hi - i'm 68, have BPH, flaccid/atonic bladder & indwelling catheter for approx. 2 years.
have had no urodynamics (ever) or blood tests etc for over a year.
i'm self-employed & under 24/7 contract to maintain a large computer IT/network.
i was booked for admission last wednesday for turp but had to confirm bed availabilty 8.30am that day.
the catheter has always worked well but for the past 9 days i have experienced severe bladder spasms with bypassing of the cathether - i was soiling my pants about 9 times a day. & had to call the DN out 3 times for a change of catheter - a urine sample confirmed UTI & i'm now taking ab's.
the bottom line - i was packed & ready to go on the morning of my admission but when i phoned at 8.30am they said they would confrm at around 11.00am.
at 4.00pm still no word & after i had soiled myself again i just told my wife i'd had enough & left the house for the rest of the day.
i now fear that i will be removed from the waiting list, am ashamed that the situation got the better of me & also that it placed my wife under unnecessary pressure.
my GP would not give me treatment for the spasms or any sedatves - can anyone please advise.
Hi Lander, I really empathize with your plight. I suggest two things...1. you find a new GP and 2...you look into getting a PAE instead of TURP.
Missing out on the TURP might just turn out to be a great blessing to you.
Hello I think Lander is right about one thing. You need a need doctor. Why is he putting you through this for 2 years. And why a turp. Have you looked it up and see what they do to you. You have more bleeding and more pain and the down time takes a while. I would never let a doctor put a knive in my penis and cut away anything from my prostate. That is major surgery. what I read was that a BPH atonic bladder is a chronic obstruction. Witch I think is the prostate. I had the same problem with my prostate had to force myself to pee and the meds I was on was not working. My doctor did a Uro-Lift on me 2 weeks ago. Had 4 implants put in. Within 5 days I was peeing great no getting up at night and feel good Most of the time they do not put a catheter in but I have a problem peeing on demand and the doctor was scared I would not pee enough and get a BC I drank alot of water and the bleeding cleared. I had it for 2 days Had the spasms and would bleed around the tip of the penis and sometime pee a little. I think that is from it all depends on how you are setting I layed in bed for 2 days and the bag was on my leg so the catheter would move a little and the ball was not always covering the hole so some would come out Pee and blood. Also the PAE is not good all the time There is another guy chuck got talked into it. Cost him $10.000 and it did not work His insurance did not cover it. Please before you do anything talk with another doctor or the one you have now and see if there in anything else. After they cut through the prostate that may not work either. THE HELL WITH IT JUST GO SEE ANOTHER UROLGIST BEFORE THEY CUT ANYTHING OUT PLEASE KEN
Where are you located? NC has Duke and UNC at Chapel Hill..2 of the top hospitals going. You're over 65 and if you have medicaid you can get a PAE done at Chapel Hill for no cost. I will be posting more info and contact numbers later.
John The pae will stop the prostate from growing but will not get ride of the obstruction. I think he need a new doctor and talk it over
Hi Lander,
I understand that this is very frustrating but with nhs has been caught unaware with a 40% increase in patient load and it's a nationwide problem. TURP and Holly are still gold standard and rest everything is commercially driven. Get yourself referred back to the urologist or talk directly to the urology secretary. I am sure they will help. You do get priority if cancelled once. Best wishes.
I would guess that as you say GP you are in UK.
I would be very tempted to write to the hospital directly and COMPLAIN along the lines of the stress this caused you and that though ready you did not get a call back.
It is hardly any fault of yours that things went wrong. If they had confirmed at a sensible time you would have gone
Lander,
The longer you go without addressing the problem and continuing to catheter the greater the risks of having bladder failure as well. It may be a blessing however as there are procedures other that Turp which are less invasive and have fewer side effects. I had a procedure called a Prostatic Artery Embolism (PAE) and I am delighted with the results. Look thru this forum in a discussion of PAE for my testimonials and those of others. There were also good results posted for HolEp procedure, but that requires some cutting like Turp, but less invasive. PAE involves no cutting and is truly minimally invasive with little or no side effects. I had my procedure done in U.S. At UNC, North Carolina. This is a relatively new procedure and is not available everywhere. Do some research on PAE to see if it is available anywhere near you.
I would have to disagree here. The PAE shrinks the prostate away from the ureatha, thus removing the obstruction. Of the many who have had PAE on this forum and others the success rate has been extremely high. One person on here, ChuckP, was not happy with his, but his complaint is still having to get up 4 times a night. He is not getting blockage, no catheters, no longer has to take prostate medicines and his sex life has returned to normal. While my results are much better than this, I would have been satisfied with no longer having blockage and having to use catheters.
