Turp operation or laser ?or leave alone?

I assume that you had a conventional TURP. If that is the case it takes a bit longer to recuperate and heal. Have you considered going to a second Urologist to evaluate your symptoms? I did that after eye surgery some years back and the reassurance I received was definitively worth the second opinion. I hope it gets better soon.

Thanks

If you want some sympathy humor, after I had my first exam from my first urologist he assured me (one of many failed assurances) I would have minimal bleeding. I was celebrating my birthday the same day with a friend. By the time we sat down for lunch (~1 1/2 hours later) it became obvious I was poorly prepared because I was wearing boxers and blood starting coming out a lot and with clots! After several trips to the bathroom to pack in paper towels, I left lunch and raced to the drug store, bought condoms, put one on, felt safe, and headed to my business meeting. In the meeting things immediately started to go sideways, I was leaking again somehow. I excused myself, headed for the bathroom, got halfway, then the condom fell off, went down my pants, and onto the floor!! It was a miracle no one saw! The ONLY thing that saved me that day was I was wearing black pants which did not show the stains so much. But I can think of a millions better ways to spend a birthday!! By the way, I am close to your age. As my mom always said, "this too shall pass." You will survive and do fine soon, either from TURP, or HoLEP when the time comes. Good luck!

Thanks Bill

Hey it's only early days for you a TURP procedure is a major operation and the body needs time to adjust and recover.Dont regret having it done ok cos things will improve.I am 5 months since mine and feel amazing my flow is normal , no more blood and I don't get up during the night anymore and also the urgency has disappeared .

Let me just say after reading all these posts that these different surgerys all scare the you know what out of me.  Bleeding, lots of pain, catheters,  peeing in your pants, etc etc.   Iam more scared now than ever. 

Not true, Chuck, read my experience 19 days ago in these posts about Holep. Good luck, Ron.

Ron; Do you live in the US or England???   Iam trying to figure out if there is a forum like this one but in the USA.  It seems that most guys on this forum are in England which is fine but I do know they have different procedures abroad and it would be kinda helpful to hook up with guys that have this problem in the US.  Iam very interested in the "HOLEP" that you had but since I had a "PAE" just a little over 2 months ago I need to give it a chance and see if it works or not.  So far it has not.

I'm in Texas, Chuck. I could find no Dr in Texas to perform the Holep procedure so I went to the Mayo in Phoenix. True, this is a British-originated and maintained forum but the only difference I can see is the way in which we pay for the surgery and our choice of Doctors and Surgeons. We have Medicare and Medicare Supplements if we are over 65. My wife and I pay a total of $500 monthly for this coverage, the best health care in the world when you include the rights we have to choose our Doctors and Hospitals anywhere in the US and with no unusual waits and delays. Check out getting HOlep or even Urolift done in Canada, I'll bet they have to wait six months minimum. 

There are a lot of Americans here. I read of the experiences of dozens of BPH sufferers in these forums and on several others who had Turp, TUVp, PAe, Green Light laser, urolift, etc,  I tended strongly toward HOlep but I hesitated until a British urologist who performs the HOlep procedure told me straight out that with my prostate size and shape Holep would fit me perfectly and he was absolutely correct. I'm indebted to him. He didn't have to chime in but I'm glad he did. 

If you're interest in Holep, I know there are Surgeons at all of the Mayos, Minneapolis, Florida and Phoenix, also at the University of Indiana, in Boston, Nashville (another University hospital) and others I'm sure. Most, maybe all of them, were trained by Dr Lingaman at the University Hospital in Indianapolis. He brought the procedure to the US from New Zealand about fifteeen years ago or so. He has done thousands of the procedures and many others of his proteges are very experienced as well, such as Dr Humphreys. My total experience with Dr Humphreys and The Mayo Clinic was off the chart successful. 

I don't have a clue about the effect of PAE, it made me nervous because it worked by shutting off nerves to the prostate, thus starving it into a smaller size. Nerves are what keep all of or sex lives, continence, bowel movements, valve operations in proper order. It just bothered me so I ruled it out. Let's hope that it will kick in for you soon!  Surely the Dr who performed the operation must have some time-line to anticipate certain effects. I would talk a lot to him if your condition is not improving. 

You could always consult with a HOlep surgeon about the effect of PAE on a future HOlep procedure. By the way, I don't know of anyone else posting about PAE so your experience can be particularly valuable to BPH patients.  

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Ron;  Thank You for your speedy reply.  I really appreciate it.  Since my Dr. told me it could take up to 6 months to see good results I have a ways to go.  I had the "PAE" procedure on Sept. 10th so the earliest I would consider the HOLEP would be in the spring time of 2015.  Lets keep in touch.  Take Care. 

Hi ron

so you had the holep procedure done at the mayo clinic in arizona.

and the physician was Dr . humphreys ?

I have been suffering from bph for 8 years i just learned to live with it !

but last year i came down with acute bacterial prostatitis and 12 months

later it has morped into chronic prostatitis / luts / cpps

I have been trying to deal with it but new symptoms have come up and 

its time i do something , i think holep would be the best treatment for me.

i would like to know how much the holep procedure costs , total amount

and what the total hospital costs were .

my insurance will only cover 50% if i go outside a network provider .

