Experiences with Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate, HoLEP, Laser Surgery

DL: Depends pants for sure after catheter removal. Just shop for the size that best suits you (I understand they have more size choices now). For shields (you should be able to switch to those after a week, more or less), like many here I have found the CVS brand shields to be the best (though I have not tried them all). This will be when leakage lessens to the point pants are no longer needed. Or like Buster says you may want to use both the first few days. Take a box of each with you to Philly, and take a few of each maybe with a change of pants in a gym bag to Dr Das's office the day of catheter removal. My 2 cents anyway, hope this helps!

Hi Buster,

I appreciate ur more detailed info on pads. Thanks!

Could u and did u drive right after HoLEP when u were release from the hospital ?

The hospital will only release me to my driver. I suppose Uber driver will work too,

Hi Blayneb,

Thanks for the pad info. It is really helpful!

More:
Did u drive back to DC after HoLEP by yourself?

DL, in my case Dr Das wanted me to stay a day after catheter removal before driving home to be sure everything was ok (I assume he'll want the same for you due to distance), He called me the next day after catheter removal before I left to be sure I was OK before I drove home (I tell you, he is a good, caring MD). He also said stop every 2 hours to pee, don't hold it too long. And I forgot, FYI - guards and shields are the same thing.

Sure! Wife was with me DL. Have someone with you if possible for sure.

Hello Blayneb,

Thanks. I am glad to hear that he is so responsible to his patients and caring. Dr. Das office told me that I will stay 23 hrs in the hospital unless I have serious complications.

If u drove yourself back to DC, do u remember where did u park ur car? I understand that Parking in parking garage is the only option.

I don’t know about the hospital policies at ur location. I stayed overnight, the catheter was removed at 4:00 am and then I was released about 11:00 am. My wife drove me home but I did drive latter on that same day. So technically I suppose you could drive yourself home. I just tend to be conservative.

DL. In my case, and I believe in most of his cases, he wants the catheter to stay in for a few days (I was operated on Monday early AM, stayed in the hospital Mon and Tuesday night (bladder flushing going on the whole time), and discharged Wednesday, catheter removed Thursday (in his office), stayed in hotel Thursday night, then left Friday to drive to DC. So I booked a hotel (Ben Franklin per Dr Das's recommendation) Sunday night thru Thursday night where my wife stayed. Now this of course was not cheap, but I felt it was necessary to assure the best possible outcome, and make things as convenient as possible. My wife and I used taxi and Uber to travel between hotel, hospital, and his office, and also walked as the hotel is only like 5 blocks from his office. There is a parking garage with valet service for hotel guests (extra charge if I recall) where I kept my car during the week.

Buster, thanks for sharing ur experince!

Knowing ur experience is really helpful for me to prepare myself. Now I know I may have to stay in philli possibly 5-7 days instead of 1.5 days. Ur long catheter time surprised me.

Hello Blayneb,

Was the bladder flashing with salt water? Was it continuous?Any idea what was the purpose? Was the catheter consisted two tubes inserted to the bladder, one for putting flushing liquid in and one drained the liquid? OR there was just one tune used for both liquid input and output?

Ben Franklin: is it located at 834 chestnut street next to Dr. Das's office? If yes, it seems that it Is now called Franklin Residence, a luxury apartment complex. It does not rent out rooms.

Hi DL. It's actually THE FRANKLIN HOTEL AT INDEPENDENCE PARK 401 Chestnut St. Now when you go for your appointment next week, if all goes well Dr Das may say go ahead and book the surgery. He is usually at least 2 months out so if that fits into your plans, after you meet with him he'll have you meet with his scheduler (she is really nice, think her name is Lori but I can't remember for sure) and book the date, give you instructions for pre-surgery tests, etc. If I recall, he only does surgery 2 days a week (one of those is Monday, not sure the other) so I opted for a Monday so I could check into the hotel Sunday night and report bright and early Monday morning. There are cabs outside the hotel early so I just took one of those to the hospital that Monday morning with my wife. Now the flushing is as you say, a saline flush with a 2 way catheter and it is continuous to clean out the bladder of blood, and clots. They'ff be in and out of your room like every 2 to 3 hours or so checking and changing the bags, looking at the color, looking for clots, etc. Periodically, one of his interns will also come in and also check on you. He came in one time, the 2nd day as I recall. The care at Jefferson was very good and all the nurses were top notch. Don't expect to get much sleep though (like all hospitals)!! ;) I never experienced any severe pain. At most I'd call it minor discomfort. At some point they'll let you get up and walk the halls with the bag on a hook with wheels. The whole time they'll give you medication for pain and for constipation which as I say is a big sticking point with him. I hope all this info is not overwhelming but I want to give you the benefit of my experience there to help prepare you. Anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask.

Hello Blayneb,

The detailed information u provided is immensely useful not only to me but to many readers who are considering HoLEP!

Thanks again!

Great, Glad to help DL.