Hi Mike,
From what I have heard from a couple of other runners that have had the procedure, there is no long term impact that they mentioned that would impact running. They did say that it varies from person to person as to how long it takes to get back to running at longer distances. It appears to range from about 3 weeks to 8 weeks. No feedback from anyone about the urgency post aquablation preventing them from running. I am "hopeful" that I can be back to running in about 4 weeks. My plan is to not even try actual running until after then unless told otherwise by doctor. I will walk and try to use that to keep some of my endurance up. I just completed a 100 mile ultra 2 months ago and a large part of that training was walking just to get time on feet in preparation for the 100 miles. It's not the same as running, but better than nothing.
I never really looked deeper into the other procedures once I found aquablation. If for some reason this one does not get to move forward, then the only other one I would consider is Holep. I think I will still get to move forward with the aquablation, but dealing with insurance company not wanting to approve surgery until we try the medicines, which the doctor has already said will not be effective.
So I am finally scheduled for my aquablation next Monday the 22nd. My doctor is initially telling me that he thinks I can be back to running in 2 weeks. I will update after the procedure. Any last suggestions for the week leading up to the surgery? He is planning on discharging me with the catheter and removing it 3 days post procedure.
Start with are high fiber diet days before the procedure. Constipation will be an issue.
Buy a bottle of OTC Senna to help with constipationto
Try to get your doctor to have you to stay in the hospital for an extra day so the staff can flush out as much as possible. My doctor convinced the insurance that he required it.
Ask your doctor for pain meds , maybe a dozen, like Vicodin or Percocet. You and your doctor have no idea what pain you might encounter. Be prepare ahead of the game. Calling for real meds later when your doctor is not available is not smart.
Buy waterproof bedliners for the first few days also Depends men short briefs. Amazon has it all.
Good luck.
Thanks for the advice. Every little bit helps to have everything covered before hand instead of trying to get it post surgery.
I did have the procedure on 5/22/23 and have started a new thread with detailed information on the procedure and recovery https://patient.info/forums/discuss/aquablation-surgery-may-22-2023-800586, I will give most detailed information there and some high-level uodates here.
2 week post procedure tomorrow. No blood in urine any longer since Wednesday. No pain, Waking during the night generally only once but no more than twice. Urgency and frequency both continue to improve. Walked a total of 30 miles this week and am hoping to get the approval from doctor this week to start back running and sexual activity.
Got approval from the doctor today to start back running and sexual activity. He said to start back gradually on the running so I ran a mile today during my 5 mile walk. No pain or any bleeding post run. Only real concern he had was to NOT ride bike for a few more weeks due to pressure on the perineum area. Plan is to gradually add running miles into walking distance of 5-6 miles.
I've been researching this procedure for some time now. Dr Steve Kaplan seems to be the lead in my area at Mt Sinai in NYC. I live in NJ been through three doctors all of them say TURP thats the standard. The last doctor I went to disappointed me he didn't know of aquablation. On the next visit to him says that he would have to open me up and do a partial prostectomy. Nope! I think I want to keep away from him. Had two MRIs no cancer and many other tests. Been on all of the meds prostate is 150cc. Never had surgery before and am terrified. Already been probed enough and at times I saw stars! Researched my area and no one does this procedure near me. So I guess its time to make an appointment and go into NYC. Can't take too much time from work.
Well wish me luck!!! Need some words of encouragement!
I can tell you that I am a little over a month since my aquablation and I am EXTREMELY happy with it. Like you my first urologist wanted to do a "simple prostatectomy" but when I looked at it I wanted no part in it. I also looked at TURP and it had too many potential side effects that I didn't want. I will tell you that aquablation is not 100% pain free, at least for me but that was due to catheter blockage and bladder spasms. Both are painful, but manageable and short lived. The only other procedure I would have considered if aquablation was not possible was HoLEP. This in my opinion would be better than TURP, but requires a steep learning curve by the surgeon.
Good luck on you search for the right procedure and doctor. You have already made the best first step and that is making an informed decision based on your needs.
I had Aquablation Tuesday 6-27-2023 at 1pm. My Doctor threw in a last minute caveat. He would finish up with TURP. I will ask in my follow up what he meant as I thought by Aquablation took care of entire problem. Couple things I learned: Tubes were inserted down my throat. Swollen lip. Catheter is uncomfortable but tolerable. Peed seven times after procedure with strong force. Urine is clearing with less blood (second day) Painful. Meds help. Got an erection this AM. That puppy is charged up. Ready to go! I have no idea how I'll it make a month. Its been 48 hours since procedure and I feel this is going to work out. I am looking forward to future.
