My Holep experience
Posted , 15 users are following.
Here is an overview of my Hoelp surgery.... I am a 52yr old male..Tampa, FL, .BPH for my entire life. Frequency and urgency for most of my life. Kept getting worse. Last year everything stopped and had to get foley cath 3 different times. Last one had to stay in the whole month before Holep surgery. BPH biopsy showed no cancer just a huge prostate. Holep surgery on Jan.02,2019. Prostate size was 75 grams, DR. removed 45 grams. Surgery went well. My Dr, leaves cath in longer than most. Cath removed on Jan 09, 6 days later. Today is 10 days after Holep surgery and 4 days after removal of cath. Stats,,, after cath removed.... High frequency to urinate, about every 45 minutes.... Starts with 1 or 2 drops of blood then a hard normal stream. Pain level is about a 6 from start to finish then have an radiating pain inside for 2 minutes. Then pain stops and I feel normal until next time I pee. Only 4 days out after cath removal but pain seems to be less everyday. I have had 0% urine leakage from day 1. Possibly due to my age? I am lucky there. Just pain every time I pee. Every once in a while I get a pain twinge inside but only lasts for 1 second, healing inside I would guess. I have not ejaculated yet probably way to soon? But I have "tested the waters". Only 3 days out I know I can get 100% rigid. But it hurts and spots of blood on the tip. I will hold off as long as I can because I know it will hurt the first time but I know now it is still going to work. Not known yet if I will have retrograde orgasms but I prepared if they are. Hope this helps anyone new to Holep. I am looking for your experience the first few weeks after surgery. I go back to work in 2 weeks and have a high physical job. I hope most of the pain and frequency are gone by then. Feel free to ask any questions for input and help. I am not shy as you can see. God bless.
0 likes, 50 replies
hank1953 todd94776
Posted
Where and with which doctor did you have holep ? Thanks.
todd94776 hank1953
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Dr. Martin Richman, just outside of Tampa Florida, USA. I have been seeing him the last year and he was my surgeon. So far I give him the highest recommendation.
kenneth1955 todd94776
Posted
Hey Todd
It looks like your on the right track. 75 gr does not seam that large we have had men that have up to 300 gr. Why did you pick the Holep procedure and what did you doctor tell you about retro. With him removing half did he try to save it with only getting rid of the problem. This is up to you
Did you talk with any of his patients before you had it done to see how they came out. Keep up the good work and do relax and let yourself heal
God Please..............Ken
todd94776 kenneth1955
Posted
Thanks Ken, I went with Holep as it is now the gold standard for BPH. Much better than Turp or green light laser. Just newer technology. I researched beforehand so I knew my Dr. had done over 350 Holep surgery's already and was highly trained. I told him to take as much of the prostate as he saw fit to. He said sexually everything would work as well as it did before the surgery. He did say I would have retrogade orgasms after the surgery. But by my studies only 80% do. That gives me a 1 in 10 chance of not having them. I am not worried if I do, just curious. At $1,200 each time to the ER for urine retention, and a catheter, I had to make a decision. BPH was ruining my life. So far I am very happy I went with this.
todd94776
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Sorry. That should be a 2 in 10 chance for the 80%.
dai12345 todd94776
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Hi. Glad to hear you are moving in the right direction after the op. I had mine done 3 years ago in the UK. Mine went extremely well with no pain after the first day, virtually no leakage but RE which is not a problem. 3 years later everything is still virtually 100%. No pain and full erections. I might have a very small spurt leakage once a month. BTW I did have very low level bleeding at the end of peeing for 5 weeks. My prostate was 130gm and the surgeon said HoLEP was at it's best on large prostates. He only leaves the shell. I definitely made the right decision.
DCRofGB dai12345
Posted
I would recommend either Dr. Dunn at UCLA or Dr. Humphrey at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale.
hank1953 DCRofGB
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I could not find anything about either Dr. Dunn or UCLA associated with Holep.
DCRofGB hank1953
Posted
Dr Matthew Dunn at UCLA
hank1953 DCRofGB
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Yes. I found Dr Matthew Dunn at UCLA but not holep. I don't think that he does holep neither does UCLA provide holep. Thanks
DCRofGB hank1953
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To the contrary, Dr Dunn is one of the most experienced Holep surgeons in So Cal
Feral todd94776
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I live in San Diego with Medicare Supplement insurance by United Care. Does anyone know of a HOLep surgeon in this area???? Please help. I am retaining enough pee to be damaging my kidneys.
kenneth1955 Feral
Posted
Feral
Good afternoon
I looked up the 2 doctors that the other men have talked about. I have found nothing out about them doing the Holep Procedure. There was just basic information. Dr. Dunn have been a Urologist for 26 years and Dr. Humphrey for 19. Even when you read the reviews they say that they are good doctors but tells nothing of the procedures that they do.
If this is the procedure you are looking into you need a doctor that it is his specialty for the best results and the least about of side effect.
Good luck.....ken
hank1953 kenneth1955
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Hi Ken, I couldn't find Dr Dunn association with HoLep either. However, Dr Humphrey from Mayo clinic in Arizona is well known and well recommended for HoLep.
kenneth1955 hank1953
Posted
Hank.
I was looking for a Dr. Humphrey in San Diego. It is very hard to find a doctor that does Holep because it takes a lot of training and skill to do that procedure.
I thought he was looking in that area. No problem. I hope he finds someone that can do him right. Maybe he needs to look into other procedure also.
Have a good day....Ken
Feral kenneth1955
Posted
I did find Dr Matthew Dunn at UCLA Med Center and as others report the website is less than helpful about the procedures he performs. I did the next best thing, I called his office and asked. YES, he does HoLEP and I have an appointment in about 3 weeks. Such a relief as I was having a problem with my Medicare Advantage plan and Mayo Clinic. He takes my plan so good to go. I will post as this thing moves along.
hank1953 Feral
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Thanks Feral. Keep us posted. BTW, what Medicare Advantage plan do you have ?
kenneth1955 Feral
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That is good for you. Find out how he does it. Because it is done in different ways
Good LuckKen
Feral hank1953
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I have Sharp United Health Care, which I found out is a San Diego County plan which may get in the way of using a LA County Uro. Next October when open enrollment starts I will compare the AARP UHC plan to see how it compares to what I have.
hank1953 Feral
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Is your Sharp plan HMO or PPO? Thanks.
Feral hank1953
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It is HMO, still waiting to hear about the referral. I plan to appeal if the decision is negative. I have gone through the appeal process before on another issue and won so I am not intimidated.
hank1953 Feral
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I have Sharp Medicare Advantage Gold HMO. Who did refer you to Dr Dunn? Is Dr Dunn in network? Thanks.
Feral hank1953
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Well things have changed. I did the leg work to find Dr. Dunn and called his office and after confirming he does HoLEP surgery I made an appointment. Then I contacted my GP and had him make a referral for UHC approval. Yesterday I received word that because Dr Dunn is affiliated with UCLA and they do not have a contract with my brand of UHC it was rejected. I told the insurance person that left me with little choice but to drop their coverage and go to just straight Medicare. I stated that I would not do TURP and wanted HoLEP. They got busy and "found" a provider in San Diego, Dr. James Roberts. I called his office today and asked if he performed this surgery and was assured that indeed he did. My appointment is for late April with a promise to put me on a waiting list for any appointment that became open. I hope that people are not just jerking me around. I intend to confirm he does the surgery and that he has done at least 50 operations. I will post more when I know more. Too bad there isn't an easy way to find urologists that have experience in HoLEP.
hank1953 Feral
Posted
Thanks. I'll look into this Dr Roberts also. Will let you know if I find any thing.