My Aquablation Experience
Posted , 29 users are following.
Hi everyone
Since Aquablation is a relatively new treatment for BPH, there is limited actual patient experience information out there, i wanted to document my journey. Hope it helps others who consider aquablation.
Before my aquablation operation:
Age: 59 , Latest PSA: 6.9 , PVR : ranges between 400-700 ml, prostate size: 66 ,
severe trabeculation, mild median lobe.
Background:
i was monitoring my PSA value since my early 50's ...it was 5 next year was 6 following year was 7, then it went up as high as 13(all these are approximate values)..finally it went down by itself(see above).
i didn't have insurance at the time, so i didn't go to a doctor but was informing myself about PSA values.
In the meantime my BPH symptoms started
First thing to consider is why a PSA value would increase...besides other factors(BPH) ,cancer could cause it to rise. To rule it out, went to doctor..had digital rectal exam..no cancer indication...
Now that i had insurance...had biopsy done(12 point needle)...no cancer..
So..my problem was BPH. I chose Aquablation because it is a minimally invasive robotic treatment, which preserves all other functionality in that area.
Fast forward..2 days ago (12/19/2022) i had the operation.
I know that the experience can change from person to person...this is my experience.
the operation was really nothing to worry about...you are under anesthesia , i woke up..procedure done.
had a catheter in and a bag. Minimal to no pain(as far as i know they just gave me tylenol)..
they hung 2 bags (each 3 Liter) of saline solution which was circulated through my bladder and out, to flush the urinary system...all night long replacing both bags every hour or so.
From other patients experiences ,i was expecting them to remove the catheter the next day and doing 3 pee tests to see if i can pee and empty my bladder, but my urologist told me that the plan is to release me from the hospital WITH the catheter and that he would remove it within 3-4 days.
So now i am home with a catheter and a bag..couldn't get an appointment yet to have it removed.
Many people mentioned that they had constipation....i don't have that experience yet as of today.
many people were kinda ok with the catheter..i am not..it is very uncomfortable because as you move the catheter moves in and out into your utethra..because of this, sometimes there is shooting pain at the tip of the penis..can't wait until this thing is removed.
The urine is really bloody right now..which is expected...the important thing is to NOT have blot clots and so far there is none. many people also mentioned bladder spasms...which i didn't experience so far.
i was prescribed an antibiotic to prevent infection...pain..minimal (with tylenol).
Also..each morning i had an erection(which was painful because of the catheter)..good sign nevertheless.
Will update my post as days pass.
7 likes, 80 replies
ihsan2022
Posted
UPDATE 12/24/2022 day 5 after aquablation.
The day after catheter was removed (12/23/2022-yesterday) my urine flow completely stopped for about 4 tries over the course of 6 hours (i was peeing every hour prior to that), and i started to seriously consider using the catheter that they gave me because i could feel my bladder being full.
i thought maybe there is inflammation that caused this and took 1 pill ibuprofen in hopes it would help.
By the way up until this happened the amount of blood in the urine gradually had gotten less and less.
Also i forgot to mention that the nurse told me to keep using Alfuzosin until further notice.
So..i took ibuprofen and Alfuzosin....1 hour later i could pee again with much less flow but this time the burning and stinging sensation was way more than before and had a lot more blood again. I was still happy that i at least didn't have to self catheterize(did i mention that i hate that thing..lol).
Last night i slept a total of 8 hours and had to go pee 2 times(compared to 5-6 times before aquablation).
I am not worried about my situation thanks to the posts i read here on this forum from other people who shared their experience..this is also the reason i am documenting my experience in hopes it helps other people.
To really make a realistic assessment i have to wait at least a couple weeks..i am patient.
Will keep posting.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
hassanaz ihsan2022
Posted
Try lignocaine gel for the catheter pain, I had Rezum 5 weeks ago, catheter for 8 days, would have been intolerable without the Lignocaine. Good luck!
ihsan2022 hassanaz
Posted
Thanks for the info but my catheter was removed 2 days ago.
I am fine now. I am curious about how your rezum went..did you have any pain after rezum? I am positively surprised that after my Aquablation i had minimal to no pain related to my prostate, even though they pretty much destroyed a chunk off my prostate.
Also how was your recovery in general?
hassanaz ihsan2022
Posted
Hi Ihsan, thank God, no pain. 5 weeks out now, no side effects either, and slowly improving. I am posting weekly updates on this forum if interested. Not sure if the link will work, but here it is
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/rezum-prostate-surgery-my-experience-793516
james16058 ihsan2022
Edited
Thanks for posting your experience. I am wishing you a speedy recovery.
Now that you few days post-operation, what is the colour of your urine like? still bloody? Is sting when voiding still bad? Do you feel that you are now emptying the bladder completely after voiding? How often do you have to pee during the day and night?
Many thanks
ihsan2022 james16058
Edited
12/26/2022 1 week after aquablation.
i don't have any problem peeing, other than it is still burning and stinging.
my main problem right now is that each time i pee there seems to be fresh blood for a second or two, then it clears up somewhat.
i can not empty my bladder completely but much better than before the procedure.