Side note: I'm 60. Avid Peloton rider (6-10 hours a week). I am physically strong
Doctors go with TURP since it has been around long enough to have a track record, and it is straight forward. Depending on size, for some, it is not an option.
Like you, never having had surgery, my doctor wanted to do the prostatectomy. I was a hard 'no' on that.. I am one of those here that went with the HoLEP. Had a doctor who does several hundred a year. He was amazing, and it was easy-peasy.
Good luck with your next visit. If you need another doctor's name in NYC, let me know, I have a phenomenally knowledgeable one I can recommend. Even if it is for a consult.
Hi Randy,
I had the aquablation procedure just 6 days ago. I am 72 y/o in very good condition and a quick healer. I researched every possible solution before deciding on Aquablation. I had a large prostate (92mm) and tried various medications that had little impact. My local Uro knew very little about aquablation but I found a doc about90 minutes away that has been doing them for several years and is very well known in this field. It took me 2 months to get the first appointment. After that he put me through a battery of tests before agreeing I was a good candidate. Basically they want to rule out cancer, test your flow ability, and get a good view of the prostate and bladder. Did a complete blood work up, biopsy, plus MRI, EKG and chest x-ray. Some of these tests are pretty invasive including the cycstoscopy but they are over quickly and sound worse they really are.
So here is the aquablation summary so far:
1. Surgery on Monday- woke up in recovery with a catheter. Not much pain at all but tired, no energy. Surprised I had no pain but I was pretty drugged up
2. Spent Monday night in the hospital - NO SLEEP Vitals were fine. Lots of blood in the catheter. Put on a drip and flushed 21 liters of water in 2 days. Hoping to get the catheter out on Tuesday. Not much pain other than the catheter which is unpleasant at best. (did not take pain relief)
3. Tuesday still lots of blood and urine. Urine cleared up while on the drip line but got bloody when they took me off. Told this needs to get better before they will discharge me. Began experiencing bladder spasms. These are quite painful. It feels like the bladder is trying to push urine out through the catheter and you cannot stop it. Spasms last about 90 seconds and are caused by the catheter. I tried controlled breathing to slow them down but they have to run their course.
4. Discharged late Tuesday with the catheter. Was very careful about what I ate since I worried about constipation and had not had a bowel movement. Activities such as shaving or washing hands or trying to have a bowel movement that used to stimulate urinating now set off a spasm.
5. Wed (day 3) - spent in bed at home. Focused on high-fiber healthy diet and lots of water and finally had a bowel movement. Still plagued by spasms about every 3 hours. Other than that had very little pain. Urine began to clear up.
6. Thursday (day 4) - Very similar to Wed. Feeling good except for the catheter and spasms
7. Friday (day 5) - Catheter finally removed!!! I read lots of stories about how painful that would be but it was not too bad and I was finally free of it. Plus the spasms stopped. Feeling good. Had a celebratory beer with dinner. I worried about urinating without the catheter but it happened right away. There is some pain when urinating but it is bearable but I found I had little control over timing. If I got the urge, I had to go right away or have an accident. I wore a diaper to bed just in case. Urinating every 2 hours but flow seems much stronger than before the operation.
8. Saturday (today) - Feeling good. Still taking it easy. Drove for the first time. Still some pain and blood in urine but tolerable. I have to urinate about every 3 hours. Starting to do kegel exercises to strengthen my bladder and gain control. I am now able to hold off for a few minutes after getting the urge to urinate.
Expected recovery from here:
I was told to take it easy for the next 4-6 weeks. Complete healing takes about 6 weeks. No lifting weighs, no bike riding. My plan is to keep doing the kegels, start light swimming in 2-3 weeks, golf in 4 weeks. Was advised to hold off on sex for 5 weeks. I am sure I will completely regain control of my bladder and other functions and look forward to getting stronger every day. I have a follow up appointment in 3 months.
I am happy to keep this diary going if is of value.
Best of luck on your decision.
