That's great new Sleepless. Was thinking about you this week. You are pretty much on schedule for where I was in 2013. If you haven't had any "accidents" at work in a couple of weeks, you might trying to go without the pads. Once the IC goes away, it basically stays away. (That said, if I drink a LOT of tea or liquid I do need to find a bathroom) but that happend when I was young too. Please check in every couple of weeks. and let us know how yo're doing. How are YOU doin' Just Me?
Steve
Sure I will. Seems it's just you and me who are keeping this thread going. Let's keep doling it. I want to know more about long-term consequences. Guys who had TURP sometimes should do it again. I am also wondering how reduction in DHT produced by prostate may affect us.
I'm not going anywhere ;-) Happy to guide others. I think Just me is still with us. This was a great resource for me (and I think you.). I don't see any consequences to be honest. HoLEP is best thing to happen to me and I'd not have known about it - or Dr. Das - had I not discussed "men's issues" with my Dentist (!) who told me he had same issues. Hang in there. You should be 99% cured by summer.
Someone told me that HoLep can only be performed once--in other words, only on 'virgin' tissue. Does anyone know if this is true?
If so, then what do we do after the 10 plus year period after the HoLep -when we may need another operation? If so, then what kind of operation-TURP/Greenlight?
Not sure if this will help but I found this quote from 2013 which shows virtually no need to repeat HolEP:"The HoLEP procedure is considered a minimally invasive alternative to TURP for treatment of BPH. On average during the 7.6 years, virtually no men in the HoLEP group needed to repeat the procedure, compared with three men having to repeat in the TURP group. Men who received HoLEP had less time using a catheter and reported shorter hospital stays and minimal blood loss. Side effects and symptoms after the first year were similar between the two groups, and both procedures cause retrograde ejaculation, or dry climax.
Steve
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Holep removes most of the prostate inner tissues so it won't grow back in your lifetime. TURP/Greenlight removes only obstructing part of the prostate so if it grows a little bit more you have your problem back. If the prostate is too large to start with they TURP/Greenlight would be useless.
Hi Steve, I am doing very well thank you. I still have very minor stress incontinence . 1 pad every 24 hrs .. Erections are back to where they were 10 years ago. I was told by Dr Paonessa , I would not have to have surgery again. A great plus for Holep over TURP. In a conversation with an uncle ,he admitted he was slowing down after 15 years post TURP. There are some photos online of the interior of a prostate several months post holep. WIDE open and very smooth. I will try to let you know where they are I did a lot of research before surgery . I also kept a journal of sorts for my own use. I look back and compare my present state to then , and wish I would have had the surgery sooner. .Absolutly no regrets
just me
THAT's what we want to heart Just Me. And glad the erections are back! They usually are I'm told. Hey, one pad every 24? (I went padless after 5-6 months) You be a zero shortly I hope. Keep checking in. We HoLEP guys need to show others that this is the way to go. A few months annoyance but a whole new world (well, I can speak only for me). HoLep seems to be a big secret that the makers of FLOMAX don't want to tell the patients abount ;-)
HoLep was good for me-- no pads ever-not one.
Erections are good--no problems.
I am glad your Dr. said you would never need the surgery again. A local urologist told me the prostate grows back and I will need it again--but the 10 year study recently completed states that there is a very small group the needs another surgery. I wonder how long the HoLep actually lasts or is it indefinite?
Dr. Lingeman's office was great-
Bill in CA
I doubt we will need another surgery ever. Judging by amount of prostate tissue removed and considering lowering of testosterone production with age it should last for our remaining lifetime. But nobody knows for sure. They are doing Holep for 10 years only and only a few people had it back then
Mike, did you ever find a Urologist near you performing HOLEP? I live in Port St Lucie and have the same problem. I am going to Sarasota to Dr Barzell for 3T MRI diagnosis, but he only performs Gyrus TURP and recommends RASP or Dr Lingeman in IN for HOLEP.
The only Dr in SE FL I have found is Dr Sanjay Razdan in South Miami.
I have no vested interest other than my HoLep surgery was successful (and of course local) but Northeast option is Dr. Das here in Philly at Jefferson. Honestly, I LOVE this guy! (well, guy type love anyway!)
