My husband will have his 2nd prostate surgery tomorrow. He had a very large prostate with complete blockage 4 years ago, with resulting surgery using the very new "green light laser". Pre- & post-op symptoms were very similar to those already posted, and he eventually recuperated.
Now, four years later, at age 66, he had severe bleeding, followed by complete urinary blockage again. The four attempts to insert a catheter were unsuccessful, and a radiologist was called in to put a catheter tube through his lower belly, straight into the bladder. Yesterday, we learned that his surgeon no longer does the green light laser, but rather, a different laser technique. He believes it is more effective on the largest prostates, with less risk of another episode down the road. This time he won't use anesthesia, which was an issue last time, as my husband didn't wake up well, and ended up making an overnighter out of his "out-patient" surgery. He will have a spinal anesthetic, along with a shot to make him sleep through the procedure, with a planned overnight stay. We think the worst part of it will be the initial removal of the catheter Friday morning, as last time it was hours before he had control of the voiding of the blood & urine, and he had 10 - 14 days of pain during voiding afterward. We will request an analgesic this time, like over-the-counter "Uro-trin", which helps UTI pain, which should help the post-op pain.
I hope you all heal well & don't ever have to go through this ordeal again like we have.
Now, four years later, at age 66, he had severe bleeding, followed by complete urinary blockage again. The four attempts to insert a catheter were unsuccessful, and a radiologist was called in to put a catheter tube through his lower belly, straight into the bladder. Yesterday, we learned that his surgeon no longer does the green light laser, but rather, a different laser technique. He believes it is more effective on the largest prostates, with less risk of another episode down the road. This time he won't use anesthesia, which was an issue last time, as my husband didn't wake up well, and ended up making an overnighter out of his "out-patient" surgery. He will have a spinal anesthetic, along with a shot to make him sleep through the procedure, with a planned overnight stay. We think the worst part of it will be the initial removal of the catheter Friday morning, as last time it was hours before he had control of the voiding of the blood & urine, and he had 10 - 14 days of pain during voiding afterward. We will request an analgesic this time, like over-the-counter "Uro-trin", which helps UTI pain, which should help the post-op pain.
I hope you all heal well & don't ever have to go through this ordeal again like we have.
I am 58 yo and had the laser procedure done 5 weeks ago. The surgery was a snap; went home with a catheter that I removed after 24 hours. I was feeling pretty good after 4-5 days, with only a little blood in the urine. After a week things had deteriorated; difficulty passing urine and quite a bit of pain. After a couple of more days I was a mess, about every 30-45 minutes I would have spasms, could only pass a small amount of urine, and had significant pain. As this was the day after Xmas and my urologist was not available, but I got through to his associate who told me to go to the emergency room. I arrived at 2:00 pm and a catheter went right in through which they could irrigate my bladder and pull fluid out. Over the next 8 hours they aspirated from me some significant blood clots. When they passed through the clear tube connected to the catheter they looked like 8-10 inch long night crawlers, and it was intensely painful. After 8 hours was admitted still suffering from painful spasms every 30-45 minutes. The next afternoon my urologist's partner went in to scope out my bladder and cauterize any place that was bleeding. I went home late that evening without the catheter and after 24 hours was much better. Had a stream more powerful than I had in years. Things were great for 10-12 days, some urgency was there and was still waking at night, but was able to pass urine easily. Then just over a week ago, new problems arose. Alot of urgency, weakened stream, and was only able to pass a one second spurt and then dribble the rest. Also, waking more than every at night, usually ever 60-90 minutes. This is still with me, though things seem to be a tiny bit better in the last couple of days. I'm seeing the urologist in two days, but expect the recovery will take more time that I had been led to expect.
