More Urolift Implants or go for the Button Turp?
Posted , 7 users are following.
Done a lot of searching and haven't found a whole lot that's helping me make a decision, hoping you guys can help. Got a urolift w/4 implants, worked gangbusters for 6 weeks, then over the next two weeks flow dropped back to just as bad as before the procedure. Blood in urine for the 6 weeks, and then the less blood, the less I could pee. Urologist is now pressing button turp pretty hard. Prostate is actually relatively small I'm told, but other than that I haven't really gotten the information that other folks on the forum seem to be getting about specific weight, lobes, etc. Looking for any advice. Thanks, all.
0 likes, 11 replies
AZBill john41956
Posted
Still, if the Uro is pushing a new procedure, the nature of the failure must be known. Was it a UroLift issue or an organic issue with the prostate/bladder/urethra?? Hard to know that a new procedure will be effective if they've not determined what is wrong. Personally, I would be asking just that. What went wrong and why would what you're proposing be effective? Sorry to hear of this...please post followup info. Good luck.
john41956 AZBill
Posted
Hi, thanks for the reply. All I got from the uro was "a certain percentage of them fail," and no real explanation of why this particular one did. I went to see a second uro and he just said "button turp," as well, though I'm supposed to see him in a few days for a systo (I'm currently wearing a foley catheter, as I got to where I couldn't go at all). Right now, I'm just kind of spinning my wheels and thinking I'm going to try self-cathing until I get it figured out.
AZBill john41956
Posted
Wow... that's rough. I wonder if the implants will need to be removed. Well, thanks for sharing with all here. Knowing the things that can happen and how they are resolved is important. Best wishes.
william10248 john41956
Posted
john41956 william10248
Posted
glenn77 john41956
Posted
I apparently had a button procedure to address a stricture that developed after GreenLight Turp. I say "apparently", as I looked at the surgical details in the Medicare statement, and it included an instrument made by Olympus that was a button plasma device. It was effective in opening the stricture which remains fully open.
TKM john41956
Posted
It sounds like something went wrong with the installation. I would get another urologist to look at it maybe with a cystoscope, and get a second opinion. There are some guys on this web site who have had Urolift that may be able to comment. In particular Kenneth1955 had something go wrong with his initial urolift implant and had to have it corrected.
https://patient.info/forums/profiles/kenneth1955-699256
Thomas
john41956 TKM
Posted
You could well be right, and thanks for the link to Kenneth. I'm apparently having some lousy luck picking urologists, as the current guy seems really dismissive of anything except button turps. I've gotten a little panicked by the fact that I can't urinate at all at the moment (and, just to complicate things, I got a CT to look into the possibility of a embolization procedure and they found a large diverticulum, probably because I strained so hard to pee). I've read lots of positive posts about self-cathing here and I'm seriously thinking about trying it and seeing if I can just step back from the spinning wheel of options and opinions a bit.
TKM john41956
Posted
The first week or two of self cathing can be difficult with some bleeding and possible UTIs. Take it slow at first and keep everything as clean as possible.
Thomas
lee56659 john41956
Posted
cartoonman john41956
Posted
Urolift is still fairly new, and even those who know don't always know why they fail in the longer run.
I had my Urolift done in December of 2015, by a doctor in Salt Lake City who had done trials for the FDA, to gain approval for the procedure. I trusted that he knew as much as anyone.
I also had a small (38gm) prostate, and the doc did the procedure on the "hunch" (his word) that it would work. As in your case, it worked great for 6 or 8 weeks, without the bleeding, and then back to what it had been. I've been doing CIC (self-cathing) since then.
Also, I had 6 devices installed, and I think I read that it is possible to have up to eight. Maybe some one else can correct or confirm that.
My guy offered to install additional retainers, but was not confident that they would in fact help. Your situation might be the same or different...