Well, I just got the Urolift done. This is sort of like stapling the channel open to allow flow. I think of the staples kind of like those clear plastic things that hold price tags on clothing. A little T on both ends. They needed six to get me opened up.

Will report back. MY PCP said it's an investment to improve life after the hard part of the journey (now). I wasn't feeling good about talking about this here, but why the hell not? We're men, and this is our health.

I'm less than 48 hours since the procedure.

Anyone else had this done here? (probably should have asked before hand). So far, the ride has not been fun. IMO, I have not been given nearly enough pain medication. Particularly immediately following the anesthesia. The narcotic epidemic has caused an awful lot of needless suffering for your average patient. I suppose though, there's a flip side to that formula that is arguably much worse. Tylenol doesn't do much for me. And certainly not for this scale of pain.

Thank you for posting this. As a fellow old man I’ll be watching to see what I can learn. Can you take NSAIDS? I’ve seen reports that combining NSAIDS and Tylenol is far more effective than Tylenol alone.

If you have BPH one thing you do not want is anesthesia. When I go in for a Heart Catheterization my Cardiologist will specify that only enough anesthesia be used to keep me from flinching. Because as I found with my first heart cath anesthesia will cause enough swelling in the prostate to keep you from being able to pee for 6 hours or more after the procedure. IF you want pain imagine not being able to pee after being excessively hydrated by the bottle dripping saline during the procedure. BTW, Vasodilators will also cause mild to moderate swelling in the prostate.

As for the pain, just ignore it. I will also note that if you ever have Open Heart Surgery you will want to do your lung therapy and exercises after the surgery. Yeah it will hurt to cough but it's nothing compared to being subjected to the forced breathing therapy you will have to endure if you don't exercise your lungs by coughing. It's also a lot better than getting double lung pneumonia because you weren't clearing your lungs. BTW, I've had my chest cracked twice once at 13 and another at 63. I learned about the importance of exercise when I was 13 and had to do the forced breathing bit. The last surgery the first thing the surgeon wanted to see me do was cough, so I gave him a good hard cough.

PS; I've experienced a lot of painful injuries in my life and generally do not use pain killers, what I do is simply ignore the pain. After both times when my chest was cracked I went off the pain meds 2 days out of the recovery room because I don't like being woken up to be given pain killers. In addition I didn't like how loopy "the good stuff" made me or how badly it messed up my sleep.

Mrs.BurtonRW, RN, who spent time working in an outpatient urology clinic, strongly recommends you all look into Rezum (pronounced resume) vs. other meds or interventions.

It’s still outpatient, and takes longer to recover and achieve full results (a couple of weeks), but doesn’t have to be repeated periodically like Urolift usually does and has much less occurrence of side effects.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
<snip>
Tylenol doesn't do much for me. And certainly not for this scale of pain.

“[My doctor] told me that studies had shown that Tylenol and ibuprofen taken together were as effective as opioids for suppressing pain. They complement each other.”

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...650010405#4650010405

I had Rezume procedure 2 years ago. Marked improvement
resulted with a few annoying details. Certainly
worth considering by those so afflicted

To be clear, I've already had the procedure (last Friday). They did use anesthesia. I don't think I'd get it done if they didn't allow me to skip the show.

Cheers for a rapid recovery rogue. Thanks for posting.
The impression I get from mentioning BPH in various
social groups is awkward abbreviated conversations
despite many admitting they have similar issues.

Yeah. If it were a woman issue, they’d have a week dedicated to fighting it. Anyway, I remember my dad struggling with it 40+ years ago. I wanted to nip it in the bud vs suffering in silence. And this option appears to have the fewest real side effects. Seems the worst I’ve heard is poor effectiveness. And many report good results.

I had it done 4 years ago. About 10 day recovery.

Lidocaine and Valium is all I was provided.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I had it done 4 years ago. About 10 day recovery.

Lidocaine and Valium is all I was provided.

Glad you did it? Good results?

Yes. I had 4 inserts. Was also told that these have a finite life of about 8 - 10 years which is slightly less than TURP of 11 - 12.

So far so good.

On a side note the procedure was approved by my insurance, scheduled and had the procedure, and three days after I had it done they decided not to approve it and they sent me a bill for $13k

The procedure was less painful than the two tests that were done prior.

quote:

three days after I had it done they decided not to approve it and they sent me a bill for $13k

Assholes! I hope you can fight this.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Yes. I had 4 inserts. Was also told that these have a finite life of about 8 - 10 years which is slightly less than TURP of 11 - 12.

So far so good.

On a side note the procedure was approved by my insurance, scheduled and had the procedure, and three days after I had it done they decided not to approve it and they sent me a bill for $13k

The procedure was less painful than the two tests that were done prior.

I can't imagine doing this again. But I'm a bit too close to it right now, am I not? The blood has stopped. I'm +48 hours right now. I certainly hope they don't break it off in me from the insurance side.

quote:

On a side note the procedure was approved by my insurance, scheduled and had the procedure, and three days after I had it done they decided not to approve it and they sent me a bill for $13k

^^^^^^^^^
Need some more details. Do you have a written copy of the preauthorization? The hospital is interested in getting paid recognizing that most patients do not have 13 grand laying around. Start with the hospital billing and the urologist and follow up with the state insurance commmisoner's office.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
...stapling the channel open...

Nope, double nope. Negatory, nein, neen, non, what have ya. Go around, Ghost Rider!!

Ain't nobody stapling anything around or in my junk.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
“[My doctor] told me that studies had shown that Tylenol and ibuprofen taken together were as effective as opioids for suppressing pain. They complement each other.”

What's the recommended dosage--half the amount for each?

As I mentioned in the other thread
I had the HoLEP done over the other procedures
I would make the same choice again
No staples, no shit
a little bleeding in my urine but that's it
No way I was gonna do the urolift or turp

I hope you don't have this done again

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
...stapling the channel open...

Nope, double nope. Negatory, nein, neen, non, what have ya. Go around, Ghost Rider!!

Ain't nobody stapling anything around or in my junk.

An understandable sentiment, to be sure.

I had it done on Feb 20th of this year. I have been in pain ever since. The Urologist did a green light procedure on me on April the 6th and removed a lot of the wires, but he could not get all if them . I am still in pain. I see a pain doc now. The urologist said there is nothing he could do for me. Will have some nerve procedures soon. A nerve block worked for about 3 days. Exercise or stretching makes the pain worse.