I am 65 and just had Robiotic Prostate Removal 10 days ago (Jan. 15, 2009). Surgery time was approximately 4 hours and a two day stay in the hospital. My prostate size was normal but had a PSA of 4.1 which was the only abnormal problem but biopsy showed one sample out of 10 cancerous. I'm having a pretty rough time with this. I feel pretty good when I first get up in the morning but after eating breakfeast, stomach starts having severe cramping for a while before having a soft BM, which gives relief for a while from the cramps. Also along with this, I feel like I have bad hemroids which is not the case. It feels as if there is pressure pushing out on the rectum. Lighter pressure using the inflatable ring helps some. I have been like this for the past 4 days with little or no improvement. I have an appointment tomorrow with my Urologist to see what he thinks and maybe remove my catheter. I don't see any other comments so far like mine. Has anyone else had similar problems? :-(
Today I had the classic TURP. I'm 61 and went to 3 urologists to make a decision as to treatment.
My symptoms weren't very pronounced as I only went once at night and while my flow was less than 40 years ago, I had no trouble starting and didn't need to go again very soon. HOWEVER, I knew I had a problem with I took sudafed to deal with a cold. It locked up my urethra like a vice and it took a day for its effects to wear off. Scared me silly.
The Urologist I first went to and who did the TURP is Dr. Franklin Lowe at Roosevelt Hospital in NYC. He did a bladder sonogram in the office which found about 325ml of post voiding resdiual in the bladder. He confirmed my condition (BPH) with an untrasound and then a cystoscopy. He said I shoud try Proscar and Cardura for a few months to see if it would shrink the prostate. Not much luck with that strategy. Dr. Lowe favors the classic TURP but also uses laser systems which he finds unsuitable for larger prostate conditions. He explained it this way: if you cut frozen butter with a hot knife, you will have 2 smaller sticks of butter. However, if you use a laser, you would melt more of the butter than you would want. In other words, the laser fries the tissue deeper than the classic turp equipment and causes more irritation than any kind of laser.
In order to confirm, I went to Dr. Steven Kaplan at Weill Cornell Medical Center who put me through an expensive "uro-dynamics" test to see how well my bladder functioned. He was non-committal as to technology to use although he is a laser pioneer.
Third was Dr. Michael Palese at Mt. Sinai in NYC. He is a self admitted technology enthralled Urologist and the Director of the Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery Dept. He looked at the charts from the tests and said "You are in end-stage BPH and the next event for you is kidney failure from the reflux of urine back into the kidneys." That got MY ATTENTION as I had to make a decision. He went on to say that the laser is NOT the right course of action with the high level of irritation, the long time in the bladder and that the standard TURP would be quicker and faster and provide longer relief with less risk of surgical failure needing anothter treatment.
Back to Dr. Lowe who nailed the diagnsis and treatment plan.
So yesterday I had the TURP at Roosevelt Hospital at 1000 Tenth Ave in NYC. Surgical time was about an hour and an overnight stay. They had inserted the bladder irrigation tube and flushed a 4000 ml bottle every 20 minutes through it. The nurses were kept busy all night. A few times it got clogged and they knew how to clear the line of clots. Much better than sending me home as my dear wife doesn't have skilled nursing training.
This morning, Dr. Lowe removed the catheter and I peed into a flask to measure output and color.
Of course it is bloody and is expected to be that way for a few weeks. Yes, it burns like crazy when I pee which is the same as when he did the cystoscopy, but this goes away as the urethra heals. I am to keep taking the Proscar to form scar tissue over the site of the excavation rather than a normal healing process of "re-vascularization" which forms replacement prostate tissue.
So now I'm in healing mode.
My symptoms weren't very pronounced as I only went once at night and while my flow was less than 40 years ago, I had no trouble starting and didn't need to go again very soon. HOWEVER, I knew I had a problem with I took sudafed to deal with a cold. It locked up my urethra like a vice and it took a day for its effects to wear off. Scared me silly.
The Urologist I first went to and who did the TURP is Dr. Franklin Lowe at Roosevelt Hospital in NYC. He did a bladder sonogram in the office which found about 325ml of post voiding resdiual in the bladder. He confirmed my condition (BPH) with an untrasound and then a cystoscopy. He said I shoud try Proscar and Cardura for a few months to see if it would shrink the prostate. Not much luck with that strategy. Dr. Lowe favors the classic TURP but also uses laser systems which he finds unsuitable for larger prostate conditions. He explained it this way: if you cut frozen butter with a hot knife, you will have 2 smaller sticks of butter. However, if you use a laser, you would melt more of the butter than you would want. In other words, the laser fries the tissue deeper than the classic turp equipment and causes more irritation than any kind of laser.