I am glad you had good results. but it does not always work. He should not be having that problem if the blocklge is gone. And I do agress that is sex life is back some. But I guess when we our in our 60's we should be lucky were having anything. Nothing is the same when you get older I still say get a second opinon. Have a good day ken
I agree Lander. I 'm a Nam vet, combat, Navy, and hospitals scare the crap out of me. 20 years Federal Fire service and 9 years as Deputy Chief in Holly Ridge NC/ Crash and Rescue. I've seen what goes on in hospitals..therefore the scary part. Because of that, when my PSA started to climb, I started research. Prostate exams are now considered pretty useless with positive results resulting in cancer surgery, with no cancer exposed. And the opposite, no results shown on test and cancer run rampant through prostate. If you have cancer of the prostate, more than likely, age will kill you before the cancer does. However, start messing with it, biopsy or now they're saying even a finger wave might be the start of spreading what would have been perfectly stable. There's a lot of controversy about this whole thing, but as always, follow the money. Biopsies and cancer surgery are a multi-billion dollar business and surgeons don't make any money if they're not operating. Now, forgetting the cancer and just considering an enlarged prostate, if you feel like taking a chance on sexual dysfunction, permanent incontinence, have at it...let them cut away..That said, there is always those cases that just absolutely need to be resolved through surgery, but I think we're just about past that now....I pray.
Hi Lander,
Sorry to hear you had such a torrid time, particulalry after such a long time with a catheter. Try contacting the consultant's secretary or admissions team and explain the situation- I expect they will be sympathetic and find you an alternative date with priority. If not helpful then write to the consultant directly. From an NHS Consultant point of view, the situation is incredibly frustrating to all sides.
Clinically it sounds as though the priority is to become catheter free. There are novel treatments such as urolift and PAE, but your best chance is with TURP, or HoLEP. Despite the increased invasiveness, the majority of patients are pleased with the results. Retrograde ejaculation is almost a given, but if you are comfortable with that, then go ahead. Incontinence may occur in the short term whilst the body readjusts to normality (starting pelvic floor exercises now will help with this) http://www.baus.org.uk/Resources/BAUS/Documents/PDF%20Documents/Patient%20information/PFX_male14.pdf
The incidence of long term incontinence is 1 in a hundred.
It's difficult to state that you have an atonic bladder without urodynamics, but even if demonstrated, many men still do well with surgery, and hopefully the two years of catheter will have helped the bladder regain some tone.
Best of luck!
Kenneth, I too disagree. I have a penile implant, use (legal) testosterone supplementation because I had low testosterone (happens as we get older), and at 73 1/2 have a great sex life. Yes, I am having some prostate issues, and will probably have to have a urolift or PAE in the next year or so, but age does NOT mean that you have to have a bad, or no sex life. Things happen, and you do the research, listen to your doctor with skepticism, and get them FIXED!
Neal. Glad all is going good for you. I had a Urolife done 3 weeks ago today. Been working very good I have a stricture in my urethra and had a enlarged prostate. Also I'm on testosterone and I take Viagra 100mg because of sugar and High BP. I am on no pills for bladder problem and I sleep thru the day....Please do the urolift. Heard alot of bad things on the PAE sometimes it don't work That care and keep going Ken
At this point, my plan is to try the urolift first if I need it. It's so new that I am struggling along as long as possible so the docs get more experience
Neal
I'm in Orlando Fl. My Urologist has been doing it for 3 years. Also I asked about the prostate growing. He told be the the study is only 7 years old and all is going well He told me that it should last for 10 to 15 years. Thats works for me Have a god day Ken
thanks to ALL your repies.
i've written a pleading letter to the hospital consultant hoping he will not remove me from the waiting list.
as mentioned i was diagnosed (without tests) with a flaccid/atonic bladder.
i'm hoping that the recent bladder spasms & bypassing of the catheter significantly (when the catheter is blocked) may indicate return of some bladder tone as pete25525 suggested.?
i have "flip flo valves" but have never used - again i'm wondering if these could be used a a rudimenary indicator that perhaps some bladder tone has returned??
GP doesn't know & the urologist is just a name on my hospital admission letter.
Lander I would find a urologist that know what there doing. Also where are you at. Why are you guys dealing with a GP. The urologist feal with everything down below. Good luck Ken
hi ken - here in UK we have to use a GP to get referred to a urologist even if subsequent related problems arise
What is your urologist's name? Can you give me some contact info for your doc? I agree that William should get a second opinion. I assume that your doc was saying that the urolift should last at least 7 years. Did I get that correctly?
Neal