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Eight days past HoLEP. Happy to answer questions.
HoLEP Experience
I am 8 days past a hoLEP procedure and wanted to share my experience and offer to answer any questions. I was nervous prior and found this site helpful.
69 year old male. Tacoma area resident so traveled to Phoenix for the procedure. Large prostate, 200g. Flomax user but ability to urinate was deteriorating and occasionally needed to self-catheter. Ugh. I needed to do something. Otherwise healthy.
Surgery performed by Dr. Briggs and supervised by Dr. Humphries.
Four hours on operating table. Some bleeding beyond normal required an overnight stay (for which I was grateful).
So far I consider the surgery an overwhelming success. Still a little blood in urine and minor discomfort. Almost zero involuntary leakage of urine (and I was living with some prior to surgery). The first 24 hours after are difficult, uncomfortable and a bit painful. But much less so than I anticipated. Passed a moderate amount of blood and some decent sized clots. I was only on pain medication for three days after and it was only Tylenol. Thank god no opioids. My urine flow is strong and the discomfort (feeling like you need to hold back urine while peeing) eases a bit every day.
My care at Mayo has been outstanding. Dr. Briggs is young and very confident and competent. I trusted him from day one. Dr. Humphries is a legend and exudes confidence. I was pleased he was supervising. Nurse Grace in Observation was outstanding. Everyone at Mayo epitomizes caring, competent, professional medical care.
Has not all been perfect but I am very pleased. Fire away if any questions.
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@bajjerfan Good luck with the process and whatever you decide. By the time I got treatment my prostate was so large HoLEP was really the only/best option.
@hoytgier
TY
Dr told me that TURP is best for the largest prostates. Will confer with the Big Cheese in 2 weeks.
@bajjerfan You should ask again or ask someone else. TURP is good for prostates up to about 100-110 grams. Anything larger it is not recommended. My own urologist is a master at TURP but said my prostate was too big. That’s how I ended up at Mayo for HoLEP.
@hoytgier
That was my recollection, but maybe I misunderstood. I'll see what the Big doc has to say. I'm not under pressure to make a fast decision. It's been shrunken, but may not get any smaller with dutasteride.
@bajjerfan Here’s to your best health!
ty
I understand you were in Tacoma. Why didn't you go to University of WA? I understand they have some doctors that do about one a day. I am close to Seattle, my doc during an Cysto estimated my prostate at 70. Based on what I read about HoLEP, I am leaning towards that instead of TURP.
@dungeness Great question. I have an outstanding urologist at Pac Med in Seattle (Cantrell). He does TURP. I would have used him but my prostate is so large (200g) I am not a candidate for TURP. My urologist was aware of only one doctor in Washington who does HoLEP, located in Mill Creek. When I started researching I decided to also research the doctors and facilities around the country who had outstanding reputations around HoLEP. That is how I ended up at the Mayo Phoenix with Briggs and Humphries. They are the gold standard of HoLEP for very large prostates. My wife and I were fortunate to be able to take a week down in Scottsdale and it was the right decision for us. Yours will be an interesting decision. You qualify for TURP. HoLEP is probably a little easier on you but harder to find. Good luck with the process.
Did you check UW? My search shows the following.
UW Health (Seattle): Located at 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA. Dr. Dan Gralnek, Dr. Brian Jordan, and Dr. Christopher Manakas perform more than 30 HoLEP procedures each month, making it a high-volume provider in the city. Did they say why your surgery took so long?
@dungeness I believe those guys are in Madison, Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin. The reason my surgery took so long was the very large size of my prostate. HoLEP scales linearly so the bigger the prostate the longer it takes. I believe yours would be two hours or less.