In order to confirm, I went to Dr. Steven Kaplan at Weill Cornell Medical Center who put me through an expensive "uro-dynamics" test to see how well my bladder functioned. He was non-committal as to technology to use although he is a laser pioneer.
Third was Dr. Michael Palese at Mt. Sinai in NYC. He is a self admitted technology enthralled Urologist and the Director of the Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery Dept. He looked at the charts from the tests and said "You are in end-stage BPH and the next event for you is kidney failure from the reflux of urine back into the kidneys." That got MY ATTENTION as I had to make a decision. He went on to say that the laser is NOT the right course of action with the high level of irritation, the long time in the bladder and that the standard TURP would be quicker and faster and provide longer relief with less risk of surgical failure needing anothter treatment.
Back to Dr. Lowe who nailed the diagnsis and treatment plan.
So yesterday I had the TURP at Roosevelt Hospital at 1000 Tenth Ave in NYC. Surgical time was about an hour and an overnight stay. They had inserted the bladder irrigation tube and flushed a 4000 ml bottle every 20 minutes through it. The nurses were kept busy all night. A few times it got clogged and they knew how to clear the line of clots. Much better than sending me home as my dear wife doesn't have skilled nursing training.
This morning, Dr. Lowe removed the catheter and I peed into a flask to measure output and color.
Of course it is bloody and is expected to be that way for a few weeks. Yes, it burns like crazy when I pee which is the same as when he did the cystoscopy, but this goes away as the urethra heals. I am to keep taking the Proscar to form scar tissue over the site of the excavation rather than a normal healing process of "re-vascularization" which forms replacement prostate tissue.
So now I'm in healing mode.
I'm 49 years old and had a TURP using vaporising laser about 6 weeks ago. I'm still suffering from urgency and frequency problems which seem to be getting worse. I'm back to see the surgeon in a few days so I'll see what he has to say.
I thought it was worth mentioning: In common with some of the other people who have posted here, I also had incredible pain when urinating.
It is caused by the urine getting too acidic. If it burns when you pee, use a urine alkinizer. I used Ural made by Sigma in Australia, but the main ingredient is sodium bicarbonate and a bit of lemon powder. If you can't get the stuff ready made then a glass of water with half a tea spoon of baking powder will work, or even just water with squeezed lemon in it. (Lemon juice is acidic but becomes strongly alkaline when digested.)
Hope this helps somebody. It certainly made a difference for me - I no longer bang my head on the wall when I go!
You can get pH sticks suitable for testing urine acidity on Ebay, or just steal one from the doctor's when he's not looking... If you can get your pH neutral it won't hurt when you pee.
Good luck!
I thought it was worth mentioning: In common with some of the other people who have posted here, I also had incredible pain when urinating.
It is caused by the urine getting too acidic. If it burns when you pee, use a urine alkinizer. I used Ural made by Sigma in Australia, but the main ingredient is sodium bicarbonate and a bit of lemon powder. If you can't get the stuff ready made then a glass of water with half a tea spoon of baking powder will work, or even just water with squeezed lemon in it. (Lemon juice is acidic but becomes strongly alkaline when digested.)
Hope this helps somebody. It certainly made a difference for me - I no longer bang my head on the wall when I go!
You can get pH sticks suitable for testing urine acidity on Ebay, or just steal one from the doctor's when he's not looking... If you can get your pH neutral it won't hurt when you pee.
Good luck!
