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

How long did it take for urethra to heal. What was your timeframe for no dribbling,blood in urine and sexual activity?

If you look back through the post I am just me. My memory does not serve me well for an accurate time frame In fact I view it as my journal . I still have a few dribbles and use a pad as I work a strenuous job. Some of the contributor to this site actually never even needed a pad at all. I waited much longer than necessary for sexual activity. I believe it was 6 weeks. I was anxious about the possibility of pain, but it did not materialize. I actually considered my first orgasm to be a medical issue and did not involve my wife with it. My wife has been so supportive , and an excellent caregiver, but in the event I did experience pain I did not want her to feel bad. My first orgasm was OK but in time it got much better. A few times I did have a normal ejaculation , but now it is Retrograde . I don`t notice much of a difference in Quality of orgasm ,the big difference is it`s dry. It did not take that much time for the urethrotomy to heal. The urethrotomy will not close back to the same size you were before surgery. it will stay slightly larger.. If you look back to the posts a couple years ago you will see Jonal and I both experienced some burning pain at the end of urinating. but it only lasted for a minute or so . I never needed to take any pain meds of any kind except for the morphine that was given by IV immediately after surgery. All being said , I am completely happy with the outcome of my surgery . All the best to you , just me

Lookin back in my post I made mention my bleeding had stopped at 3-4 weeks except on 1 day I cleaned out my garage. That was not a good idea! Before that day my urine was a rusty color and there were small threads of tissue as the scab sloughed off. On day 43 I mentioned I was experiencing Some pain at the end of urinating. It was not unbearable but jaw clenching. I only lasted a minute or so. all the best just me

From Jack
When you mentioned you cleaned out your garage, did you mean you did this on the first day home after surgery or after 3-4 weeks? When did the pain while urinating stop? That is what I'm not looking forward to after the surgery I am scheduled for. I wonder if it is similar to the pain for a day or so after having a cystoscope exam? I'm not concerned about the bleeding or having to take it easy for a week or more but I wonder what the experience has been by others with the burning or pain when urinating after the surgery and how long it lasts. Thanks very much.
Jack.

Jack: I can only speak for me but I have low pain threshhold and it was just a quick sharp pain when flow started and was gone in a day. Honestly it is not brutal and you can take a tylanol. The only real issues are urgeses and leakage and they do go away. And before surgery you had those urges anyway. Wait till you experience a FULL night sleep. How long has that been? Hang in there, we're here for you!

Hi Jack, Did you have the HoLep with Dr. Wei / U of M, and if so how did it go? Thanks!

Hi
No, I haven't had my surgery but I decided to go to Indiana to see Dr. Lingeman later this month for it. I will post my experience afterwards. Thanks very much for asking. Jack.

Hi Jack , I cleaned my garage 4-5 weeks after my surgery. Not the best idea.. I have a fairly strenuous job and I went back to 2 weeks after surgery with no real problems. The pain associates with urinating usually came at the end of urinating and lasted only about a minute. It was not that bad. I never took pain meds for it as it didnt last long . I did leak quite a while after surgery but I used pads, not the whole brief depends and it served me very well. Immediately after the surgery the color of your urine will look like Cranberry Juice due to the bleeding. It should clear up in a very short time. Eventually it will be a rusty color. The bleeding was not a big deal for me . You should notice an immediate difference in your ability to pass your urine. I am glad to hear you chose to see Dr Lingeman. The whole group of people there are Great.

By the way the pain while urinating did not start right away. it was several weeks after my surgery. I want to encourage you. The surgery is not that painful .Recovery time is so much quicker that I expected. I stood in the restroom at work today next to a friend I was done in 15 second! He was still standing there!! SOOO Glad those days are over! just me

Hi guys! Well Sunday was the 1 year anniversary of my surgery here in Philly with Dr. Das (who, btw, has performed over 2000 HoLeps!). I got a clean bill of health!

I wanted to stop by for a few reasons: First to wish you all a Happy holiday (whichever you celebrate) and a happy (and HEALTHY!) 2015.

I know that our friend "justme" has posted details of size of his prostate before the surgery. I'm not a med kind of guy so I just put myself (literally) in Dr. Das's hands. But today I asked him to let me know the numbers, which honestly, I don't understabd. But, for just me and others who may understand them, the prostate was approximately 80 grams and he took out 28 grams.  I hope that's helpful.

I also told Dr. D how hwlpful the "biofeedback" sessions to learn the Kegels was for me. He said they may think about including that as part of the pre-or post-patient orientation. I think it would be beneficial.

Stay well guys!

