Sent you a PM. Also, I was able to Google several docs in Arizona – much closer than Wisconsin, no? (Interesting that no docs for aqua are listed in Denver.)
FINAL 'Report" following my doc’s follow-up to my aquablation surgery (detailed above) on 12/7/21
One month to the day, saw my Milwaukee, WI uro for a follow up. I consider myself 90% “recovered” from the aquablation and I am overall delighted with the results and would do it again. Stream is significantly restored (as I tell friends “I can pee like a 55-year old again!”) I know the reports of race horse comparisons for post-surgery flow, but I am thankful, at 75, for my progress and not at all troubled by what I consider “normal” these days. BTW, for the first time my uro commented on the prostate itself. he used the words “swollen and inflamed – indicating an obviously long term LUTS situation.” I didn’t ask for my size as I don’t really understand any of that. I do know bathroom breaks are no longer a constant in my life, and that significant and long-term pelvic pain is gone and resolved.. The only disappointment: I continue to show a tendency to UTIs and – most recently – yeast infection. I thought only women were supposed to get those routinely but I guess not! I am about to go on meds for it – again, as I have a UTI right now. . We’ll see how that works out, but I am overall delighted with the impact of aquablation on my of life. Oh — and sexual function is A-OK!
This will likely be my last post on this thread. Good luck to all and feel free to PM me if questions.
Hi Owen-
I am really stressed out because all the doctor’s are recommending surgeries that have retrograde ejaculation risk of between 50% and 100%!
I was told by a couple of doctors that Rezum has not provided good results for median lobe patients, so I would now like to consider Aquablation.
Your last update was 4 months ago. Could you provide an update on any symptoms and on a scale of 1 to 10, as to how happy are you now?
Did you need to do self catherization at home and if so, for how many days? Did you need to self catherize even before surgery?
Were you able to avoid retro ejaculation?
Do you know your prostate size? Mine is small, 30 grams.
Anyone else reading this who could share their Aquablation experience here, would be very helpful to me.
Thank you so much.
Bob
i had my Aquablation 4 days ago and, i have to say, although it is early days, I am extremely happy with how it went, and how I feel now, and also I am amazed at how little pain I have felt since the operation.
To add a little more detail - the operation went smoothly, after a request from me to the doctor to calibrate the procedure so that i would not have retrograde ejaculation. The only glitch was that i apparently had an erection during the operation, which required an injection into the shaft of my penis to make it subside before the procedure could start - I now have a temporary and completely painless purple bruise on my shaft, which thankfully is starting to disappear now!
Post-op, I was surprised to find i could not feel that i had a catheter inside me at all - probably a result of the anaesthetic still in my system.
The catheter was removed the next morning, and i must admit, this was painful (5 out of 10 pain) but thankfully swift - around 30 seconds.
Then began the long wait to pass urine - i drank a glass of water every hour as instructed, but nothing came out for several hours and i was worried they would recatheterise me.
Then i passed 50ml, including a clot of blood, followed an hour later with 200ml, followed by 400ml an hour after that and then another 300ml. it was mildly painful to pass urine -2/10 maybe. The bladder scan after each pee showed i was still retaining a lot of urine in my bladder - up to 800ml - but since i was able to pass urine ok I was discharged and will be reviewed at a check up in 3 weeks time.
Since then the stinging pain on urination has almost disappeared and the urine has almost returned to a normal colour, without blood in it. I also experienced constipation.
The urine flow on days 2 and 3 were amazing and full on - also i didnt have to strain to urinate - it just came out as soon as i dropped my trousers! Today I have noticed a slightly weaker flow and more control and also less leaking in my pants after finishing.
I am a little but sore, but apart from 500mg of paracetomol at bedtime i am not taking any painkiller medication. So far so good - I will keep you updated (57 year old male, UK).
I had Aquablation three weeks ago today. Past history of Cool Thermo 6 yrs ago, then Rezum 3 yrs ago, both did not last, helped some but did not last, and as with meds and supplements that don’t really accomplish or do anything, needed to get something done that will last longer… Some reduction in size but eventually increased to where it was 75cc size, so up 4 to 5 times per night, etc.. and TURP or something else became something next…cvhose aquablation from 5 yr studies,
Had some bleeding that would not resolve so ended up in a longer stay than usual, 3 days and sent home with catheter, flow has been restricted, blood lasted for at least 2 weeks, mostly clear now, but flow is slow to improve, continued burning on urination, urethra swollen and really not fully resolved, soreness still, went to work after about 10 days, urologist says I am in the norm, bleeding for 2 to 3 weeks, some clots to still show up and eventually a scab but not seeing the scab pass yet…
Will report back in a week or two…
A quick update. it is now day 6 and my urine flow has become much narrower and slower - similar to Owen’s experience on day 6 - so i am hopeful that like Owen the flow will increase again in a few days time.
i still have mild pain on passing urine and a dull ache in the rectum but am not using any painkillers except one tylenol at bedtime.
its hard to sleep at the moment as i am getting erections during my sleep and these cause a momentary pain in my urethra which wakes me up.
