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My Profile (Second Issue)

Posted , 7 users are following.

alan86734
alan86734

Hi, All. I have been absent for a few weeks and much has happened during that time. First order of business is to give you an outline of myself and an idea of my concerns and the focus of my future contributions.

I am an 87 year old male with a background in mechanical engineering. Not medically trained specifically, but with enough medical knowledge to follow discussions. Concerning health, I will keep to my urological issues. My principal malaise is urine retention (150 ml/330 ml approximate average), moderately enlarged prostate encircling the urethra, with paruresis (shy bladder) following as a lower priority. Years ago (1947) I did experience a single episode of renal calculus (kidney stone) which led to my first cystoscopy (rigid because the flexible cystoscope had not been invented yet). The next cystoscopy I underwent was performed on June 30th, 2016 in the Drs. office. This was followed by urodynamic testing done on August 25th, 2016 at UVM Medical Center.

Of the “Patient” contributors who have helped me along the way my sincere thanks goes to “Cartoonman”, who helped me out of the wet noodle syndrome, and “jimjames” for a wealth of very valuable and utterly reliable information derived from his experiences. And to a host of others who I have touched base with, both from “Patient” and from other sources. To all of you, my heartfelt thanks! You’re a great bunch, both men and women and, as a former mariner, I have a special feeling for the close camaraderie you all show!

Regarding the issues I am interested in, I will post my comments individually to make them easier to reference. Please search for “My Flexible Cystoscopy Done At Last” and “Urodynamic Testing – Now I Have Finally Experienced This Procedure, Too” by early next week, at the latest. The first posting of “My Profile”, which should have preceded these two, has vanished into limbo, so here goes a repeat issue; I hope this one “takes”!

Bye for now. Alan86734.

 

1 like, 27 replies

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  • cartoonman
    cartoonman alan86734

    Posted

    "Wet noodle syndrome:" an unexpected afternoon laugh, here in the Studio this rainy afternoon.   RIGID cystoscope???  OUCH!   And if I retained only 300cc, I wouldn't even be on this site!  (I retain 450-800cc!!! ---Permantly stretched-out bladder)!!!   :-)

    Welcome back, Oh Venerable Elder Peeman...  :-)

    • derek76
      derek76 cartoonman

      Posted

      I had a general anaesthetic when I had a rigid cystoscopy in 1983.It was very uncomfortable after but worse was that they had used some type of gel in the head of my penis that caused the skin to be very raw and peel off. We were going on holiday to Italy two days later and that holiday was both uncomfortable and sexless..
    • alan86734
      alan86734 cartoonman

      Posted

      That's exactly where you always scored; you brought a laugh to us all, but always  a laugh "with" rather than "at"! Then there was your nurse who had "Inquisition Apparatus Management" in her ancestry.

      Well, how lucky could I be? My nurse was the angelic counterpart. She even invited me to insert the 3-way Fr. 14 catheter. It was obvious silicone and very pliable. I faile miserably  so handed operations back to her. But more of all this later; its worth it!

       

  • frank74205
    frank74205 alan86734

    Posted

    Hi Alan, I am in the same boat. I am 87 years old with urine rentention. I had a cystoscopy in the doctors office . Dr then suggested i have Turp procedure.

    Did you have this procedure done? I have an appoint Oct 4 with a new urologist ,to discuss uro lift. Was the Urodynamic test very stressful? I have been on medicine for 3 months,with a catheter .Once a month catheter comes out and a void test is done.So far i still have urine retention. My doctor says this medicine Avodart could shrinlk the prostate.Kindly keep me posted with your decisions.

    • derek76
      derek76 frank74205

      Posted

      TURP is a rather brutal procedure at any time and more so for ones in our age range. The URO who did my GL PVP said that he did GL on a Guy of 92 with a prostate around 150 grms as it is such a gentle proedure. .
    • cartoonman
      cartoonman frank74205

      Posted

      Frank, I'm 20 years behind you, and extrapolating from my experience (at 65) having a cath in for only one week, I can't imagine having one for any longer---and wouldn't want to.  Are your hands steady?  If so, have you considered self-catheterizing?  I couldn't pee at all when my prostate shut things down.  I switched to self-cathing after one week of the cath-and-bag approach,  and feel "normal," or at least normal enough.  

      Also, I had the Urolift in December (after turning down my urologist's advise to let him do a TURP, which he called, "The Gold Standard," in AUg of 2014), and it cleared up some of my issues, though not all.  Btw, my home-urologist has since been trained in Urolift!  Not that I would trust a "newbie;" I flew to Salt Lake City (from PA) to get treatment by the most experienced Urolift guy in the country...