Steve

I had HOLEP surgery on December 12 in Indianapolis with Dr. Lingeman. I am 69 and have had frequency symptoms since I was 38. I had been avoiding having surgery since 1993 when I was advised to have a TURP. I have not been adverse to having other surgeries over the years but it was difficult to think of a few instruments going into me through my male member in the front. I have had 3-4 cystoscopies which I really detested and I only imagined the aftereffects of transurethral surgery would be quite a bit worse. I really miscalculated on that score. My prostate was 163 grams and my bladder scans over the years showed increasing amounts retained-from 25 ml in 2002 up to 800 ml in 2014. My urologist said I had to either catheterize myself every day or have surgery and he wasn't sure if the surgery would even work since I had waited so long. He was good enough 7 years ago to recommend I travel from Michigan to Indiana to see Dr. Lingeman. As others have mentioned on this forum, many urologists would have recommended an open prostatectomy rather than send a patient to another urologist and many urologists still are not very familiar with the benefits of HOLEP. I had the surgery around 3pm. When I woke up in the recovery room about an hour and a half or so later, I was in a fair amount of discomfort in my bladder area and I was given a suppository and it took the edge off right away almost immediately. I had a three way catheter in me until 4am the next morning and had absolutely no discomfort with it. When it was pulled out, it took a second or so and really wasn't bothersome coming out of me. I felt very good from the time I came back to the room after the surgery until my first urination that did not come until 5 hours after they pulled out the catheter. That first urination almost set me free. It was quite painful especially the minute or so after I completed the urination. I'll finish my story in my next post as I'm running out of room to type.
Jack.

This is Jack. To finish my story, the second urination was much better and I didn't experience any more discomfort to this day. So, aside from the bladder discomfort when awakening in recovery and the first urination, things have been fantastic. I may have had pain on the first urination since I had a partial urethrotemy to accomodate the instruments that were going in. I'm not sure, though. Perhaps it was due to the size of the catheter which, again, did not cause any discomfort while it was in me for aroound 11 hours. It's really a travesty that there isn't more publicity for this procedure and I greatly appreciate the gentlemen who have written on this forum with their experiences. I had some minor incontinence for about 1 day after being released from the hospital and that was only if I waited too long to reach the bathroom. My pads each day for around 6-7 days were a little moist but then they have since been dry. I have had some burning for the 11 days since surgery when urinating and a minute or so afterwards but nothing that really bothered me. It was nothing like the burning I used to have after cystoscopes. Today I think the very light burning is just about gone. Again, the burning was not a problem. As so many of you have said, Dr. Lingeman is in a very special group of exceptional surgeons. He and his nurse Stephanie were great any very efficient. My surgery was Friday afternoon, I was discharged early Saturday afternoon, stayed overnight in case anything arose and then rode back to Michigan [300 miles] on Sunday morning while my brother drove. No problems at all with the drive. I will probably have to wait 6-12 months to see if my bladder works well enough to bring my retainage down to acceptable levels. My first check-up with my MI urologist is 7 weeks after my 12/12/14 surgery. I can't recommend the surgery with Dr. Lingeman enough. Happy Holidays to all. Jack.

GREAT news Jack and excellent report. And I'll bet yiu are loving sleeping through the night! It seems that Dr. Lingerman is the best for those in the Midwest and I think someone recently had HoLep in Texas. As I've said before, Dr. Das here in Philly has done over 2,000 procedures and was great. He is ONLY one in Philly area and he co-wrote some articles with Dr. Lingerman. No, I'm not his press agent but for anyone on the East Coast - and certainly the Mid-Atlantic States, I can't recommend him highly enough and airfare may be less.
Jack, keep wearing the pads for a little while, just in case, and keep us posted. Welcome to the post-HoLep fraternity! And Happy holidays!
Steve

Thanks for the Holiday Greetings Steve. Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary. I commented to the Nurse just before I was put under for the surgery, This is like Christmas is coming early for me. It has been like a GREAT Christmas gift for me.

Hi Jack, I am glad to hear of your successful surgery. You have been on my mind . Looking back I am amazed how well the surgery went for me and my recovery was much faster and easier than I could have imagined. It sounds as if you are well on your way to a dramatic change in the quality if life. I know when I was told I would need surgery a dread came over me . I did a LOT of research, found this site and hoped for the best. Knowing what I know now I say to myself , Why did I wait so long! I am glad you chose Dr Lingeman . He is a great guy isnt he! All of his staff are very special people. Keep us posted on your recovery and dont be afraid to ask questions I consider it an honor to have helped you along as Jonal and I helped each other . All the best just me