My Aquablation Experience

Wow. I actually was kinda shocked when i read your post. The reason i had chosen Aquablation was that the compentency/experience of the doctor is not that relevant because it's performed by a computer(other than the programming of the procedure). I want to think that you hopefully recover from all of it eventually. My experience seems to be better than yours but i have to say that the doctors really don't explain the recovery portion of this whole journey. If it wasn't for the other people's experience sharing in this forum, i would probably also freak out.

Example: it is now day 6 after the aquablation and i have difficutly urinating..the flow is not that good...it really hurts and burns while peeing...and there is still a lot of blood coming out.

i also have minimal control with the flow...i have control over starting and stopping but once started , i can't control the flow(but i also don't want to strain and just let it go).

i don't have constipation though. As mentioned before...every person is different.

I still believe that all this is normal, but if there is no improvement after 2 weeks , then i would worry also. We need to give our body time to heal...think positive.

I would like to hear how your experience goes...so pls post updates.

I am trying to post updates whenever anything changes...this will help others to understand what to expect.

Merry Christmas

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Based on what my doctor told me, it is a mistake to take the catheter out the next day. (As I stated above, when he first started doing Aquablation he would take the catheter out the next day, but half the guys would end up in the emergency room). I have come to believe that many doctors are giving an overly rosy prediction of the recovery period.

Except for the constipation, your experience sounds pretty similar to mine. I advise you to take a deep breath and tough it out with the knowledge that it likely will get better. As I have documented in a separate thread, my recovery has taken much longer than I thought based on my discussions with my Uro and the Prologics web site. Because the recovery took longer than I expected, I hit rock bottom mentally at about the six-week mark. The good news is that just over 4 months after surgery, I feel quite good and almost all of my symptoms have been resolved. My eating and drinking the last few days has been excessive, but last week I had three nights where I slept more than seven hours without having to pee. It felt like heaven. Good luck and let us know how your are doing.

Hey guys - It's been a few days since my initial post, so I thought I'd give an update. I am now 12 days post-procedure. Thanks to Michael and Ihsan for the encouragement and progress reports.

On my end, things are getting better, but not as quickly as I would like, and definitely not as quickly as I had been led to believe. My urinary incontinence has resolved considerably. I am now very much in control as to when I use the toilet, although there is some additional dribbling afterwards, which is a new symptom. I am getting sufficient warning to use the toilet, and I am not waking up in the night nearly as often as before the procedure. The urine stream is much stronger since the surgery, and I get the sense that my bladder is emptying. (Haven't had PVR test since surgery.) The strong urine stream makes me feel young again - maybe I should go write my name in the snow! The last few nights, I have only woken up once to use the toilet, compared to four or more times per night pre-surgery. So that's a win. Uninterrupted sleep is a huge improvement.

I am still having bleeding or oozing from the urethra, constantly throughout the day. I am wearing pads inside my underwear; wearing tighty-whiteys for now; I'm usually a boxers guy. (Stopped the depends yesterday.) The blood clots and gets stuck on my pubic hairs (probably should manscape for the duration of this ordeal), and my penis gets stuck with blood onto the inside of the pads (happened with depends too). Ouch. I am hoping that this will resolve, but it is taking a long time, and this is not something I expected at all.

My urine is still dark red in color, at least some of the time. I think the coloring should have cleared up to a normal yellow by now. I have noticed several small blood clots in the urine flow, and some dark red sediment (dried blood?) that sinks to the bottom of the toilet bowl. This is all disconcerting, and I think it should have improved before now.

Bowels are mostly back to normal, so that's good.

I still have an unpleasant feeling when I go to sit down in a chair, radiating from the base of the penis up to the tip of the urethra. It seems to be getting better, but it is still there and somewhat troubling. I assume that's from the catheter.

Erections are not a pleasant experience. I get them usually when transitioning between sleep and wakefulness, which is typical for me. But they don't feel good - like my whole penis hurts. I hope that gets better. I'm not doing anything at all to generate an erection - the orders are no sex for six weeks -- but I can't prevent the boners we wake up with, and they are really unpleasant these days.

I am really amazed and disappointed at how the doctor led me into this process without an adequate warning as to what the recovery process would be like. I think I have had it a little tougher than some others with this procedure, and that might be because my prostate was particularly large at the outset. (120 cc I think.) They haven't told me how much tissue was excised.