But this could be because my bladder walls have thinkend, meaning it is not related to the procedure but due to my bladder being damaged...will find out when i see the doctor on Jan 19th.
The frequency will be somewhat misleading because i drink way more water than i used to in the past. So i have to go almost every hour or so. At night i still wake up 2 times or 3.
alexander56512 ihsan2022
Edited
Well I had the Aquablation 9 weeks and some what satisfied .
Just received the Anthem Blue billing from the procedure which im most completely covered.
So $88,000.00 for one day for everthing. And this is not including the 3 days after my temp went up for some UTI issues.
cali-mike1970 alexander56512
Posted
why only somewhat satisfied? doesn't sound like a glowing recommendation. can you post what aspects you are less than thrilled about and a bit about your before and after? thx
alexander56512 cali-mike1970
Posted
Actually very satisfied considering I was in total retention before I went to the ERto get a catheterized and wait for the Aquablation procedure.
Frequency seems to be coming a little more of an issue since surgery, but urgency is no longer a problem compared to the previous years of 4 times a night getting up with little or no results.
Somwhen I look back, I take back the 'somewhat' and replace with quite pleased.
compiler alexander56512
Posted
How large was your prostate before the procedure?
alexander56512 compiler
Posted
85-90 according to my doctor
eric56963 alexander56512
Edited
that is insane it should cost that amt of money - this is why the industry is so distressed!
ihsan2022 eric56963
Edited
they are playing the game. they bill $88,000 .00 then the insurance company has a discount of 70,000.00...bill goes down to $18,000.00 .
that's what they get paid in the end...then they show the 70,000.00 as a loss, deduct it as expense....pay less taxes...etc...
all these numbers are made up by the way...but i tried to explain how the game works.
i think in reality i'm guessing that this procedure costs between 15,000 - 20,000
ihsan2022
Edited
01/14/2023 Update
After being in almost complete retention i was able to schedule an appointment with my Urologist for the 26th of december. They had to put in a foley catheter again and told me to come back for removal in 4 days.
I was told that i had inflammation of my prostate which caused the retention and there was bleeding also.
The blood that couldn't get out, accumulated in the bladder and caused blood clots(Uro told me that there is some kind of substance in the bladder that causes the blood to clot a lot more). So in the end it was a double whammy(inflammation and blood clots).
After 4 days catheter was removed.
Since then it was like a rollercoaster both metally and physically. My flow ranged from good to ok to bad and then good again. Bleeding continued but got less over the days until about 3 days ago.
Approximatley 1 week ago while peeing (one of the bad flow days) a huuge blot clot came out and immediatly the flow increased to max. I don't remember when or if i had flow like that (maybe in my teenage years), but that was the ONLY time when the flow was exceptional. Since then it is in the OK range. So exception flow means that it is possible to get to that flow again but since then it didn't come back. Will it ever come back..IDK.
Still burns and stings when i urinate. Frequency is ok, not great. Flow is OK, not great. Bleeding very little.
This is why i said that it was like a rollercoaster. On 19 January(in 5 days) on the 1 month anniversary of my aquablation operation i have an appointment with my Urologist. Let's see what he will say.
It seems like my recovery takes way longer than many other people.
not_too_shabby ihsan2022
Posted
Are you able to resume normal daily activities yet or are you still pretty limited in what you can do?
ihsan2022 not_too_shabby
Posted
Daily activities are fine ..no restrictions there..Well i am not supposed to lift anything more than 10 pounds. Overall i feel fine, but the operation/anestesia affected me more than i anticipated. I feel more fatiqued than normal. At the Urologist i was told that the anestesia affects you for almost 2 weeks. Sexual activity...not yet..still waiting...so..i have no info on that as of today. Will post an update about that later.
cali-mike1970 ihsan2022
Edited
I'm really curious how you will do by the 2 month mark. It seems like you should be able to get to that exceptional state if you hit it once. a question i'd ask the doctor is what could be stopping it from being that way all the time? inflammation in the prostate as it heals? i say 2 month mark because alot of uros seem to tell me that's often the full recovery time, although they acknowledge it could take even longer for some. thx for keeping us posted.
compiler ihsan2022
Posted
Request for post void residual volume test. Drink plenty of water and void prior to the test. Don't do any heavy activities and avoid walking, standing up and getting out of bed fast until no bleeding in the urine. Has the postoperative hemorrhage completely gone away? How many times of nocturia, how is the frequency, better than before the procedure? What are the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) before and after the procedure?
ihsan2022 cali-mike1970
Posted
i just posted an update on the 1 month mark(today is 01/19/2023). Good news is in short that everything improved(see my post). i agree that i am still in the recovery period, meaning it should get even better by the 2 month mark.
ihsan2022 compiler
Posted
i just posted an update on the 1 month mark(today is 01/19/2023). Blood is completely gone. My IPSS before the operation was if i remember correctly around 30. i don't know my IPSS today, but everything improved dramatically..see my post
In short during the 3 1/2 weeks there was barely any improvement but then everything got better within only 3-4 days.