Post GreenLight Laser Surgery Recovery
Posted , 59 users are following.
I had GL surgery four days ago and would appreciate feedback regarding the recovery process from those that have also undergone this procedure. I currently void every 30 to 60 minutes at night and every 30 to 60 minutes during the day. My flow is a stream for a few seconds then dribbles for maybe 30 seconds. Is this pretty typical? After the surgery I was drinking 1 1/2 liters of water per day but I may reduce this because I am not convinced my bladder is emptying fully. What do you think about this? When I void, it really burns at first and often I will get bladder spasms as well. Do you think the pain is radiated pain from where the prostate was vaporized? Do you think I will see improvement with these symptoms on a daily basis or weekly basis over the next month or so?
3 likes, 165 replies
john14084 jim0601
Edited
Hello,
Thanks to all for sharing your stories about GL laser surgery. It was a big help for me, so I thought I'd return the favour following the GL surgery I had 4 weeks ago. Here's a summary of the situation / results:
Age: 53
Symptoms prior to surgery: Very slow stream, PVR approximately 200 CC, up a couple times a night to urinate. Was on Flomax for past year, but it was gradually losing effect - eventually had to double up on the dose to get desired effect. Had retrograde ejac while on floxmax, and lots of lightheaded occurrences. Time for surgery!
Surgery lasted 75 - 90 mins under general anesth. Lots of pain upon awakening from surgery. Given pain reliever and all was pretty much pain free within a couple hours. Had lots of bleeding, so doctor decided to admit me for an overnight stay in hospital. Catheter remained in overnight and was removed in the morning at hospital. First attempt at urinating was a shocker - very strong flow!! Some pain, but nothing major, and lots of blood. Urinated a couple more times in the next hour, then released from hospital.
Week 1. Minor pain at tip of penis when initiating urination, but nothing major. Very good flow, very little blood by the third day, and no pain to speak of. Up a couple times a night, basically no change from pre-surgery. Went on 30 - 45 minute brisk walks starting on Day 2, no pain, minor increase in blood after walks. No incontinence and no major sense of urgency that wasn't controllable. Generally urinating every 1 - 2 hours.
Week 2. Similar to week 1, but had increased bleeding/expelled clots (quite a bit actually) during the week, which I think was caused by too much walking. Otherwise no major problem. No sex yet..... No notable pain, no bladder spasms.
Week 3. Good week, blood appeared sporadically, but nothing major. No pain, spasms, incontinence, or major sense of urgency. Started light weight workouts at gym. Urinating about every 2 hours unless I was drinking a lot, which increased frequency to every hour or so. Up once or twice a night, depending how much I drank before bed. SEX at the end of week 3!! All good! Strong erection, no pain, and best of all, NO RETROGRADE EJAC!! I asked the doctor to do what he could to prevent retrograde. He gave no promises, but said he would try to avoid the bladder neck area as much as possible, which might reduce risk of retrograde. It worked!!
Week 4. All good. No pain, or any other issues, strong flow, normal frequency. Occasional occurrences of light blood immediately after starting urination, but quickly disappears and is not present for the remaining void. Back to normal workouts at gym.
All in all I couldn't have asked for better results. Feel much better not having to take flomax any more! And I certainly don't miss the retrograde ejac caused by flomax!
Just wanted to share my story folks to help those that may have concerns / hesitation to undergo laser surgery. Of course we will all have different experiences / results with surgery, but hopefully my story will be reassuring that the results can be quite favourable.
JimZ john14084
Posted
Thx! Had GL surgery today and was sent home with catheter because voiding was minimal. Will see doc in five days and to remove cath and try to void. I am hopeful after reading about your experience.
jeff86103 jim0601
Posted
john568 jeff86103
Posted
jeff86103 john568
Posted
No, not in U.K.
In USA
My results were very much like those reported by Jim0601
And now I am 6 months post surgery and am very pleased I went with GL
Regarding Urolift! I read about it but never seriously considered it
w._r.79189 john568
Posted
I am 71 and just had the GL procedure 2 and half weeks ago. Relatively satisfied at this point. Spent the night in the hospital for observation and had the catheter removed the following morning. Stayed on the medication to reduce the burning sensation for about 8-9 days and the burning stopped. Drank a lot of water and that increased the frequency of urination, but it also lessened the burning sensation. The blood in the urine which was minor stopped after about 7 days. I started trying to take short walks of 30 minutes or less after a week and the only problem I've experienced thus far is a small amount of leaking and slight amount of incontinence that occurs while walking or bending or stooping. Contacted the doctor and he said this was normal and should decrease and stop over the next few weeks. Wearing small pad inserts for now, but have not resumed my normal workout activities and long walks. Have been advised by others who have had the same GL surgery to take it ease for at least 3-4 weeks. Have noticed that if I drink a couple of cups of coffee, the only caffeine drink I've used, that my frequency and slight amount of burning occurs. Moderating the coffee to 1 cup in the morning. Doc said I could continue taking flomax until I've used up the current prescription but could stop it at anytime. Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences.
