort but again it was gone in a few days. I urinated small amounts of blood and clots for several weeks, but he told me that would happen, so was prepared for that.

My only regret is not having the procedure done about three years before I did! I'm 65 now and can urinate like a 20 year old again, gotta say that is wonderful and no more dribbling, no more standing there waiting and waiting, no more burning sensations, no more wet shorts, no concerns about traveling, sleeping better, etc.

I realize that it might not be everyones answer, but I do it again in a nano-second!

1 like, 18 replies

18 Replies

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  • Posted

    Many seem afraid of anything that they think may affect their manhood and leave it too long causing damage to their bladders that HoLep or other procedures cannot help.

    • Posted

      Very true, it has not caused a problem for my manhood in any way. I don't see retrograde ejacualtion has a problem at my age and the advantages have been really great!

  • Posted

    Hi Doug,

    I greatly appreciate your journey its great outcome. I am working at and considering my options and your tale of success is welcomed and inspiring.

    • Posted

      At least if you chose your option you cant blame a Uro for his advice later if you are one of the minority who does not get a good result.

      There is really too much choice now. I knew I would never have the Gold Standard Turp they all wanted me to have and when GL first came to the UK I right away applied to get on the trial at Newcastle. Even then it was a longish wait as they were only doing them on a Friday afternoon when an operating theatre was free. From acceptance after going through their tests was six months.

  • Posted

    Thanks Doug for sharing. You picked the best, according to all the trial data available. I am looking into having it done, too.

    How large was your prostate before hoLEP ?

    • Posted

      You're welcome! Thanks, it really worked out well for me, I have no complaints. Hope it goes well for you. I don't remember ever hearing him give me the dimensions, he did say it was very large, it was pushing into my bladder pretty bad consequently causing my uti(s) and everything else that went with it.

      My Dad had two turps and I knew that was not for me, don't think the second one went well, he was never the same after that one.

      Take care!

    • Posted

      Have you had any Uti's since? I had some when my prostate started to regrow in the years after GL. Fortunately no more in the six years after my second procedure.

    • Posted

      Praise the Lord, no UTIs since my procedure. My doctor told me that I should never need another holeup, as it should be one and done...guess time will tell, but so far so good!

    • Posted

      Studies indicated hoLEP redo rate is 1.4% after 18 years.

    • Posted

      HI Hank,

      I can live with that statistic. Time will tell, but right now it is still working great!

    • Posted

      Hi Doug, I am just curious, how did you find out and decided on hoLEP ? Are you really smart or just plain old lucky ? 😀 It took me 2 years. Most people all this forum didn't do research ended up with other inferior procedures, which often either don't work or work only for a short time. Their doctors of course will blame it on their bladders, to cover up.

    • Posted

      Hey Hank,

      I knew that the TURP was not for me and told my local Uro that was a definite no, probably offended him since that's the only thing he did! 😃 So I prayed, researched and the local Uro refereed me to the Doc at U of M that only does holeups. I'm very thankful the Lord led the way He did and that it ended up the way it did. 😃

      The process to get to that point was a bit difficult, I basically had a uti from September to November was on antibiotics most of that time, had a catheter for a week at one point, etc. and finally got someone to show me how to cath myself...desperate times call for desperate measures 😃

      So I was more than ready for surgery...

    • Posted

      You definitely were well taken care of by someone above. How long were you self cathing ? Did you encounter any bleeding, how bad was the bleeding ? What brand of catheters did you use ?

      Hank

    • Posted

      I was, the Lord is good all the time! I self cathed only from Thursday, when the Dr that operated showed me how to do it, to Monday when I had the surgery, but I wish that it had been shown to be earlier, would have eliminated some ER visits and some stress....that having to urinate and not being able to is not very fun! No bleeding when I self cathed, after the surgery some bleeding and paasing of clots, but was told that would happen. I'm sorry but don't remember the brand, it was almost three months ago, they were some that my Drs office had

    • Posted

      You had it so easy, in comparison to many of us, especially myself. Did the catheters come prelubed or you had to lube them yourself ?

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