Non-Invasive BPH Treatments I'm considering

Please forgive the length of this but if you take the time to read it, I'm sure you will be able to relate.

60 years old.  Very fit, very active, very athletic.  I weigh 5 pounds more today than I did as a senior in High School.  I exercise, eat right, don't smoke, used to drink a glass of wine once every 3 days or so but can't even do that anymore without it causing urinary difficulties.  I've been dealing with BPH symptoms seemingly since time began.  I have not slept 8 hours a night for 30 years or more except for one night on February 23, 2010, from pure exhaustion, 3 days after my Mom died.  I don't know what it feels like to not feel like I don't have to urinate.  I have an enlarged prostate.  Who doesn't. I have tried Saw palmetto, Beta Sitosterol, Urolxitrol, Tamsulosin, Half a tab of Cialis daily, I've tried prostate magic pills, blended mixtures of the world's best of the best.  Swedish Flower, Rye Grass, this that, that, this. . .I still have BPH but the healthy food store owners are driving new cars thanks to me.  I'm done with pills, pills and more pills.  I'm done with side effects and lightheadedness, etc. I've become my grandparents with all the medications laying around.  I hate it.  I no longer know what it feels like to feel normal.

I have done endless research, I have been to multiple urologists, I have had ultrasounds, cystoscopies, rectal ultrasounds, uroflow tests, urodynamic tests, etc., etc.  Urologists tell you, "Hey, we'll just go in and clean you out, remove some tissue and you'll be like new."  The fact that they mention all of this so casually and nonchalantly is amazing to me.  We are men.  Men are visual, physical creatures.  We are used to a sexual experience where there is a result of our gun going off.  If you get a standard TURP, you will be shooting blanks forever.  This is insane.  Doctors act like this is no big deal, everything will feel the same.  No you won't.  It will NEVER be the same.  You're BROKEN.  You have lost a bodily function that if I am correct has (along with the help of a female partner) been creating the human race since a man first discovered his erection.  Having a ream job TURP is like going to a rock concert and not being able to hear anything.  They call the old fashioned TURP the ‘Gold Standard’?  You have to be kidding me.  It’s more like the kiss of sexual death to anybody that goes through it.  It butchers you.  I know men that have had to seek counseling they were so depressed after having a standard TURP.

I find it unimaginable and absolutely hard to believe that after endless decades of research, there is still not a reasonable and non life changing treatment for BPH, the most common problem that men face.  

Anyway, after years of my research, waiting and waiting for something wonderful to come along that will revolutionize how we treat this miserable part of a man’s life, I find that I can not wait any longer.  Constant UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections), long regimens of antibiotics, plus the daily Flomax, Cialis, etc.  I’m sick of the whole thing.  Now I have some thickening on my bladder wall and some trebeculations.

I am considering one of two or a possible combination of both to treat my BPH.  One is the A PKTM TURP which uses lower-voltage energy to vaporize and cut away the portion of the prostate that is enlarged and causing your symptoms.  The lower-voltage PKTM Technology, combined with the safety of operating in saline, results in a safer, faster and more effective procedure.  This procedure is also known as a ‘Gyrus, bipolar procedure.  No, not bipolar like my ex-wife, this is the good kind. 

Basically it is an Electrovaporization of the prostate with the Gyrus device.  The reason there tends to be less complications is that the surgeon can be more precise with what is removed and what is left alone.  There is also a saline solution that is used throughout the procedure.

I’ve been told and I’ve learned through my research that there is a 10-15% chance for retrograde ejaculation with this procedure, recover time is much shorter, less bleeding and very little chance, if any for ED.  Those are fairly good odds for a good outcome compared to Las Vegas where your chance for a bad outcome is about 99%.  It's still a chance but if I don't do something soon, I will be facing worse problems with my bladder, kidneys, etc.  I am still sexually active so would like to preserve that functionality.

If there is anyone out there that has had a Gyrus procedure, please reply to me with your comments.

The other procedure that everyone seems to be talking about is the UroLift.  Obviously this procedure is the least invasive one there is with eseentially no tissure being removed but there is simply not enough data yet with such a new treatment option.  The idea is great. Insert a device into the urethra, the insert and deposit some small anchors through and behind the prostate wall and tether some others on the inside urethra side and voila - you have an opening held open by stainless steel tabs and thread.  Sounds pretty darn good.  but. . . .I’m not sure anyone can convince me that you won’t be able to feel these foreign objects as you move around in (and around) such a sensitive gland.  The other thing I don’t get from a mechanical standpoint. . . .there are anchors on both ends of a surgical thread, what’s to keep the inner anchors from pulling the outer ones inward, thus closing off the urethra?  Am I missing something?  Then there’s the issue of the prostate which will continue to grow and grow over time.  How long will it take until it overwhelms the anchors or pulls through - or worse.  Is there anyway to remove something that resembles a spring-wing wall molly bolt that has been (essentially) blindly placed through your prostate wall?  The other question is that it is an implant situation so will the body reject it?

Hey.  I am all for doing something to relieve my BPH and see what it’s like to maybe sleep through the night and see what it feels like to urinate without having to pack a suitcase for the bathroom trip(s) but there’s a reason that there is a dozen (or more) different procedures for BPH on the market right now.  It’s because men are demanding better options.  All the the procedures claim to be the best invention since canned peas but the reality is that whether you scrape it, burn it, electrocute it, laser it, vaporize it, bake it, auger it, pulverize it, ream it, etc., it still destroys what it is to be a man.

If anyone has had the UroLift (or the Gyrus procedure) please reply and help me make a more informed decision and also to get the word out to our fellow BPH sufferers out there.  Maybe through our words and actions, we can some day create a vaccine or at least a completely non-invasive out patient solution.  Thank you for taking the time to read my long call for help.  I sincerely look forward to any thoughts you may have.

David

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