Prostate and Bladder Issues: What to do?

Hello ch665296f….I am in a similar situation, I’ll be 70 in two months, I have been told by 3 Urologists that I must have my prostate removed. I am going to see the Mayo Clinic Urology Department on Friday…and will let you know what the results are. I will no doubt choose a direction in 48 hours. I’ll come back to this group to let everyone know what it looks like for me! This is a great group of guys in the loop….glad to see you her too!

Have you had biopsy? Did you get a Gleason score or group number?

No sir….I have not had a biopsy and do not have a Gleason score. A lobe of my enlarged prostate is growing up into my bladder. For that reason alone, Urologists I have been to in the past three months are saying I must have the prostate removed. Perhaps after my appointment tomorrow at the Mayo Clinic I will have additional information and possibly a different plan…..we’ll see!

I wanted to get back to the group with an update on my progress to date, I think I’ll begin with just a short refresher on how I got to this point. I’ve had BPH for many years and have been under the care a VA Urologist, and have been taking Finasteride and Tamsulosin to help control the BPH. 5 months ago I decided on a second opinion, and during my 1st appointment with that Urologist a Retention Test was performed and the Urologist quickly recommended a Cystoscopy. I went for the Cystoscopy and it was determined that my prostate was very large and the median lobe was growing up and into the bottom of my Bladder. The Urologist immediately told me that the prostate must be removed. I had 2 previous Colon surgeries and bilateral hernia surgery, all laparoscopically achieved. In light of the laparoscopic surgeries, the Urologist told me that I wasn’t a candidate for the Robotic process, and told me I would have to go outside the VA for surgery and to do my own homework on what’s available. An MRI on the prostate was performed to learn it’s size and look for abnormalities. That was a bit of a shocker, but we began to research the various procedures that are out there. We opted for a second opinion. We went to see a different Urologist, his recommendation was to do the Rezume Procedure and I left his office with a survey date. As we continued additional research We decided to see a 3rd Urologist. This Urologist looked at my records and images and said….there is only one operation for you and that’s HOLEP. He said he could do all the other procedures, except for HOLEP! He said there are only 2 doctors in Florida that that he would recommend for the HOLEP procedure and he recommended a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Coincidentally….this was the same Doctor I had the appointment with this past Friday. Having a Urologist tell me to go where I already had an appointment scheduled was satisfying.
This brings me to my visit to the Mayo Clinic this past Friday. I thought the campus was great, everyone I came into contact with was very helpful, professional, and on time. I met the Triage Nurse first for vitals, and then with the Doctor’s assistant as the Doctor had been called to an emergency. So we discussed our visit and reason for being there, my history, and status with the assistant while the Doctor was addressing the emergency. But after awhile, the Doctor arrived in our location and we discussed my condition. He reviewed images and the MRI results, and HOLEP was the procedure he recommended. The risks of long term effects with this procedure seemed to be at a minimum. The only long term side affect that I expect to live with is retrograde ejaculation, everything else should be normal. He took the time to explain everything, what to expect before, during, and following the procedure. He has performed roughly 1100 HOLEP procedures, at this point it is done as an outpatient procedure. There are things to do the day before, the day of, and the day following the procedure to make sure everything is on track, and because I live 150 miles from this Mayo Hospital, I’ll stay in a hotel on campus for 2 or 3 nights. The night in the hotel following the surgery is only like $25 and the hotel has a nurse available 24 hours a day. So we will opt to go up the night before the scheduled surgery, and stay two nights after….this will insure that if anything does go wrong, I am close by for medical help. The hotel will be contacting me soon to schedule. So…the decision We wrestled with for several months has been made, I’m scheduled for HOLEP on May 3rd, and expect to be fully recovered by May 28th! I’ll let this group know how it all goes!

I wanted to get back to the group with an update on my progress to date, I think I’ll begin with just a short refresher on how I got to this point. I’ve had BPH for many years and have been under the care a VA Urologist, and have been taking Finasteride and Tamsulosin to help control the BPH. 5 months ago I decided on a second opinion, and during my 1st appointment with that Urologist a Retention Test was performed and the Urologist quickly recommended a Cystoscopy. I went for the Cystoscopy and it was determined that my prostate was very large and the median lobe was growing up and into the bottom of my Bladder. The Urologist immediately told me that the prostate must be removed. I had 2 previous Colon surgeries and bilateral hernia surgery, all laparoscopically achieved. In light of the laparoscopic surgeries, the Urologist told me that I wasn’t a candidate for the Robotic process, and told me I would have to go outside the VA for surgery and to do my own homework on what’s available. An MRI on the prostate was performed to learn it’s size and look for abnormalities. That was a bit of a shocker, but we began to research the various procedures that are out there. We opted for a second opinion. We went to see a different Urologist, his recommendation was to do the Rezume Procedure and I left his office with a survey date. As we continued additional research We decided to see a 3rd Urologist. This Urologist looked at my records and images and said….there is only one operation for you and that’s HOLEP. He said he could do all the other procedures, except for HOLEP! He said there are only 2 doctors in Florida that that he would recommend for the HOLEP procedure and he recommended a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Coincidentally….this was the same Doctor I had the appointment with this past Friday. Having a Urologist tell me to go where I already had an appointment scheduled was satisfying.
This brings me to my visit to the Mayo Clinic this past Friday. I thought the campus was great, everyone I came into contact with was very helpful, professional, and on time. I met the Triage Nurse first for vitals, and then with the Doctor’s assistant as the Doctor had been called to an emergency. So we discussed our visit and reason for being there, my history, and status with the assistant while the Doctor was addressing the emergency. But after awhile, the Doctor arrived in our location and we discussed my condition. He reviewed images and the MRI results, and HOLEP was the procedure he recommended. The risks of long term effects with this procedure seemed to be at a minimum. The only long term side affect that I expect to live with is retrograde ejaculation, everything else should be normal. He took the time to explain everything, what to expect before, during, and following the procedure. He has performed roughly 1100 HOLEP procedures, at this point it is done as an outpatient procedure. There are things to do the day before, the day of, and the day following the procedure to make sure everything is on track, and because I live 150 miles from this Mayo Hospital, I’ll stay in a hotel on campus for 2 or 3 nights. The night in the hotel following the surgery is only like $25 and the hotel has a nurse available 24 hours a day. So we will opt to go up the night before the scheduled surgery, and stay two nights after….this will insure that if anything does go wrong, I am close by for medical help. The hotel will be contacting me soon to schedule. So…the decision We wrestled with for several months has been made, I’m scheduled for HOLEP on May 3rd, and expect to be fully recovered by May 28th! I’ll let this group know how it all goes!