Doug
Happy Fourth of July Now starting my 9th day. Feeling good. Sporadic blood (a few drops) in the urine typically at the very end. Stream is stronger than it as been in years. Still having to go about every 2-3 hours. Very little pain. I no longer leak between times when I pee. This is a huge improvement over the last few years. I am up only one or two times a night. I do find that when I feel the need to urinate, I need to find a toilet pretty fast as I still don't have the strength to pull back for very long. Ricro33, how are you feeling. You had your procedure 1 day after me. Enjoy the holiday guys!
Hi Rick,
How is it going? You had your procedure the day after I had mine. I feel pretty good and have no problem peeing, slight pain but not enough to need any medications. Stream is much stronger than before Aquablation. There is still some blood in my urine but not every time. I am up 2x a night which is a big improvement.
Doug
Well Alex, it looks like I'm another exception; I just think we're all different. Today I am 14 days post op and feel like a million bucks. I'm 68 years old and my exercise consists of a 30 minute daily bicycle ride and a 10 minute daily dog walk. I ride motorcycles daily, but not to much exercise effort required there.
My experience was similar to bcb1 with the following exceptions: I went home with my cath and had it removed on day 6. On day two or three my urine was clear and yellow until one day I did not drink enough water, turned pink to red. Called the clinic and they advised drink, drink, drink and soon the clear yellow returned.
After being on Tamulosin for the last 10 years I've had RE and once I go off of it (doc says to stay on it for 6 weeks), I'm hopeful the RE goes away.
I'll continue to take it easy until the doc clears me. I am only left wondering why I didn't do this 10 years ago. As I said, I feel great and can now pee like a teenager again.
I am now almost 4 months post surgery and wanted to give a final update unless anyone has questions. I did start back running and training 2 weeks after the surgery for an extremely difficult marathon with 5000 feet of elevation gain. Successfully completed the event this last weekend. So glad I had the surgery because I finally did not feel like I had to limit my fluid intake to keep from having to constantly find a restroom. Because of this I was able to stay on top of fluid intake and not worry about dehydration. The surgery was a game changer for me and I was essentially fully recovered at week 2 and have not had any issues since then. Sleeping through the night, no urgency issues, no retention and no sexual side effects. If you are considering this procedure, I would highly endorse it
I don't anticipate posting anything additional here in this thread unless someone has questions for me, or you can send me a message.
Need more info about recovery. Having the procedure next week. But need to make an upcoming appointment with my primary care doctor and also schedule dental surgery. Wondering how long I should wait to have these appointments. At what week do I not have to worry about rushing to the toilet? I will be in the chair for over an hour for the dental surgery.
I am 71 years old. My prostate is 90 cc. I am in average health.
Thanks for the advice.
Randy,
I had the procedure last Wednesday, six days ago. The catheter was left in until Monday morning. Aside from the discomfort of the catheter and some mild burning during urination yesterday, everything has been great. I was able to for for a nice long walk this morning. Urinary symptoms have already improved so much. It's like night and day. I have zero pain and feel great.
Hi gentlemen,
Would someone explain "RE" and "PE," please. I don't recognize those acronyms. Thanks.
Also, my story:
First, medication: no improvement.
I had the Uro-Lift: no improvement.
About six months ago, I had a PAE (Prostatic Arterial Embolization). Again, no improvement.
Next month I'm scheduled for an Aquablation. I am concerned (actually frightened) that it will damage me to a point that I will have incontinence and sexual failure.
Any helpful words are appreciated.
Hi Marc
I, too, struggled with those, but I'm English , so speak a different language anyway.
I'd guess Retrograde Ejaculation ( where it seems to take a wrong turn and up in the bladder) and Premature Ejaculation ( where it goes the right way but at the wrong time).
I'm recovering from robotic aquablation (4 weeks ago) and the process has been a bit up and down. No problems with the actual getting it up or down luckily; just painful at the end of peeing and blood appears in urine every now and again, once with what they seem to refer to as "debris".
Little advice given by surgeon prior to op so its learning on the job really. was told ok to return to work after 3-4 weeks but at this rate it'll be at least 6-8 weeks.
Flow rate seems better, and volume passed greater, though the urgency to go is still great. I have faith that it will all improve with time. I'm 64 by the way and reasonably fit, though that's probably nothing to do with it.
Good luck with it all and I hope it works fine. Nothing to be scared of...probably best to stay away from the internet though...ignorance can be bliss!