HI i have a t last seen a Dr who performs the Urolift operation here in the UK and he is not sure if i am a good candidate for it as i have a very weak stream, on a scale i think he said 4? can anyone give me their experience if they dont have a strong flow?
I don't understand why having a weak stream would disqualify you from getting urolift. Pretty much everyone one with BPH has a weak stream I'm not a fan of urolift because its just pinning back the prostate. Sort of compressing the tissue. Sems to me to be a band aide approach
Yes well he was telling me that urolift only improves your flow slightly and in my case probably not enough.
Many guys on here that have had great resukts with urolift. It didn't appeal to me though. YMMV
I think the usual rider against urolift would be NOT weak flow, but frequency issues especially where the prostate is pressing up on base/neck of bladder; whether or not the prostate has a median lobe, that up-pressing messes up the empty/full signalling. Putting bands that pull in side of prostate won't stop it pressing up (and intuition tells me could even exacerbate that). Slow flow is what it can cure if that is due to restriction in the prostatic urethra, but some slow flow is due to a bladder neck restriction which would be cured, instead, I think, by a bladder neck incision, as I doubt (not that I really know) that the inner tabs of urolift could be positioned that high. So maybe it is that, particularly if he has already done cystoscopy.
Some medics don't seem to like to share the details of their (provisional) diagnoses unless pressed, do they ? They know best, and you should trust them ... etc.
Hi i have not had a cystoscopy yet he has scheduled me to have one so i guess that will help to make a decision.
There are a number of things that a cystoscopy will reveal. The nature of the occlusion, the 'length" of the prostatic portion of the urethra which translates into the number of implants. As well, they will survey the interior of the bladder for issues. There are several criteria for urolift candidacy gleaned from this procedure.
It seems odd that the urologist would base urolift candidacy on stream 'strength' alone. Be careful that his office just doesn't really 'like' to do them.
Well no he has been doing these since the start of urolift and is the supposed expert in the country so i am a bit surprised about his comments anyway i will wait for the test results and go from there i guess.
I am beginning to think that the key to success with finding the right treatment for LUTS caused by BPH is to seek out a larger urology group practice. There each doctor focuses on a different remedy or technique. Sometimes a single doctor can become a one trick pony because of the time and learning curve of the latest techniques so will gravitate toward one or two remedies or techniques that seem to always work the easiest for all cases. With a larger practice they can retain the "customer" and make a profit while offering a larger array of services.
Doctors are human beings and small businessmen who have to balance serving the patient needs without going broke. I am not a harsh critic of doctors, but I do criticize the system they have to work in being manipulated economically by government or insurance company rules.
re : >> HI i have a t last seen a Dr who performs the Urolift operation
- This is a general comment that could apply to many posts : how come nobody on patient info, ever posts the name of their urologist .... is this because the site rules forbid it, or is it because they fear being sued should they say anything other than 100% positive ? A rare exception is when a few men have written glowing reviews of a couple of named uro's at the Mayo Clinic. But mostly, nobody does, and there are no credible review sites that I could find for uros or other medics. I posted a (good) review for mine and then found it didn't go up for 3 days whilst it was "reviewed", meaning, I suspect, that all negative or non-positive reviews are going to be actively screened out - like on check-a-trade !
I was not a candidate for Urolift because my prostate growth was squeezing into the bladder neck. If it was just squeezing the urethra, then it would be fine; but the Urolift cannot help a situation that is so high towards the bladder as was mine.
Good luck with your search and do search for more information. And don't lend too much credence to what you hear in these forums. They are mostly contributions from those who have had poor outcomes. "The squeeking wheel always gets the oil." Men with good outcomes don't make entries here because they get well and move on. That is why I am trying to chronicle my outcome with the idea that it will be good and I can deliver that experience to other men. It's our JUNK! Very scary stuff. There is risk; but thousands of men do have good outcomes.
Mine was excellent - Dr. Bilal Chughtai at Weill Cornell Medical School/ NY Presbyterian Hospital. He teaches as well as runs a busy office at the Iris Cantor Men's Health Center on 61st Street in Manhattan. The staff in his office is excellent and always made me feel comfortable.
The NY Presbyterian hospital staff was excellent too, from admissions and prep, through the OR staff, to the recovery nursing staff. They all did their jobs extremely well and made me feel well attended to at all times.
yes true i think that the men that have good outcomes dont post so much on here so there is a lot of scary stuff as you say, so really he cant say that my bad flow rules out Urolift until all the tests are done.
that's interesting, I spoke to one guy who had the Urolift when they were doing it for free as a study, I believe in Las Vegas - anyway he told me his stream was fantastic after the Urolift, but he still had to pee frequently because he thought his bladder was shot - so he still self catheters at night or before he goes out for a long time and wants to empty his bladder completely. He said sex was better than ever, personally I wouldn't want to rely on a catheter like that. Intuition tells me this is not a good solution but if it works for some why not? Like patching up a broken machine..
Exactly. The cystoscopy will tell him what he needs to know. After that, it just takes balls to go through with the prescribed fix.
Hi - I too had a weak stream although it was not numerically detailed. I had the urolygt on October 7 and my stream is moving back to "normal"- meaning the way it was more than a decade ago and before I started with flomax, hytrin, avodart. My stream is greater than it's been in more than a decade (I'm 69 years old). The procedure was done in San Diego at a Kaiser outpatient facility,
I had probably a bit stronger stream. Doc didn't evaluate that but I would guess a 5. He did a "lookyloo" before to see if I was a candidate and then said I was. So who oversees these opinions as to whether a patient is a candidate? No one other than getting a second opinion and I wasn't going through that experience again. Urolift did absolutely nothing for me other than some negative effects. Most, not all I have read on this discussion forum seems to indicate the same or very short periods of benefit. Maybe you will hear from some success stories.
I hope that some of the more unfortunate experiences with urolyft are anomolies. In my case my stream has significantly improved and I've seen comments over the last months where others had similar postive experiences. I know the prostate continues to grow. My surgeon said the procedure is so new that there is not a sufficient data base to draw long term conclusions. So I am waiting and seeing and hoping that the stream does not again weaken. I'll continue to post my experience over time. I'm two months post surgery and obviously benefiting from the surgery.
A weak flow is when your prostate is tight around the urethra. I have mine in 2015 He was checking my stricture and could not get the camera in the bladder. The prostate was closed. I have 4 implants to open it up and it worked great. If that doctor don't want to try it get another doctor don't get forced into something less Ken
I agree with Bill. It sounds like he may be more interested in doing a more extensive ( expensive) procedure.
Neal