Turp operation or laser ?or leave alone?

I had the TURP op twice and get no ED problems, quite the opposite in fact. The urolift would not have solved my retention problems and the drugs - Tamsulosin - were useless.  There is a very, very small risk of ED problems with TURP and the vast majority of men come through it with no problems. Having the TURP released me from years of retention problems and allowed me to get on with my life.

Tom I am happy for you and your results.  You were one of the lucky ones.  I have read a few of the surveys on turp. And there is a 60% chance of some form ED.  All of us heal in diffrent ways and time.  That why I say in the post you have to trust your doctor and read up on anything that is being done to you.  You have the choice to make the right one for yourself.  Life is to short to miss out on anything.  Can I ask why you had to have it done 2 time.. I also have a stricture.  Read up on the diffrent kinds of surgery.  Do you know that the doctor does not tell you that there is a chance of penile shorting.  I read a post on a man that was 40 with a small stricture. He agreed to have a end to end surgery. Have a 1/2 of in cut out and put it together.  Well when he woke up the doctor told him that it was a little bigger.  The doctor cut out 3 1/2 in of his urethra.  He can no longer make love to his wife and they are both depressed. I talk to my doctor and he said that he would have not done that.  He told me he would have stop and wait for me to wake up and I would have to make that choice.  Men need to read up on everything now a day....Take care  Ken        

Hi Ken, thanks for your reply.  All I was told before the surgery that there was a possibility of some degree of incontinence or impotence but that it was relatively rare.  I had suffered with retention problems for a number of years but had been reluctant to go ahead with the TURP because of these warnings and persevered with the Tamsulosin which wasn't really working for me. However I was on a trip to Egypt and there was a doctor in the group who had also had retention problems and he had decided to go for the TURP and had never looked back after, no problems with retention and no ED or sexual problems. It was talking to him that gave me the confidence to go ahead with the op when I got back home. That was 7 years ago now and the reason for the second op, which I had last December, was because I passed quite a lot of blood while I was on a trip to New York last September and the medics suspected bladder cancer but when I had the flexible cystoscopy they found the bladder was OK but part of the prostate had regrown and the bleeding was from the new growth so they decide to remove that and cauterise it.  Everything is now back to normal and functioning OK. The re-growth was benign by the way.  Appreciate that I may have been lucky in my experience and that might not apply to all men in my cicrumstances, just know that it seems to have turned out well for me. All the best and take care.  Tom

Hi again,forgot to mention.. no problem with sex drive after the turp, 2 weeks after i had retro ejac... but later a dribble, maybe it will improve>> can1t say i mind >>> less mess !! as long as no pain..... plenty of desire, but am taking  it easy..

Tom I am very happy for you that it worked.  Some doctors are knife crazy  Let cut it out that will fix it.  I'm 59 don't have has much sex has I had when I was younger but I still would like to.  And I like to get all the information I can..  Take care  Ken 

Tomsenior,

Reading these posts I realized your experience mirrored my own. 15 months after my Greenlight laser which removed 70g. of prostate I had severe bleeding of the prostate and got blocked up with clots, for no apparent reason. My urologist went in with the laser again and cleaned up some more tissue, cauterized 3 bleeders, removed the clots, crushed and removed a bunch of bladder stones, and trimmed (resectioned) the bladder neck, needed 6 pints of whole blood transfusions. Things went well for another 15 months, then 6 weeks ago started bleeding heavily for no reason, got blocked up with clots, and my uro said my prostate had grown back in just 3 years and this time removed another 70g. of tissue with a full turp. Pathology showed no malignancy, but I needed 2 pints of blood. Two weeks later the foley cath was taken out and three days later I started bleeding heavily again, blocked up with clots, back in the hospital and got the clots cleaned under IV anesthesia, and needed 2 more pints of blood. Bled heavily in the foley for the next two weeks, needed 2 pints more blood as an outpatient, was going into surgery to find and stop the bleeding when I stopped bleeding on my own. That was 4 weeks ago. Foley came out two weeks ago, and so far so good.

The reason I bring all this up is that I was told in hospital that most men who bleed from the prostate for no reason take blood thinners or aspirin. I never did, but I had been drinking about 4 oz. of whiskey every day for more than 50 years, and I read recently that alcohol is a blood thinner. So I wonder if that was the reason for the spontaneous bleeding. Needless to say I haven't had any alcohol since the turp and probably won't in the future. I wonder if you had either blood thinners or regular alcohol, and if this was the reason behind your spontaneous bleeding?

I'm thinking that once the prostate is cut and tissue removed by any method, that future spontaneous bleeding is a possibility.

On another topic, I was very worried about getting retro ejaculation (which I avoided with the Greenlight, but gave no thought to during the turp). Last night I found out I had retro, but I can honestly it made no difference in sensation. In fact I was surprised to find out I had no emissions because it felt totally normal to me.

Don't take this the wrong way but your post scares the BeeJesus out of me.  I guess thats why Iam investigating the "Urolift". 

Hey bob  Glad all went well for you but that to much blood for me. Alchol is a blood thinner.  Didn't they ask you before the surgery  I would not let any doctor cut away at my prostate.   It can cause 10% ED you were lucky but it wiil cause 65% reto ejaculation That is permanent.  I guess if you would be younger and looking to have kids that may be a problem.  I did not like them  Had them when I was on a couple of meds.  After I did not like the the way it made my bladder feel.  Thats way i had a urolift done Been 4 week and doing fine And some of my orgasm have been intense and a good amount.  Take care and good health  Ken  

Hey Chick ken here  I think the uro-lift will serve you well.  Bleeding is a lot with the other surgery and causes other problems. I hope you and your wife have a good week. Remember allways look things up buddy  

Thats Chuck   Sorry

Hi Chuck,

Hope it works out well for you. My hematurias scared the hell out of my wife too. I tend to be fatalistic and pretty calm in emergencies. It wasn't a walk in the park to be sure. To be fair my prostate started out at about 180 g. My original scans said it was 10cm x 9cm x 8cm. My uro said it was the largest he had ever seen. I also had a large 40g. median lobe protruding into the bladder. After 3 surgeries my uro said it's now a 40g. prostate with no median lobe protrusion into the bladder. Would never have been a candidate for the urolift.

Good luck in finding a good solution.

Bob

Hi Ken,

So far so good. Happy you found a good solution with the urolift. Unfortunately for prostates over 100g. cutting is all that's offered. Best of luck.

Bob

Thank you bob.  I only know the doctor told me the size of my prostate was the size of a lemon.  When I sat straight up I could bob back and forth It was like I was sitting on a ball.  We have to look up everything to see what is the best but sometimes the best is the wrost to go thur Take care  Ken

Hey Tom.  Just saw your reply to me when I was doing another one.  I am happy that you had a good out come.  Yes you were one of the lucky ones in that 90%.  But the other 10% are not that lucky.  But with the internet and all the information we can get we can be more informed.  Take care and good health  Ken