To TURP or not to TURP - advice needed!

TURP will only treat your prostate, it will do nothing at all to your bladder.

I had TURP and yet I cannot pee and have to do self-catherization (CIC).

Before any procedure the doctors should do all the exams possible,

including the state of your bladder. They neglected this completely for me.

The first step: ask your uro whether he is sure you will be able to pee better after

the procedure and what the condition of your bladder is. You are right to

hesitate! Take care

Hi Lyn,

Without a question, take the advice of the second urologist and do not rush into a TURP. There are two reasons for this. 

First, as the second urologist suggested, an investigation has to be done to determine the precise cause for your episode of what is termed acute urinary retention (AUR). TURP, and similar surgeries and procedures will only work if the primary cause was an obstructive prostate. However, your AUR was caused by either a very stretched (ATONIC) bladder and/or nerve damage, then TURP will not help. 

The second reason is that TURP, while considered the "gold standard" is in fact the OLD gold standard. Without going into detail, many newer surgeries and procedures that are not only less invasive but that will not have both the recovery time of TURP as well as the sexual side effects such as retrograde (dry) orgasm. 

So, first thing you want to get that catheter out of you as soon as possible. My suggestion is to ask your urologist to teach you CIC (self catherization). It has all the benefits of the catheter you have in you now, except you won't have it in your 24/7 plus less chance of infections.  

Second, you will want to have some imaging tests done, probably a cystoscopy, and probably a urodynamic study (video urodynamics is the best). These investigations will give you a much better idea of what the problem actually is and the best way to solve it. 

If you need any advice on self cattherization, please ask. A number of us here do it on a daily basis and it's pretty easy and painless once you get the hang of it. 

Jim

There is (in this day and age) almost no condition where TURP is the right answer - particularly before you've tried almost everything else first. Its outrdated, sort of barbaric (by today's standards) and can cause all sorts of problems - some temporary, some permanent. 

They need to figure out why you got so many infections and why you retained so much/were distended before recommending any sort of treatment and certainly before you undergo anything. Whoever suggested self cathing is right on the money - you won't be doing any running or racing as long as you're on one of those and they usually hurt a lot. Self cathing willl allow you to live normally, including all activity and there are stories of people on this blog whose bladder/retention problems were resolved over time through nothing else but self cathing. Research jimjames on this forum - he's a real life example, knows more about self cathing than most urologists and can offer some really good advice on its benefits and some tricks to make it easy to do.

Please don't do TURP at all, but don't do any procedure until you have a confirmed diagnosis. If a doc wanted to do 1980s surgery on me without even knowing what caused my problem, I'd probably look for another doc.

Good Luck!!!

Please don't ruch into any procedure.  Get some information.  It may not be the prostate it could be your bladder. The problem with most urologist is that if they can't find a problem.  They assume it's the prostate and they remove it.  You don't need to deal with that once they remove it you can't get it back.  Tell them no that you will wait  PLEASE for your sake  Ken

Lyn  I forgot to say that urologist in the hospital don't know you and how can he tell you what's wrong with no history on you..  Please cancel  Ken

Thanks to everyone who has responded!!!! I feel reassured.

Lyn,  I am 68.  Last week I had my second procedure - a TUNA (needle ablation) 10 years ago and a Urolift last week.  Last year my Urologist saw that my flow had slowed and tried treating me with tamsulosin (flomax).  As a runner myself, this was not a good choice.  The tamsulosin, an alpha blocker, reduced my ability to exert myself - I stopped running and exercising in general was hard.  From what you are saying, your situation is different.  I was not retaining urine.

You will find useful information on this site.  But, ultimately, you will need to find a medical professional to trust.

Read what you can.  Ask questions of us. Find a 3rd doctor if necessary.

In my opinion the vomiting of dark liquid takes priority over anything else

Keeping the bladder drained during these investigations is a positive step and will allow you time to take further advice on your urinary tract issues and act on those issues after the stomach issues have been identified and and hopefully resolved. If a "rebore" is recommended, go for a HoLEP and don't allow yourself to be talked into a TURP. Good luck.

Yes, HoLEP is the new "gold standard" according to a 2015 Review Article, "HoLEP: the gold standard for the surgical management of BPH in the 21st Century" publisned in the American Journal of Esperimental Clinical Urology.   Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that you should have a HoLEP procedure performed, only that it has replaced TURP when that has been indicated.  This site has been wonderful in reporting on several other procedures that address BPH problems differently or availability of procedures problems.  After the precise problem you are experiencing, all those procedures should be evaluated as they all have different side-effects, risks, reliability, longevity, costs, effectiveness, availabiility, etc.

?In fat, I just received a letter from my urologist with an enclosed flyer on UroLift, and now offering that treatment as the best thing since sliced challah.

Harvey (S. Calif.)

Harvey

Second time I've read of black vomit this weekend.

Google "  Max Spiers died after vomiting two litres of black fluid "

Which country are you in as treatment and options vary considerably.

If in the UK your hands are tied to a degree by the NHS and your options can be limited.