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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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My Mayo Doctor told me all options are on the table if it returns. Really depends on how and where it comes back.
Here is my 6-month post-TULSA MRI W/WO contrast. I deleted the non-prostate findings. PSA at 3 months post-TULSA was 0.10. Looks like TULSA was a success for me.
I did the total gland ablation as there was no sense in a focal ablation that would have almost been a guarantee to return at some time in the future for further treatments. I wanted this taken care of now, and to be done with it.
Healing has taken longer than I hoped. Only now has my stream really improved to what I would consider normal. My Testosterone is low-normal, so I have no sex drive and very mild ED. All in all, at 69 years of age, I think I don't even care about that at all.
FINDINGS:
Localizer/T2 coronal: No acute abnormality.
Prostate: Post ablation changes of the peripheral zone of gland. Residual
transition zone is measuring 3.0 x 2.8 x 2.6 cm = 11.4 ml. No findings of
high-grade tumor.
IMPRESSION:
1. Post ablation changes of peripheral zone of prostate gland. No
recurrent disease or findings of new high-grade tumor. No pelvic
lymphadenopathy.
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5 ReactionsI had TULSA done at 68 years of age. Total gland ablation was performed for a 3+3 Gleason, with nine out of 30 cores positive for cancer. At 3 months post-TULSA, my PSA was 0.10, and my MRI results at 6 months ( see above ) show no cancer. My PSMA before TULSA showed no uptake, not even in the prostate, though the biopsy indicated cancer. I had two tumors and some mild BPH. It looks like TULSA resolved all of those issues.
Post-TULSA experience was zero pain, seriously, zero pain from the treatment. I had two medications for bladder spasm and the feeling that I sometimes needed to pee. I rarely took those for the 12 days I had a catheter.
You can have your prostate removed, and still have a chance of cancer returning. I looked for a procedure that was minimally invasive, low pain, quick recovery, did not limit any future treatment that hopefully I would not need, and did not require me to have the prostate removed. TULSA was the answer for me. At 6 months, I appear to be cancer-free. I will see what my URO wants to do, maybe another MRI at 1 year post-TULSA. I'm not sure what he will want to do, but right now I am delighted and grateful.
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8 ReactionsWhat did it cost and does Medicare now cover
Mine was covered under Medicare in 2024 (had to be done in a hospital— I did Mayo Rochester).