I am pushing 79 and am a week past my HoLEP. At +day5 the blood in my diaper was +95% gone. As for pain, yes. The first attempt at urinating at home was painful. I'm not holding back, here. VERY painful. BUT, I did not take the medicine. I recommend doing whatever it takes to avoid the pain. The second bathroom visit was only slightly painful, very manageable and the pain has been getting less and less painful since then. Take the meds and let us know how it went.