I have had BPH for more than 20 years, went the drug route, herbals, diet, etc with very limited success. PSA was 5.25, free PSA was 17. Toyed with the idea of a TURP, greenlight and Holap Laser as a method for relief of symtoms. Going to the bathroom 5 times a night was not my idea of living a quality life.
My issue was making as sure that I was prostate cancer free before opting for the greenlight laser. Unlike a TURP and Holap there is no tissue to biopsy with a greenlight laser procedure. To do this I had a special prostate MRI done and then participated in a unique trial biopsy procedure. If a suspicious area is found a biopsy that is aided by a real time sonogram with GPS tracking was then overlaid onto the MRI suspicious area.
TURP in my opinion causes post op issues that the laser alternatives do not. Some urologists my try to talk against the laser procedures only because the time it takes to obtain the desired opening in the prostate is on the average twice as long with the laser as compared with a TURP. On average the Greenlight Laser procedure takes about an hour to complete compared to 30 minutes with a button or wire TURP! You have to take care of yourself and decide what is best for you not the doctor.
After the green-light:
My Girlfriend removed the catheter (thanks for pulling my chain!), took my first pee and was amazed! The last time I had such a strong and full stream was when I was much younger :) at the end of peeing there was major burning on my tip and some blood. This lasted for about 3 days, now happy to say there is no more issues.
Still going to the bathroom often but this is normal. The bladder has to be retrained to function normally with no obstruction causing back pressure. This can take a while.
Day 5: pressure still good, no pain, no blood, some clots coming out, did not try sex yet, read online trying this too soon can cause a setback in the heeling process. I will wait at least a total of 2 weeks before I will try.
Onward:
don't know what the future will bring, now I am so happy that I can at least pee without straining, I think everything else will fall into place as time goes on...
Good luck to everyone out there and thanks for listening to me ramble on.....................:)
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I had the procedure done 2 weeks ago. I guess it's my fault for not looking into possible side effects. Both my doctor and the literature made me believe that this was a minor procedure with mild side effects. I was sent home without a catheter. The first two nights I was incontinent. Since then I had to strain to urinate. I found myself in an ambulance 2 days ago. I had an urgent need to pee but nothing would come out. All together I experienced the worst pain in my life for 3-4 hours. I now have a catheter. But at times I still need to strain to urinate. When I do the urine gushes out all over despite the catheter. All I can recommend is to ask your doctor for an honest discussion of side effects.
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