If I had known what this was going to be like for the first month, I probably would have gone ahead with it anyway, although I might have timed it differently. In any case, this unpleasant surprise, which was really dropped on me in the recovery room, made me wonder what else I hadn't been told, whether something went wrong in the procedure, and what the future really holds. The lack of information going in has seriously eroded the doctor-patient relationship, to the point where I really don't trust him at all any more.

I agree with Michael that the doctors (and the happy talk from Procept) give an overly rosy view about the recovery of this procedure. It is difficult to find any information about this procedure on the internet, except from Procept and other urologists who are trying to sell it. The word needs to get out so that others can make an informed decision before signing on.

I guess that's all for now - I will update again in a few days. Happy new year to all - Ed

So you get urinary incontinence post operation. Give more time to see it. What was your prostate size before the procedure, very large?

Not sure why they're taking so long to moderate my last post. My prostate pre-procedure was 120 cc, which is considered large. I am doing a little better - incontinence has improved, but I am constantly oozing blood, or very bloody urine, from the urethra. I'm wearing pads to control. Otherwise, things are improving, although not as quickly as I would like. I guess I need to be more patient, but I really was not warned or prepared ahead of time that the recovery would be like this.

Your prostate is very large. Did you take dutasteride or finasteride before the procedure? Wait for a coup of weeks to see the urinary incontinence improvement. Your bladder needs to re-control the urine after the prostatectomy. Did your doctor tell your bladder conditions after the cystoscopy?

Hi - I did take finasteride before the procedure for a short period of time, but I couldn't tolerate it. It made my very dizzy, and I did not like the retrograde ejaculation side effect.

My uro never said anything to me about the state of my bladder. I honestly don't know whether it is healthy or not. My biggest complaint is that my uro really did not communicate with me before the procedure. I am learning post-op that most of my symptoms are not unusual, but I was never warned to expect these things.

I am gaining better control of urinary function, although the urine is still very bloody, with small granules of what looks like dried blood. I am still spotting blood or blood-soaked urine, all day long.

I am now two weeks after the procedure. I'm still experiencing severe constipation, and still waking up three or four times per night to urinate. All in all, I am not pleased with the results of this procedure, although I am hopeful the situation will continue to improve.

I am glad to have this site to compare notes with others who have been through this, considering the dearth of information coming from my doctor.

it is strange. the pain from base to tip of penis and on erection are the most odd of all the symptoms. I'm sure that will pass as you heal.

my uro said he doesn't even give pain meds anymore since most can handle with tylenol and ibuprofen. in some ways, i feel like he is selling the procedure and it's easy recovery in this way. he has told me some people are fine within 2 weeks and others take 2 months so he doesn't guarantee anything. all he has warned me of is that I will see blood (so don't freak out).

i think the recovery for aquablation, turp and green light are pretty much the same since they all cut through or remove the epithelial layer of the urethra and blood scabs / clots have to be excreted. that said, i understand aquablation to be less traumatic for the prostate due to lack of heat. not sure about the urethra though.

sorry you are going through this and hope you stay strong and see the positive. you have a great flow, are sleeping better and are likely voiding to an empty bladder. that's awesome and so much better than many people on here.

At this moment it is still too early to say the surgical outcome is successful or not. You need to wait until the hematuria goes away. Please keep updating to help the others.

Here's an update - now 15 days since surgery. Generally, things are much better. I feel totally in control of urinary function, with a good strong urine stream. I am not needing to use the bathroom nearly as often as before the surgery, and I am getting adequate warning. The urine stream is now the color of pink grapefruit juice, so that's an improvement. I'm only waking up about once per night now. I have difficulty getting back to sleep after that, but I suspect that is more the product of many years of interrupted sleep, rather than a side effect of the surgery.

There is still a slight but constant seepage of blood or bloody urine, but each day it seems to be a little less. Still using the pads, but not needing to change them as often, not as much blood on them.

The pain in my penis and painful erections seem to have subsided considerably. I think that was from the catheter, but I don't know, and as long as it goes away I don't care.

Unfortunately, I am still having constipation issues, which is very unusual for me. I am back to a normal diet, with lots of fiber and drinking lots of water. Before the surgery, I never had this issue for more than a day at a time, and very rarely at that. It seems now that unless I pump the laxatives and prune juice, etc., then I am really blocked up. I hope that resolves soon. Maybe this is a new normal.

Best wishes for a happy and health new year to all - Ed

That's great to hear. As someone potentially waiting for aquablation, I was hoping to hear some good resolutions for your pain. Happy New Year!