I had Greenlight prostate surgery 6 weeks ago and am still suffering from both bladder spasms and bleeding while I'm urinating. I also have frequency of having to go and not being able to control my bladder muscles. Today I also passed my second set of scabs, first was about 3 weeks ago. Is all of this normal? My doctor tells me it is but he also told me before I had the surgery, I should be fine in a couple of weeks. Right now I feel I'm a lot worse off than I was before the surgery. I would appreciate any help that anyone can give me.
i had a my prostate removed 3/28/06,11/3/06 problems started empidiymits left testacle big as a plum they gave me levequin .about a year after surgery when i have sex feels like i've been kicked right where my prostate was the pain would go to my pelvic area down my penis and down my spermatic cord to my testacles,for the rest of that day feels like demons are in my sack beating my testacles like a drum with fire sticks doctors are full of bs for 2 years meds ,cts,us,x-rays and using my ins like a credit card,i discoverd that after surgery when they stitch your bladder-neck back to your bladder when that heals those nerves will not be the same,when you get ready to have sex your blabber closes so you won't have urine in your semen ,post surgery the neck closes to hard with spasms on th uretha causing pain everytime you get aroused'I TOLD THE DOCTOR AFTER I FOUND OUT WHAT WAS CAUSING THE PAIN TO WRITE ME A SCRIPTION FOR FLOMAX after your bladder-neck closes too hard on the uretha it swells and it's hard to pas urine,flomax relaxes the b-neck
My experience with green light laser prostate surgery was, unlike others who posted here, a non-event. At age 65, I had been retaining over 350 ml of urine for several months, and had a few bladder infections as a result, in addition to having some ED issues. In August 2008 I agreed to the green light laser surgery when Proscar and Flow-max over several months had little impact on the stream and retention, and besides, these drugs made me feel "not right" most of the time. After an hour of surgery and some "wake-up" time I went home with a catheter for a couple of days over a weekend. When I took out the catheter on Monday I waited around all day for the dreaded urgency and pain symptoms. Nothing abnormal occurred except for some blood and small clots in the urine for a couple of days. The stream was "race horse" quality, something I hadn't experienced for a number of years. No pain, no spasms, no plugging up of the ureter. As I mentioned to the surgeon, a trip to the dentist for a tooth cleaning would have been more traumatic.
One symptom the surgeon had previously advised me would occur was the absence of ejaculate during sexual activity. Although this makes "the act" somewhat incomplete, the orgasm spasm still occurs.
Six months later I have noticed a somewhat weakend stream, perhaps 75% of what I had post surgery. I am hoping it stabilizes here. Good experience or not, surgery is always a risk and I would prefer no to have to go through it again.Code:
One symptom the surgeon had previously advised me would occur was the absence of ejaculate during sexual activity. Although this makes "the act" somewhat incomplete, the orgasm spasm still occurs.
Six months later I have noticed a somewhat weakend stream, perhaps 75% of what I had post surgery. I am hoping it stabilizes here. Good experience or not, surgery is always a risk and I would prefer no to have to go through it again.Code:
I am planning for a Greenlight surgery in a few weeks, or, I had been planning for one until I read the horror stories here except for may be one or two OK ones.
I certainly don't want to have a surgery and end up worst than before the surgery. Also, I can't stand pain and the mere thought of inserting the cystoscopy or the catheter into my penis is enough to frighten me to death.
I suspect that there must be numerous successful operations but those folks usually do not post on websites because there are no reasons to (??)
I would like to hear from those who had the Greenlight PVP and felt that the surgery has successfully cure their problems without much of the adverse effects or the scary problems being brought up here. Thanks.
I certainly don't want to have a surgery and end up worst than before the surgery. Also, I can't stand pain and the mere thought of inserting the cystoscopy or the catheter into my penis is enough to frighten me to death.
I suspect that there must be numerous successful operations but those folks usually do not post on websites because there are no reasons to (??)
I would like to hear from those who had the Greenlight PVP and felt that the surgery has successfully cure their problems without much of the adverse effects or the scary problems being brought up here. Thanks.
