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Tulsa Pro Experience, Mayo Clinic MN – July 2024
Gleason 7 (4+3). I was treated Wednesday July 17, 2024. I checked in at 7am, entered the MRI/Tulsa suite at 8:15, and woke up in the recovery room around 11:30am. Approximately 30% of my prostate was ablated. I woke up with no pain and catheter in. The first 5-6 hours of the catheter were a little tough as I felt an urgent need to pee, but you can’t because you have the catheter in. Was fine after that. I did take Oxybutynin for bladder spasms at night. At 12:30pm, I walked out of the hospital and 2 blocks to my car to be driven home to Minneapolis.
Over the course of the next 40 hours, I just needed to regularly empty the catheter bag and continued to have no pain. Didn’t even take a Tylenol. The morning after TULSA I took my normal 2 mile walk. Catheter was removed at 7:45 Friday morning and I was good to go home. Catheter removal was not bad and they had to ensure I could pee on my own before release. Urine stream is about half of normal but will improve as inflammation of urethra declines. No medication needed at this point.
I did a ton of research before deciding on TULSA Pro. I talked to 7 different doctors. 4 current and 3 retired (1 had RP and another had radiation). The technology and low risk of side effects made this an easy choice for me. I was also fortunate to have the cancer contained in a fairly small lesion.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the procedure and my care at Mayo.
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Hi, read your journey, very interesting. Hopefully, you're on a permanent mend. One question, when you were initially diagnosed at 77 yo, why was a Prostatectomy out of the question? 🤔
It has to do with age. I believe age 70 or early 70's is the maximum age for surgery. As it was explained to me, men have two sphincters that control starting and stopping of urination. One is located between the bladder and the prostate. The other is located on the other side of the prostate toward the perineum. When the prostate is removed during surgery the surgeon also takes the sphincter near the bladder. So one is left with only one sphincter to control urination. I am told that at that age a man will have difficulty gaining enough muscle control of that single sphincter to adequately control the stoppage of urination, hence incontinence and diapers. This was the reasoning given to me by my urologist as well as a radiation oncologist at Mayo. So I tend to believe it to be factual and accurate. Hope this helps.
I commented previously on this forum that the USA is behind the curve in performing Transperineal Biopsies . Certain EU countries have or are considering banning Transrectal Biopsies . Some urologists , even the the USA will not perform the Transrectal . Canada , the UK plus other Asian countries have been using it for years . Now we see Real Time Biopsiess - " In - Bore or Gantry Biopsy " , thus eliminating the " MRI Fusion " problem .
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1 ReactionAgreed. Thankfully if I need any future biopsies they will be done at Mayo - Rochester and I was assured Mayo does transperineal. While I didn't like the transrectal fusion biopsy I will credit my urologist for hitting the target at least twice. It was the other 12 or 13 core samples he also took which were not pleasant. We can credit the FDA for keeping us behind in this country.
In general " YOU ARE NOT BEHIND " . My Urologists are at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto , ranked as the 5th Top Reasearch & Treatment Centers of Excellence in the world . Plus "Sunnybrook Hospital " also in Toronto .
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