john568 w._r.79189
Posted
w._r.79189
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This W.R. and I just wanted to provide an update. As mentioned above, I had my GL surgery on May 7, 2018. It's now November and the leaking has stopped, bu still have to be careful with lifting or straining, or any real exertion or I might have slight leakage. I had my PSA checked in September and it had increased by 1.5 to 4.8, so I contacted the urologist and he said the exact opposite should have happened by going down, not up. I also mentioned that ejaculation contained no semen, but a really small amount of urine, which he found puzzling. I told him I also had a small amount of burning, so he ordered a urine culture and it turned out that I had a low level urinary infection. I might add that I've been drinking a lot of cranberry juice and that may have been the reason that it remained a low level infection. Anyway, took antibiotics for a 10-day period and it seems to have cleared up. My urine flow is like a 16-year old, but have the urge to go after about 2-3 hours. Still getting up 1-2 times a night, so that has improved from the 3-4 times prior to surgery. As for ejaculation containing urine, have not resolved that issue, but everything else is satisfactory. My hope is the procedure continues to work for another 10-years. Good luck to all who take this route.
willis693 jim0601
Posted
I reason I had the green light surgery. I could pee the problem was I had a slow stream and when I was done I still had urine left in my bladder and had to go to the bathroom sooner than I wanted. Didn't have any problems getting up at night time. Had the surgery 11 days ago, when I woke up in the recovery room the cath. was removed and bladder was filled with 250ml of fluid I was to wait 30 minutes than urinate. When urinate I could not believe the flow, when I was done a ultra sound was done of my bladder, it was completly empty.
Since the surgery I had blood for about 3 days, the only time I have blood now is after I do #2. Also the urge to go is still there but can make the feeling pass. When I do urinate I still have discomfort at the head of the penis that last for about 10 minutes after. The main thing is the bladder is empty and hoping the others pass with time.
derek76 willis693
Posted
Sounds like a typical good GL result. Where did you have it done ?
Did you go home the same day and have you checked for RE yet ?
willis693 derek76
Posted
Albany Medical Center in New York. Went home the same day, from the time I went in the hospital until I left 6 hours. Have not checked for RE yet.
derek76 willis693
Posted
I waited fifteen days to find that it was not a problem but a friend found that he was OK on day four. How big was your prostate ?
bob120 jim0601
Posted
After two greenlights and a turp, my PVR went down to 32ml. I still get up 4 times a night but use two one liter urinals in a waste basket by my bedside. I generally pass 1-1/2 to two liters a night. I do have cancer, heart disease, and my last two blood tests showed low egfr of 41 (stage 3b kidney disease) however I don't have any swelling of feet or ankles. I was instructed to drink 3 liters of liquid a day and discontinue my diuretic. I go for another blood test next week. If my egfr is still low I get a sonogram of my kidneys in three weeks.
Jacko68 jim0601
Posted
I had Laser surgery in France 10.5 weeks ago everything going OK except for the fact that over the past weeks I have been experiencing burning sensation in my urethra, some days are worse than others, it appears to be the length of the urethra although at times the end of my penis seems more tender. Has anyone else had this sensation and if so what medication did you use to ease this discomfort, and does it improve with time. Is this just the nerve endings knitting together after being disrupted by the laser surgery. Not die to go back and she the surgeon for a couple of weeks.
0 likes, 0 replies
Jacko68 jim0601
Posted
I had Laser surgery in France 10.5 weeks ago everything going OK except for the fact that over the past weeks I have been experiencing burning sensation in my urethra, some days are worse than others, it appears to be the length of the urethra although at times the end of my penis seems more tender. Has anyone else had this sensation and if so what medication did you use to ease this discomfort, and does it improve with time. Is this just the nerve endings knitting together after being disrupted by the laser surgery. Not die to go back and she the surgeon for a couple of weeks.
0 likes, 0 replies