Otherwise i am working full time during the day (luckily i work from home and my job is desk-based) and i feel generally fine.
Day 8 update - still some pain from erections during the night, a little bit of blood on urination (the doc warned me there would be a second wave of blood in week 2 as scabs heal). Urine flow has increased a little but not by much - a little bit of mild pain and delay when i start urinating but once its started, no pain at all. otherwise i am not taking any painkillers and feel absolutely fine
Day 9 - much improved urine flow, tiny amount of blood / tissue coming out with urine, no pain from erections last night, bruising on shaft slowly diminishing, a little bit sore down below but all moving in a positive direction!
Thanks all for posting. Keep us updated on your recovery. I am looking at having this procedure in the next few months.
Yes Thanks for posting your experience.
I am starting down the road to find a procedure for my BPH. Going to see my Uro on Thursday.
I believe that the ultrasound instrument that provides the guidance and controls the “robot” is placed rectally.
Unfortunately, after deciding on Aquablation and booking an appointment with a Uro that offered it, turns out it’s not covered by my insurance. I hear that Medicare, Aetna, BCBS and Humana cover it. I’m under a United Health Care Plan by name, but I believe that my company is self insured? so they may be stingy on approving newer treatments.
I am at max out of pocket for the year so I really wanted to do it before year end.
Deciding whether to do an alternative procedure or appeal to company to approve it for next year and pay. In the mean time I’ll have the 2 bladder stones blasted.
My company offers UHC as well. I have heard that you can appeal and sometimes they cover it on a case by case basis. It seems rather dumb that they do not cover it as it takes a fraction of the time as TURP in the operating room and has less chance of complications.
UPDATE: AQUABLATION DONE!
(FIRST OFF, a request to the management of this web site. The protocol for accessing the page is wayyyyy too involved. Passwords, magic id words, etc. Can it be simplified? I wanted to post this weeks ago but was closed out and didn’t have the time to play. This is not the Pentagon deep web, so maybe simplify things a bit?) As for my aquablation:
December will mark my 1-year surgery anniversary. I can no longer say it was a near perfect experience. At best, my flow has improved nicely and there are no sexual side fx. That’s good. But urinary frequency is as problematic as ever. Every two hours at night if I dare to drink fluids after 7 pm. Maybe every 3 hrs if I don’t. That is disappointing. My uro says a 76-year old man shouldn’t expect much better. And here I thought aquablation would resolve a lot of that. Uro thinks frequency may be bladder-related and hasn’t ruled out resuming kegel exercises – though I am not confident that can help having done those in the past. Doc may also restore alfuzosin therapy. I see him in a few weeks.
If I had to grade my aquablation experience now 9 months later: a 6 on a 10- scale is about the the best I can muster – mostly for the improved flow and continued sexual function. Wish it was better news overall but that is life. Good luck to all.
So your Night Time Urination Frequency/ Nocturia has not improved but is the same as before the Aquablation Therapy, right? How about the urinary frequency and urgency during the day? Thanks for sharing!
Each slightly improved. But only slightly. Actual flow/stream has seen the real improvement, but still pre-occupied with frequency. Though it can be said I consume more fluids than the average individual. Not extreme, but likely above average
i am in the same situation as you. UHC denied the preauthorization, stating that it is an unproven/experimental procedure. I know that Aquablation was FDA approved in Dec 2017
and Medicare approved it in Dec 2020…so..how can it be unproven? Today i wrote my appeal letter and supporting documents and tomorrow i’ll send it by mail. If you guys are interested how this works out, i can write an update (which they need to respond with a decision within 30 days).
When i did a research on who decides if a procedure is considered proven and not experimental anymore, to my surprise ..there is no entity that makes the decision …so..just because FDA and Medicare approves and covers it , doesn’t mean anything…that’s BS. Anyway , i had to vent a little.
Yes, please keep us updated on your appeal. I will be in the same situation in January when I switch to UHC from Kaiser. I have also looked into pay cash for the procedure and have been quoted prices around $14K-$16K including hospital stay, anastesia, etc. I am a little nervous going that route as I don’t want to be hit with a much larger bill than they estimated.
Hi owen35669, thanks so much for your always candid feedback. I read somewhere that if the freequency does not improve after Aquablation, it could be due more to bladder issue rather than the prostate.
If I may ask, were you self-funded or on NHS? If latter, how long were you on the waiting list? Many thanks
I am in the U.S. I am on Medicare via a Medicare Advantage plan. The procedure was fully covered without issue.