Dear Hatesurgeries,
I just went through green light laser surgery 7/13/09. Please note that I too am very nervous during any surgery. The following have been my experiences to date;
After preparing me with a simple IV, I walked into the surgery room and was helped to lay down. While oxygen was given via a mask, the anesthesia was being given through the IV. This was painless and I was out within about 15 seconds. Waking up in recovery, I felt an acute "cramping" feeling like a bad case of constipation. Their pain medications did not relieve this uncomfortable feeling but were putting me back to sleep which was better then being awake to deal with it. The nurses didn't like that so they kept waking me up as this was an outpatient surgery and I was lingering too long. The surgeon told me in advance that you wake up with a catheter inserted. Once finally awake enough, I was in pants a shirt and socks enough to be wheeled out to the car and I transferred myself into and out of the car as well as to bed at home. I came home with three types of pills. Vicodin for general pain, Oxibutin for "cramping" which they call bladder spasms and a stool softener. The Vicodin helped with the general pain but is also an agent for constipation. Hence the reason for the stool softener. The Oxibutin never worked properly for the cramping. Within 3 days I was off all pills. The stool softener could not overcome the Vicodin and I found that with the cramping plus constipation it was too much strain to move bowels. After the Vicodin effects wore off the stool softener started to work and when I got regular it helped with the cramping problem. As you might have already seen, everybody has their own story to tell. My experience is almost no blood in the urine after the first 30 hours. So far there are no scabs passing through at all. I am awakened every single hour all night long and pass out a very full bladder each time. I think this is because my feet and ankles swell up during the day due to sitting and standing. At night the fluid drains back from the feet as in the morning after bed, my feet are much smaller towards normal size. During the day, urinating runs from small to regular amounts but with always the same amount of urgency starting as little as 20 minutes after the last toilet trip. Accidents are happening and protection for me is required. Sometimes I do not have a clue until I look down to see. Currently "cramping" is during daytime and is often servere enough to feel like a hernia. After bed, getting up in the morning, I start without any "cramping" but it starts within the first hour. Currently I am into 9 full days post surgery. Nightime urinating is much better as it all comes out as a full and regular flow. Before, I would be leaning on the wall and waiting for the completion of slow results. Daytime does not offer me anymore control then before surgery so far. My advise is to not do anything but a bit of walking after the first 3-5 days after surgery and nothing else for at least 30 days. My doctor tells me 60. I am hoping the cramping will stop which so far is my biggest hurdle. I waited years before I finally went in for this procedure. In my case, there was nothing else left to try and I expect better results will be coming but it appears that I must be patient and allow things to heal properly first. Overall, it seems to me that if you are no longer in control in the daytime and can't reasonably go at night (which is my story) then you have nothing much to loose.
I just went through green light laser surgery 7/13/09. Please note that I too am very nervous during any surgery. The following have been my experiences to date;
After preparing me with a simple IV, I walked into the surgery room and was helped to lay down. While oxygen was given via a mask, the anesthesia was being given through the IV. This was painless and I was out within about 15 seconds. Waking up in recovery, I felt an acute "cramping" feeling like a bad case of constipation. Their pain medications did not relieve this uncomfortable feeling but were putting me back to sleep which was better then being awake to deal with it. The nurses didn't like that so they kept waking me up as this was an outpatient surgery and I was lingering too long. The surgeon told me in advance that you wake up with a catheter inserted. Once finally awake enough, I was in pants a shirt and socks enough to be wheeled out to the car and I transferred myself into and out of the car as well as to bed at home. I came home with three types of pills. Vicodin for general pain, Oxibutin for "cramping" which they call bladder spasms and a stool softener. The Vicodin helped with the general pain but is also an agent for constipation. Hence the reason for the stool softener. The Oxibutin never worked properly for the cramping. Within 3 days I was off all pills. The stool softener could not overcome the Vicodin and I found that with the cramping plus constipation it was too much strain to move bowels. After the Vicodin effects wore off the stool softener started to work and when I got regular it helped with the cramping problem. As you might have already seen, everybody has their own story to tell. My experience is almost no blood in the urine after the first 30 hours. So far there are no scabs passing through at all. I am awakened every single hour all night long and pass out a very full bladder each time. I think this is because my feet and ankles swell up during the day due to sitting and standing. At night the fluid drains back from the feet as in the morning after bed, my feet are much smaller towards normal size. During the day, urinating runs from small to regular amounts but with always the same amount of urgency starting as little as 20 minutes after the last toilet trip. Accidents are happening and protection for me is required. Sometimes I do not have a clue until I look down to see. Currently "cramping" is during daytime and is often servere enough to feel like a hernia. After bed, getting up in the morning, I start without any "cramping" but it starts within the first hour. Currently I am into 9 full days post surgery. Nightime urinating is much better as it all comes out as a full and regular flow. Before, I would be leaning on the wall and waiting for the completion of slow results. Daytime does not offer me anymore control then before surgery so far. My advise is to not do anything but a bit of walking after the first 3-5 days after surgery and nothing else for at least 30 days. My doctor tells me 60. I am hoping the cramping will stop which so far is my biggest hurdle. I waited years before I finally went in for this procedure. In my case, there was nothing else left to try and I expect better results will be coming but it appears that I must be patient and allow things to heal properly first. Overall, it seems to me that if you are no longer in control in the daytime and can't reasonably go at night (which is my story) then you have nothing much to loose.
