Aquablation: Post-surgery expectations

@vtredwolf some people! It is not a walk in the park like doctors make out on you tube videos. Not terrible but not as minimal as they want you to believe. I would only do this again if I had trouble starting a stream and was on a catheter.

@elglide I personally had to do something as I stopped be able to pee a month ago. I had a rezum 7 years ago and it worked great for 2 years then slowed down. What’s strange is after the rezum, I peed like I was 18. This is definately harder. The last 2 days another strange thing is I feel like I either have to constantly pee or the need to pee fast. I tested negative for uti and was told this happens. Did anyone go through the same ?

@knotayot1 I had mine for 4 months and had two UTI's. The second was with Serratia...which I'm sure came from inside the shower. If you're showering, make sure you are cleaning and scrubbing with bleach on a regular basis.

I had Robotic Aquablation on 5/8/26
My overnight stay was no problem. Only issue I had was the catheter hurt. Went home on Saturday to obviously have the same catheter pain and then severe gas pain. I wish I would have been told about the gas pain as I expected the catheter to be unpleasant. Thankfully the severe gas only lasted until mid Sunday morning. I did go for at least a 2-4 block walk 8 times between coming home and gas subsiding. Movement is your friend. I had catheter removal scheduled 4 days post op at my GP. Hospital had that scheduled before I had even left. Took the morning off and wasted 5 hrs to be told they wouldn’t do it. After being very angry as the catheter was problematic with clogging. I called the urology clinic with no help, called again that morning and thankfully had it scheduled that afternoon. Scheduled at a clinic 2hrs from me. I was traveling for work so I was literally going to be less than 10 minutes away. Miracle is all I can say. Catheter removal I had hyped up to be much worse than what it was. The healing part after removal has been a little challenging. Started out to be easily manageable, feel the urge I had 5 or so minutes before I would have to be in the restroom. I think some swelling has decreased the following day and it was urge came and there was no waiting. 3rd day today and it’s getting more predictable again!!!
If you are thinking of having this procedure I so far would recommend it. Healing is faster than most procedures, Cather is relatively short stint. I would absolutely suggest asking for a Foley catheter cleaning kit AKA ( syringe that fits and sterile saline) that clogging was the worst and I couldn’t get my hands on the tools. FYI- what worked up until the final night of the catheter was laying down would allow any tissue that was blocking the catheter to fall away and it would drain. If you can’t lay down try to gently stir up the sediment while standing. ( carefully shake around to slosh the urine around) and listen to the weight restrictions and your body.
I have had several people ask me if after a month they could ask seriously personal questions. I think we all know what that is. I said yes, my standpoint on surgery was easy. I didn’t have a choice, I’m 52 and my bladder pressure was insane and my flow was 5ml. If I didn’t do the surgery it would be a catheter the rest of my life. For most men it isn’t so simple to make the call. I think we all should share our experiences with others. I struggled as I’m sure you all did as well. If we can be open and honest with other men so they can maybe make an informed decision on the risks of surgery or not. Too many men out there are living not even close to their best life do to BPH. Let’s work together to help them to decide proper treatment rationally and not deny it out of fear.
My 9 days out there has literally been zero pain or cramping for me. Day 9 I have a similar burning when urinating as I did pre surgery. For me and I don’t know if anyone else is this way the surgical aspect and expecting internal discomfort at a minimum has been truly a 0/10. Catheter discomfort was on average 4/10 sometimes 8/10 when clogged. I was back to work the very next Monday with no issues!!
I will honestly say this, if my situation would have been as most men’s are. I too would have denied surgery out of fear and fear alone.
Healing, recovering and peace my friends!!

@fredunger congrats. I’m considering PAE enlarged prostate had massive side effects with meds. Fingers crossed.

I had this done about 4 years ago after Proton Therapy for prostate cancer. Even though they only found the right artery going to the prostate it has worked very well. My steam is about 70 % normal and hasn't changed. I take a Flow Max every 2-3 months to see the difference and there is better flow for a day but my normal flow is just fine. FloMax really affected me during any vigorous exercise. My BP would drop to about 70 over 40. That's why I had the PAE and so far so good. If they had found both arteries, which they almost always do, I'm sure my flow would be close to 100%. If you ever get prostate cancer, Proton Therapy is the way to go. I've had zero after effects. Considering I'm 87, I think I'm doing really well.

@anthony11021 as a person who has had both PAE and aquablation I will say that the discomfort from the PAE was worse than the aquablation. There's a lot of inflammation of the prostate from the PAE. When I was being discharged the nurse told me "is going to get worse before it gets better" and she was right. My flow got much worse and it was much more painful than I thought it would be. Now I was having a PAE/aquablation combo procedure (it decreases bleeding from the aqua and i only had the catheter 24 hours) so I had the aqua a week later. By that time the aquablation was a huge relief. I never got to see if PAE would have worked for me but it's unlikely since I had a large median lobe and my Urologist assists the PAE only lasts about 5 years anyway whereas the aquablation would last 10-15. I certainly see the attraction of PAE, but it is not pain free nor are the results either long lasting or quick (takes about a month on average to see results).

@jessdonais22 Firstly I'm shocked that you did not receive the tools and instructions on how to flush your catheter. I believe that is a standard medical practice to send catheterization patients home with that ability.
I strongly support your comments about fear of this procedure. Unfortunately the letter choices here can be the ones where the procedure has complications or did not deliver the hoped for results. I try to encourage people to seek help and not be afraid. Right now if you have BPH you are slowly damaging your bladder, the longer you delay the more likely you will suffer increased risk of urgency, leakage and frequency. Your bladder wall is thickening and the restriction created by your prostate is going the work done by your bladder neck. Once that restriction is removed by whichever procedure you ultimately will have to have your bladder will not be able to do the work well resulting in the side effects i mentioned. The longer you delay the worse these effects. We are so lucky now to live in a time when there are a plethora of safe and effective options. So do not fear and do not delay, do your research and course a path sooner rather than later. While my results were good they could have been even better if I had acted earlier.

@vtredwolf typo: "loudest voices" not "letter choices". Sorry, fat thumbs.

I’m 73. I had a cystoscopy & a TRUS and in 1 week a URO cuff test. The urologist told me to look into do some research on UROLIFT, PAE, and the gold standard TURP I’m leaning towards PAE he didn’t mention aquablation. I’m in the earliest stages to see which procedure to go with; after those above diagnostic tools I came home & could not pass Urine. It was awfully painful rushed to ER and came home with a Foley bag for a couple of days. Urinary retention is the worst. The Foley bag was removed. I’m passing urine. I have a weak stream. It’s slow will continue to do more research.