Here's another update - I'm now 20 days post-surgery. Things really are better. I no longer feel any pain. My urine still varies from pink to red, and I am noticing small blood clots, almost like coffee grounds, at the bottom of the toilet bowl. That is not really a problem, just a little strange. I am no longer feeling a lack of urinary control, although I am still dribbling afterwards. It still hurts a little to try to shake it off after urinating, the way we all usually do. No longer using the pads in my underwear, since the bleeding/oozing has stopped pretty much.

I'm getting strong erections, which I take as a positive sign, and they are no longer painful. I've been told no sex for 6 weeks after the surgery, and I'm busting to get back to normal on that score. (Have other guys been told no sex for six weeks?) I don't think I'm going to experience RE from all this, but I won't know until I try to ejaculate, which I'm anxious to do! I think I'll push the uro on that when I see him next week, and also ask if I'm cleared to get back to working out. I usually swim laps about four days a week, and I'm feeling kind of flabby since it's been over three weeks since I last swam.

I'm not getting up much at night, maybe only once, and I don't need to use the bathroom nearly so often during the day. I have a strong, powerful urine stream, for the first time in years.

Bowels still a bit constipated. I hope that improves, but I can live with it.

So, all in all, about three weeks after surgery, I am starting to see positive results. I do wish I had been better prepared for what the recovery would be like, especially for the first week. The unexpected symptoms left me really despondent right after the surgery, and that could have been avoided if I'd been able to prepare myself mentally for a few weeks in depends and without good control of my bladder. But now that I'm on the other side of it, I'm feeling much better about the procedure, and I'm no longer regretting that I went ahead with it.

good to hear, your account helps others get prepared so thx

finasteride takes months to produce any effect on your prostate size

I i thought I researched this Aquablation Therapy fairly thorough, but I missed this thread. After reading all the postings, my experience is similar.

After 3 days being home, I have blood gushing a couple times, which was unexpected and scary. I was able to stop the bleeding by laying down these first couple times. Urination was painful at start and often.

Bleeding started again by sitting on my office chair after I thought I had the bleeding under control. I will be more careful going forward and wear sweats for a few days.

In addition, went many years on Finasteride and Tamsulosin and later added Super Beta Prostate for BPH and was anxious to have a normal prostate.

Aquablation seems to have improved urine flow, but just wonder if it would have been better to stay at the hospital one more day, but insurance these days don't like the extra expense.

Do you mind reporting what was your prostate size before the aquablation therapy, how long you have been on the Finasteride and what was your PSA level before the procedure?

I was on Finasteride at least 4 or 5 years and Tamsulosin 2 to 3 years before that. My PSA was 1.87 on the last reading and 1,79 the year before. Years before, I had readings of 2.71, 2.68, 2.31, and then later years of 1.37 and 1.46 when using Finasteride, which I thought would be just temporary use.

I can't put my hands on the exact size, but the Cystoscopy indicated obstructing, enlarged median lobe, and severe hyperplasia.

Another scary part of the surgery was I overdosed on Fentanyl after surgery and had to have Narcan to come out of it, like I was in an episode of Chicago PD.

After experiencing blood spurting out and clumps of blood on urination the second time, I'm hoping for no blood for the next few days. But I at least know how to deal with it, if it happens again.

It would have been helpful to have a list of after surgery reactions and what to expect.

I had read positive results about the Aquablasia before surgery.

Hi Donald - I have a separate thread on this subject, but it appears that you replied to my earlier post on Isahn's thread. I did have a difficult time post-procedure, which lasted about three weeks. Hang in there. For me it got a lot better after about three weeks, and by the end of the fourth week I was back to normal - meaning my normal from before I even began to experience BPH symptoms. (About 15 years ago, at least.) I have encouraged my uro to provide a list of potential recovery symptoms - in writing - to his prospective Aquablation patients. That would have been helpful for me as a reference. I think he may have warned me about some of the symptoms, or maybe all of them, before the procedure. But I was so focused on the end result that I minimized in my own mind the potential severity of the recovery process. The recovery can be miserable.

For me the bleeding improved drastically by the end of the first week. After that, I was just spotting on the pads I was using. That stopped completely after about 2-3 weeks. I know this is hard to hear, but give it time. You had about the same size prostate I had before the procedure, and you are experiencing similar recovery symptoms. For the first couple weeks I was angry and upset, and I felt that I had not been adequately warned or prepared about what to expect. In retrospect, I am really glad I went through with it, and my quality of life has improved dramatically.

I have a follow up visit next week. I will give a complete report on my own thread after that. - Ed