Had Greenlight surgery 5 weeks ago. Very good for a while, now relapsing to original condition.Anyon

What do you mean when you say painful?  Do you mean, you are doing something to cause the pain, or is it a blockage that is giving you resistance and that forcing the catheter through the prostate, is giving you pain?  When I self-cath, I go really slow.  As soon as I feel any kind of discomfort, I stop and proceed slowly.  I think it was yesterday, when I was in a bit of a rush, and so I tried to speed up the self-cathing, just a little.  Just a little, was not a good idea.  I started to bleed, a little.  It didn't last long, but I've never bled previous to this.  For me, going very slow, is the best for a painless, self-cathing.  It is also my belief, that we have cell and muscle memory, and that if we irritate the prostate too much, it will not let the catheter, in with ease.  It will remember the irritation the catheter causes, and will in turn be difficult for letting the catheter, pass through the prostate.  I'm not saying that is has a mind of its own, I'm just saying that it will respond accordingly. 

Dennis - The principal pain is when, I believe, the catheter passes through the prostate. I tend to go quickly - so if more self-cath is in my future, I'll proceed more slowly. *I had no cathing pain before Greenlight.

I intentionaly drank a lot of water today - to see if there were any clear signs of recovery (stronger bladder, etc) Did not work out very well. Voided many times, reached the dribbling phase and finally, because it was so uncomfortable, I cathed out over 1000 cc. I'm afraid the bladder might be stretched significantly.

I'm nearly 70 - your age, if you don't mind?

I think your muscle memory idea may be true. Anyway, thanks for your response, and I'll have more to say after tomorrow.

Thanks for your interest.

John,

After my Green Laser surgery in March, I had lots of pain, an acute retention event, Foley put back in.  About six/seven weeks after GL TURP, the doctor did a cystoscopy again, and found a lot of hanging debris and necrosis, so he did a second procedure called Gyrus TURP that uses a cauterizaing loop to cut and release the hanging debris.  I turned to watch the cystoscopy, and it looked like the camera was going though a mass of tree roots.  He also cut out a piece of prostate that looked like a white bump in the bottom of the channel he had cut through the median lobe. (He gave me four color photos taken during the Gyrus TURP.)

.  I wonder if you have something similar going on that's causing your blockage.  In my case, the second procedure (Gyrus TURP) got rid of the swelling, but I'm still highly incontinent, staying wet 24 hours per day.

I've come to think the GL TURP procedure is a risky one.  I will keep you in my thoughts and say a prayer for you.

John,  I'm right behind you, 68 this year!  Time,is flying by, and it's great to be alive, but it would be even better, if we all had normal prostates and bladders.  I remember when I was around 18 years old, I was teaching my friend how to drive. I was standing in the front of the car, and was guiding my friend towards me. She did not step on the brakes, and the car kept on going till it pinned me against the garage wall and the car's bumper.  I went to the doctor, to have a check-up, because my mid-section was hurting so bad.  I keep wondering if my bladder, was injured at that time, and now I'm paying for it?  Take care, and I hope we all will improve our flow!

I just realized that there is the capability to upload images and thought I'd try it.  Here's an image in my prostate after the Green Laser and during the followup Gyrus TURP.  The bright loop is the cutting element that heats/cuts and cauterizes.

And since that works (click/double click on image), here are pictures at the end of the Gyrus procedure.  Note the lump of white prostate that was missed during GL and removed here.

Back from visit w. my urologist. He now believes that the problem is a lazy if not "dying" bladder, and is scheduling an exam with someone who can determine that. Apparently the science is relatively new, and the list of treatments brief. This means another flight to Honolulu. It's possible that I'm facing many (I hope!) years of self-cathing. It's not the worst thing in the world.

It's really bad when you have one procedure and it does not work and you end up having another  That's the pit's   Ken

Yes I did see it but they really do a number on the prostate  I feel sorry for you buddy  Ken

John,  your uro is located in Honolulu?  That's the island that I live on.  Who is your uro?  

Big Island. That's crazy.

Jason Smotherman, Aloha Urology - Queens

So you live on the Big Island?  What part?  My wife, and I live in Kaneohe.  Been really wet for the last few months!  My mom's family comes  from Kapaau.  Kohala, really beautiful place as you may know.

I live in Waimea. Yeah, Kohala is nice too.

Interesting development: My bladder is teasing me w. normal behavior. Total cath yesterday, 100cc. Today, 200.

Too tired to write more now. Will later.

Thanks for writing

Waimea, so cool!  Feels like airconditioning.  My mom, used to tell me when she was a kid growin up in Kohala, that they could tell the kids that were from Waimea, because at school, they were the ones with the rosey cheeks.  Between cathing, this morning, it was a pretty good stream, going natural.  This is day, 27 of self-cathing.  It could be that I did doxazosin, 1/2 dose yesterday and the day before. I've been trying to stop taking my medication, but I am pretty sure it helps me with my flow. 

I think Flomax is helping.

Has anyone experienced this:

Eight days ago my uro gave a kind of requiem for my bladder. Only bad news; a dying bladder. Yet: the very next day, voiding increased in volume and intensity. Over the next three days, total daily cath amounts went down from 100, to 50, to trace. Nothing. I've stopped cathing altogether, strong stream. It hasn't felt this good in three years. A bit of urgency to be watched out for, but suddenly I'm living a normal urological life. I'm very happy though confused about what has happened.

 

John Don't let him talk you into anything.  Your doing good so leave it alone  Ken

Thanks Ken. That's what I'm going to do. Nothing.

Is it possible you were taking decongestants or antihistamines? I have experienced myself they aggravate the prostate. Also, someone else on this forum experienced that.

What is requiem?