      Anyway, if you're able, I'd suggest considering self-cathing.  Don't be "older" than you have to be!  :-)

    • alan86734
      alan86734 frank74205

      Posted

      Hi, Frank, thanks for your reply.

       

      Your question, "Did you have this [TURP] procedure done?" No, and unlikely to ever have it done.

      "Was the Urodynamic test very stressful?" Not really, but I did have local sedation (quite unintentionally), and the nurse operator was extremely good. I should also point out that I have a high pain threshhold (pain tolerance) so probably the worse possible candidate for evaluating a procedure.

      My case is a little different to yours. The Dr. heading up the urodynamic test voted TURP while my Uro (enlightened man) voted CIC. I'll do my best to keep you updated. And for you, Frank, I wish you a trip back to normality ASAP!

      alan86734.

       

    • frank74205
      frank74205 alan86734

      Posted

      Hi Alan,Thanks for your response.You said your urologist voted CIC? What is CIC?Did you have a Uro-lift done?

      Thanks<

    • frank74205
      frank74205 derek76

      Posted

      Hi Derek, Did you have the GL PVP  done in a hospital?How long were you in ?
    • alan86734
      alan86734 frank74205

      Posted

      Hi Frank. CIC is the same old acronym for Clean Intermittent Catheterization, minus periods. Apologies for my laziness!

      All the best! alan86734

    • frank74205
      frank74205 derek76

      Posted

      Hi Derek, Thanks for that info. Did you have your GLPVP done as an outpatient?Or r was this done in the hospital?HOW BAD WERE THE SIDE EFFECTS?

      THANKS,

    • frank74205
      frank74205 alan86734

      Posted

      HI Alan, I have a foley catheter,don't know anything about CIC?

      I imagine the amount od times throughout the day you use this would depend on how much liquids you consume?Is that right?Do you have to put this in when you go to bed ? throuhgout the night?

      Thanks for your info,i feel very stupid about this.

    • alan86734
      alan86734 frank74205

      Posted

      I can teach you about catheters. In CIC you withdraw the catheter as soon as the bladder is empty. CIC catheter in overnight = very wet bed!

      I am going to be installing a new computer system so there is likely to be silence for the rest of this week.

      Can you tell me where you are? U.K., U.S.A., Canada, or Australia? Or where?

      Cheers! alan86734.

       

    • derek76
      derek76 frank74205

      Posted

      We are civilised in the UK and surgery is done in hospitals not 'Doctors Offices' !!  Actually we are unsure how a doctors office is defined. I assume it is what we would call a clinic.

      It was done in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. They were one of the first doing it in the UK. I was their 38th patient and the 6th of the doctor who did it and he was demonstrating it to an Eastern European doctor.

      They did it on a Friday afternoon and took the catheter out at 6am the following morning. I needed to be able to pee and not have any retention before I could return to Scotland by train. I had hoped to travel in the afternoon but it took till nearly Noon before I passed anything. After the next void I was retaining about 400mls so they kept me another night.

      It was about 2pm on the Sunday before I could void without retention and travel home. Everything was really totally fine, just a spurt of blood at the start of urination and a burning sensation in my raw urethra during it and a rosy coloured flow.

      Next day I went to the races and everyone asked if my operation had been cancelled. I went to the toilet on arrival and had two large coffees during the afternoon and felt no inclination to go to the toilet when I would previously have been about three times. 

      Normal practice at that time was to do it in the morning and let you go in the afternoon. Some went home others stayed in a hotel overnight to be close by in case of a problem. 

      I'd moved to the South of England before having my second procedure and it was fortunate that I lived near the hospital as within two hours of gettig home my catheter got blocked by clots and I had to go back to get it taken out and replaced. 

    • derek76
      derek76 frank74205

      Posted

      There were no side effects and that is the case for the majority of people as in all procedures and medications. Forums get the people who have problems. I stick around here to try to reassure people. To me it was much easier than a visit to the dentist. To hear of people wearing pads and in pain for weeks just amazes me.

      In America things seem to have gone backwards. I was following a prostate NG for years and at the start of PVP around 2003 people were going mad and clamouring for it. Some were travelling across the country to get it done.  Very few did not go home happy.

      Partick the very first PVP paitent used to post to the NG. He was so pleased that he bought shares in company and so well that he flew from the US to Japan on business the following week.

    • frank74205
      frank74205 alan86734

      Posted

      Hi Alan, Do you leave the catheter in over night??

      thanks for the info.

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