                                                                               thanks Griff

 

I had Green Light XPS done here in Canada, and contrary to what most Americans may like to believe, wait time was exactly one month! I've never had to wait longer than one hour for any doctor's appointment. Ever!

Plus, we don't pay $500 a month for medical insurance.

Wait times around Canada vary. Perhaps you're lucky but don't kid yourself. There are long wait times in Canada. That's why surgery centers in the US are booming. Also, Canadian healthcare is not free. You're paying for it with very high taxes. I'm paying $150/month for a non-Obamacare plan. I'm pretty sure that's a lot less than you're paying in taxes for your waiting-line healthcare.

Richard,

Sounds like a good deal. But you are a victim of US corporate media misinformation. Unless I'm mistaken, most Americans wanted a single payer government run health care system like you have and like many European countires have. What we got was a compromise because in the US, the insurance industry gets a cut of everything. We have car insurance, life insurance, mortgage insurance, howmeowner insurance, insurance to guarantee our savings accounts, insurance to guarantee our pensions, health insurance, secondary health insurance to cover what the first policy doesn't cover, insurance (paid extended warantees) on everything we buy plus maintenance contracts (another form of insurance) on appliances, our water mains, and automobiles. Plus when we travel we buy flight insurance  and cancellation insurance in case we can't make the flight.

Bob

The government wants a cut of everything. Every penny earned is taxed. If single monopoly payer is so successful, why not have single payer for housing, jobs, and food? Oh, yeah. That experiment failed. It was called communism.

Dear all an easy solution is Memokath 028. It's safe and can never do any damage to patients. I would always recommend a procedure where no harm can be done. Good The laser went well have heard too many having impotence or incontinence after. Good luck to all.

Hi Casper,

Forgive me it you have answered these questions before, but I have a difficult time navigating this site due to its novel ordering of posts.

Have you yourself had the Memokath 028 procedure, and if so can you tell us your story including previous diagnosis, previous symptoms, when and where the procedure was done and how you are doing today.

I have done a brief search on the Memokath via 'google' and 'pub med', and while it sounds very interesting I have not found a whole lot pertaining to studies directly relating to bph, or for that matter anything recent.

One was an older study from 2007, which suggested it might be a viable option for those who are not surgical candidates but warned of migration. Another more recent study sounded promising but it only dealt with the first 6 months after brachytherapy, as opposed to a longer term approach for bph.

Any more information on this procedure would be appreciated. 

Jim

Beware of newer procedures which have not stood the test of time. The reason why it's so difficult to find to do them is because many of them are excluded from coverage in their medical malpractice insurance.

There are a new procedures out there and alot of the younger doctor are doing the new ones like PAE and Uro-lift.  Some of the old doctors do the older ones and don't get the traying on the new ones. They just tell the patient this is the best take it or leave it.  We should never take it or leave it we have the right to the best procedure for us. It's our bodys and we need to get all the information we can.  I am not putting down any of the old procedures . All men are not the same.  What is good for one may not be good for another.  We have the internet and friends to pick what is best for us.  Also if you don't agree on what your doctor is offering we have the right to see another doctor.  Good luck to all.....Ken       

Very true Ken, and then on the other end of the spectrum are some older tried and solutions that have been passed over for more invasive, newer and more costly procedures. For example self catherization as a non evasive option to surgery which is a path I have currently chosen. And yes, do your homework and pick whats best for you, not just the procedure your doctor is trained in.

No, that's called being in the armed services. A single payer for housing, job and food. Uncle Sam. Single payer medical is called Medicare. Without it almost every senior citizen in the US would be facing bankruptcy at some point. The government doesn't make moey off the people. It just redistributes it to the corporations. By the way, that's called fascism, and it's alive and well.

That is right I have a few friends that have done that for years.  For me I don't know if I could do it Not a fan of a catheter.  Had a bad experience with them in a hospital last year. Had a nurse force one in and never told me what he was doing. No cleaning no gel no talking  Did have one in April when I had my uro-lift done.  I guess it takes sone time getting use it doing it. I have a stricture that I may have to have a balloon diliation done. It's either that or have it cut out.....Take care  Ken

Seems like every procedure claims it's the best. It's only in these forums we hear the good the bad and the ugly. Our urologists have chosen a particular procedure for whatever reason, and are going to recommend those procedures and present them in the best light possible. When something goes wrong they say you are an anomoly. This might be true, statistically, but it doesn' do you any good if you are the anomoly.

You don't have much choice either when the data published doesn't give you much clear cut guidance. Any procedure by ay uro can go wrong, but according to most reports, most are successful (at least a few years out, which is as much as gets reported).

There's no way to know who is the best uro or what is the best procedure. They ought to mandate patient reviews like they have on amazon for every surgical procedure, hospital and surgeon. Then at least you would know the odds of success. Of course when your bladder is busting with retention, a decision is needed. In the absence of reports of malpractice (which is published on sites like healtgrades) most people will choose the uro they know over the uro they don't know, follow the uro's advice, and hope for the best.

That is why information is the key.  Ken