Hi. This post may be too late for you, but it may help others in the UK or travelling to it. I had my HoLep 3 days ago in Cambridge, UK. It was carried out by Mr Trev Aho, a New Zealander, who brought the technique to the UK having been trained by the originators in NZ. He has many years of HoLep experience. He and his team practise at two private hospitals in Cambridge and the NHS one (Addenbrookes). So far I am extremely pleased. I had morning surgery, had only gentle pain during the afternoon which was treated with painkillers. The irrigated catheter came out first thing next morning and I urinated easily with a good flow. I had three retention tests before my hospital discharge at lunchtime. I was retaining virtually no urine with a 500ml outflow. Before the procedure I was retaining around 800ml with a 100ml outflow! I had a pubic catheter fitted for a few weeks before the op to avoid the risk of blockage; this was removed before my discharge. I still have some bleeding which is gradually slowing. I have no IC at all and stopped the painkillers a day ago as not needed. Pain during urination is low. I'm taking antibiotics for 5 days. I am really pleased so far but obviously things like RE and bleeding have yet to be checked. My prostate was very large, around 150cc. I can certainly recommend Mr Aho, an extremely nice guy. Whilst in Cambridge, of course, you can visit the sights which are 1/2 mile walk from my hospital, the Nuffield. Google 'Cambridge Urology Partnership' to find out more. BTW what a great site this is and has helped me put my experience into context.
I'm a 55-year-old Canadian and I had typical symptoms related to BPH for about 3 years. I tried herbal supplements, and prescription medicine, but the side effects of the last and strongest prescription were pretty strong, so i decided to go for the HOLEP procedure versus TURP, after reading about the differences on the net. I live in Japan, and here also TURP is the common procedure, but HOLEP is becoming more widespread. My family doctor initially referred me to a hospital with an English-speaking doctor, but they only did TURP there. I asked him to give me another referral, at an International hospital here in Tokyo where they did perform HOLEP. When i met the doctor, however, he couldn't speak any English. My conversational level in Japanese is good enough to chitchat about daily things, but i really wanted to have a medical procedure explained to me in English, so that guy was a big disappointment. His junior, a younger doctor, referred me to another hospital (the 3rd one i visited), and there i saw a doctor who had studied in The States, and his English was good, so i decided to have the operation there.
Apparently a major difference between the procedure done in North America and here is that the hospital stay is generally much longer here. I'd read on the net that it was usually a one-night stay in the States, but here it's a week! I checked in on May 7, 2014, and the surgery was the next day. The operation was "almost completely successful", as the doctor said. When i asked what he meant by that, he said there was a perforation of the capsule of the prostate. My prostate was small (37 cubic centimeter), and smaller makes it actually more difficult, i was told. The perforation would heal itself. The only difference would be that the urine catheter would stay in 2 days longer than planned. It was removed May 12, four days after the procedure. It was amazing to see and experience the strong, immediate and unobstructed flow of urine for the first time in years, and i'm still going "wow" (^_^)! In terms of financial costs, i'm enrolled in a national health insurance plan here, i pay 30% myself. That came to about $1,500.00 total for procedure and 6-day stay, much, much cheaper than the fees paid by other posters on this thread.
The above as background info, about your specific question:
Immediately after the procedure, the first night, i woke up repeatedly with an erection. The pain woke me up, but i was also happy of course, if you can imagine the two going together. I felt and still feel that erections and libido have dramatically increased since the operation. On the 17th, i touched myself and came, but it was a dry orgasm. Interestingly, precum was there. I was told before the operation that retrograde ejaculation is par for the course, and i was willing to go with that if i could get normal urine flow back again, so no surprise there. There was indeed no semen ejaculated. In terms of sensation, it was maybe less intense. I noticed that the erection after the orgasm didn't immediate disappear, as if the penis was tricked into thinking it wasn't over yet (^_^). I had a bit of blood in the urine before the 17th, but it increased after that. I think i should have held out a little longer, but having these erections again got me carried away a bit i guess. Although i have read that ED can be an after effect, more often than not in the period right after the procedure, for me it was definitely the opposite. I have no idea whether it was psychological ("things are okay again down there") or physical, or a combination of both, but i'm a happy guy again. Only thing i would recommend is to hold off, and give it 3 to 4 weeks before masturbating again, as my doctor suggested.
I didn't notice any ED, nor became a sex-machine following my procedure either. Things are pretty much as they used to be.