I am a 64 year old male,on 7/25/2009, had the HOLEP lazer procedure done. I under stand recovery takes a while. I am already expericing erections. my urologist told me to wait 2-3 weeks before riding my stationary bike. He said that I could walk. From reading other experiences with various types of surgery, I have similar symptoms,ie, burning after voiding with sometimes tiny blood droplets. I've taken flomax and proscar for about a year.My doctor said to take the meds for a month and stop all prostate medications. If any one has had the HOLEP surgical procedure done, please give feed back on your experience. I am taking a prostate supplement- read on the internet that it possibly may help with inflamation and swelling. My sexual life was very good prior to surgery an I hope things return the way they were prior to surgery. I've psychologically settled in my mind the retrograd ejaculation issue. I've had retrograd status thanks to the prostate meds and know,after surgery, it remains. Though I experience erections, I am not having sexual intercourse.I won't too but I know better. Any feed back is appreciated. Lutent
dear lutent
sometimes i read these emails and think, everyone is different. not knowing the person's history is a biggie.
not knowing the other medications that they are on makes leaves a big hole in the story.
if you had cramping and dry mouth after surgery and your bowel did not function normally. i would say that it was the narcotic
that is in the anesthesia. that is why my husband opted for the spinal. and i got him food right after so that i could see he
would not have bowel problems. narcotics,,,,,,,,,,block the neurotransmitters in your brain and block the
bowel from working normally.
if you are on oxycodone, or anything for pain. you may consider talking to your dr about that.
try some of that yogurt..............activia.
cb gl
sometimes i read these emails and think, everyone is different. not knowing the person's history is a biggie.
not knowing the other medications that they are on makes leaves a big hole in the story.
if you had cramping and dry mouth after surgery and your bowel did not function normally. i would say that it was the narcotic
that is in the anesthesia. that is why my husband opted for the spinal. and i got him food right after so that i could see he
would not have bowel problems. narcotics,,,,,,,,,,block the neurotransmitters in your brain and block the
bowel from working normally.
if you are on oxycodone, or anything for pain. you may consider talking to your dr about that.
try some of that yogurt..............activia.
cb gl
sorry, i thought i was talking to the man with the cramps in his abdomen. and
trouble evacuating. BM.
cb
my answer was for fullertr
trouble evacuating. BM.
cb
my answer was for fullertr
My husband had the laser sugery yesterday, it's amazing how great he fills today. he has very littlr pain the cath comes out tomorrow and he should urinate with no problem. I strongly suggest this procedure for men with the same issues as my husband enlarged prostate and enlarges blatter.
I will post again tomorrow after the cath removal. :
look, i've found this
I will post again tomorrow after the cath removal. :
look, i've found this
I had the laser surgery 3 months ago and am not back to normal. At four weeks I became completely blocked and had to have the catheter reinserted for 24 hours after which I began discharging some larges pieces of my prostate that had been cut away. At eight weeks, I was still experiencing significant burning when I urinated. At twelve weeks an orgasm was so painful it felt like a hot knife cutting me from the rectum to the penis tip. Bottom line is that I have still not healed and I have to be patient. On the plus side; I have discontinued two prescriptions for Flomax and Vesicare, I do not have the urgency discomfort I used to have expecially at night. Presently my flow is weak and feels partially obstructed, but I have had periods when the flow was completely open. More will be revealed, I guess.