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Technological advances such as the laser have redefined the surgical treatment of enlarged prostate. Laser is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Light that is emited is converted to heat energy that has various effects on the tissue that the light is ...
I had the procedure done last Friday. I am a very healthy and fit 61 year old. Here are the details of my experience.
1. Had surgery in a hospital with anesthesia
2. I had a catheter inserted
3. I spent the night in the hospital and was closely monitored. This was a good thing as I was very sore and dealing with the Foley bag would have been difficult.
4. Having a catheter in place for 72 hours is no small thing. It was messy and painful.
5. Recovery is not 24 hours as stated in the Green Light material. No way could someone go to work comfortably after one day.
6. This is Wednesday and I'm still in discomfort. I just returned to work today. Still urinating blood.
Thank you for sharing your experience on greenlight laser therapy. I never knew that it is as uncomfortable as you have described. But do you think it is less stressful than any other treatment process? Just a thought.
Christopher,
This whole experience was full of surprises. After a couple weeks I was still not able to hold my bladder and had to wear pads. I was going through two or three a day. My doctor was not surprised although he never advised me that this was going to be an issue. The solution was a couple sessions of physical therapy to learn how to use my backup sphincter as the one at the base of the bladder was damaged beyond repair during the surgery. Nice surprise. Well the couple of sessions turned into an eight week ordeal so my body could learn to tighten the sphincter when needed. I'm in great shape and that helped because you need a strong core to get this all to work right. And it did work to stop the urinating.
The big surprise was the dry ejaculation "benefit". Now when I have a climax the sperm goes into my bladder and nothing comes out the penis. My doctor said that is normal. Of course, he never mentioned this little body change when we talked about side effects. I was less than thrilled to hear that news after the fact.
Final surprise - both bladder and bowel triggers that I need to use the restroom are damaged. Its only at the point of an accident that I feel the sensations to relieve myself. So I have leaned to gauge how long its been and adjust accordingly. And, you guess it, my doctor never mentioned anything about this issue.
Some of this might get better with time; its beed seven months since the surgery. Thanks for letting me share my experience.
Dennis,
Yeah I hope it will get better. You mentioned that dry ejaculation is a benefit. I knew why.lol
Hi Dennis,
I had the procedure about 9mnths ago.
Either I was very lucky or had an excellent surgeon.
I was operated on at 3pm in the afternoon. Was cathertarised - which was not painful at all - it was taken out at about 10am the next day and as soon as I could urinate a certain amount of urine twice without the catheter I went home.
Urinating was uncomfortable for about 10 days but apart from that I had no pain at all.
I do not ejaculate now when I have an orgasm - and have read that about 33% of men do still ejaculate.
I would like to ask Dr Matola why some men can still ejaculate and others, like myself, cannot?
All in all, it was a highly sucessful procedure and I was very grateful that I did not have to have the totally invasive "older" type of surgery.
I wish you all well.
Jonley.