As I'm starting this, it is T-Minus 1 day, 17 hours and 5 minutes till my date with a Laser and camera in a catheter on Friday morning the 12th of December, very early.
First off, I'm going to be writing a good deal about this procedure. I am also going to tagging this post for others to find it that may be considering this procedure to help themselves in deciding if this is right for them and what they might expect should they go through with it. Since I experienced this and when I was looking and couldn't find too much about it from a "review" standpoint I thought I should and could tell about my experiences.
As this is pretty off topic of my usual postings, you may want to skip this post if you are a usual reader. It won't hurt my feelings!
So why in the heck am I having a laser surgery you may ask?
Well, for almost 6 years now I've been dealing with an older adult male health issue call "BPH." Or in English, Benign Prostate Hyperplasia, which means that my prostate gland has enlarged over time to the point that the prostate gland is putting pressure on the tube that takes urine from the bladder through the prostate to the toilet via the, well, you know what.
I am very lucky and do not now and have not had, any indication of any prostate cancer with my annual PSA tests in the very low range over the years. I have a half brother on my father's side that unfortunately has had nothing but problems and has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and has been having to deal with the treatment for that for the last few years, and he's in his 40's.
No, this is strictly an age-related malady for me. I am currently in generally good health and 57 years old. I'm no athlete but also no couch potato as where we live in North Idaho, the spring to fall seasons are generally pretty busy with lots of chores and outdoor activities. We also work on the second floor of an old building with no elevator, so it is up and down those stairs several times a day during a work day.
I've been on all the main BPH drugs over the last few years. Avodart, Flomax, Alfuzosin, and others in attempts to ease the pressure and allow things to work as they should without coming to a surgical impasse. However, in the last year and a half my Urologist has been concerned, and me too, that on ultrasounds during office visits, I was keeping somewhat large amounts of fluid in my bladder with no sensation of that already fullness. This is NOT a good combination and can lead to an Emergency room visit if one ultimately couldn't urinate. I definitely did not want that to happen to me, and as he's been recommending this procedure for the last 2 years, I agreed now is as good a time as any as I was looking at having this done in the next few years in any event.
With our Blue Cross insurance, they recommend doing any expensive procedures, as this surgery, at the end of the calendar year to save out of pocket expense after the yearly deductible has been met, and mine had been met so now was the time. Last December a colonoscopy and this December my first surgery of any kind.
Online research about the procedure:
My doctor had already given me the brochure, the type with photos of older men playing golf
(I don't play golf) mixed with color drawings of everything that's happening causing you to have this brochure and to be contemplating this procedure. So I looked it up on the Internet to get more information.
This laser procedure has been done for about 5 years now. And while there is a pretty high success rate, the people that have had it done, and posting the most, are the people that have had problems with the procedure or the recovery, or not getting the expected results after going through all of this.
The sales pitch to me to give the go ahead? "This procedure turns back the clock about 30 years in the stream and flow," and if all goes as planned I should be able to stop taking any meds for this problem, forever, that sold me!
In November I met with my doctor and told him I wanted to go ahead with the Greenlight surgery. He said OK, but he needed to "take a look" and make sure I was a "viable candidate" for the procedure. So at this visit, he said: "let's take a look right now, OK?"
Wait,.....what!?! I was thinking that since he'd been trying to get to agree to this for quite a while, and now he has to check? Shouldn't he had already known if I was 'viable candidate'?
So I got to experience my first 'something going the wrong way' in an important area! I was given a horse sized antibiotic and wiped around 'the area' with betadine before he says the all too common, "this might hurt a bit" as the catheter with a camera goes where literally nothing has gone before from this direction. On the 40 inch TV in his office, I see my insides as the camera works its way to the bladder. A not very long distance that felt like a long, long, long way as the catheter moved through. He said everything looked good and showed me exactly what he would be vaporizing when he is actually working on me. He said that with what he, and I, was seeing on the screen everything should be fine and it wouldn't take very long to take care of my problem. He detailed what areas and landmarks in the area of the prostate one must be careful of while vaporizing to keep any collateral damage from occurring from the laser, which if done could cause all kinds of problems for me. Pulling out the catheter and the pain is there as is the urge to pee like NOW. And when I go to pee, that is my first experience in the pain I'd be dealing within about a month. So it was set up that a nurse from his office would call me and get everything scheduled in a few days. So I went back to work and started to really think, do I really want to do this?
04/17/2015- A little over 4 months into this now. Generally, things are still good. There have been a couple of issues that I will be discussing next month when I see the Doctor again as he'll be checking up on me. In early March I had a slight cold, and when coughing from that, I was having a problem with 'leakage' with a cough, or laugh, or sneeze. It was really embarrassing since at first, I wouldn't know when I might have it happen, and then it got to be somewhat frequently occurring which was worse because it was so frequent! And while that is bad in my opinion, I have been noticing that the force of the stream while peeing has occasionally lessened and isn't full force all the time as it was at first. I'm even getting that old feeling occasionally of having to pee again shortly after doing so and having, especially in the morning, some pretty weak streams.
I'll update after the Doctor visit.
05/18/2015- Well, last Thursday, May 14th, I had my final check up post surgery and also my final check in with the Urologist. Things are still generally good, I did discuss the leakage if coughing, laughing or sneezing I mention above. Nothing as bad as while I had a cold, but on occasion, leakage is still a bit of an issue.
He said that "stress leakage" as he called it, is NOT a normal problem after this surgery and suggested I work on my Kegel muscles, "down there," to strengthen that area and help hold things in better. I told him that the "Fire Hose" stream of the first few months is generally gone now but I still have much better pressure than before the procedure. First pee in the morning is much slower but still not the dribble it was before. He said that all the pressure reduction is normal with the prostate recovering from being hollowed out by the laser and closing back up a bit.
He talked with me about something I really didn't recall seeing in any of the documentation I was given or even in the information I got online. He said that the company that sells the Greenlight 'experience' says the doctors should advise the patient that the procedure "may only be effective for about 5 years" and then have to be done again to maintain the 'flow.'
I was hoping that as mentioned at the beginning, that doing this was a "once in a lifetime" necessity and not to be done again, and again, and again!
Of course, time will tell, but I would have a tough decision to make if I had to do this all again, and not including the cost! We have decent insurance (Blue Cross), so out of pocket for this procedure, including the follow-up checks and tests at the Urologist's office have been a bit less than a thousand dollars for an over six thousand dollar procedure. I had more than enough sick time to be off for the 3 weeks of initial recovery, but it did kind of put a big damper on things recovering from this over the Christmas holiday.
But at his office he asked the big question for him, was I satisfied that I'd done it? I had to say yes, I was looking down the pipe of some problems in the next few years and this fixed it for me. Will it last for the rest of my life? Don't know, but I sure hope so.
He said he didn't need to see me again unless I was having problems and I could go back to just the annual finger in the butt test and PSA blood test for cancer with my general practitioner. But I did finally get to stop taking any medications for this issue and so for now, I'm done!
ONE YEAR LATER
So, by day, today is the day, by the date, it's tomorrow, whichever way you'd want to look at it, it has been a year since I had my "Greenlight Laser Experience".
Things are as good as they're going to be after a year. I can remember today being the WORST pain I can recall ever experiencing with that catheter. I hope to never experience that again!
Overall, still glad I had this done. The stream is still good overall, sometimes slower in the morning first time but during the day good.
I still have occasional leakage and try to push out all pee and have been exercising those Kegels! But I think that is going to be the lasting effect of this procedure. It isn't all the time, just at times a sneeze, or a cough and then, oops, but not every time.
Since I no longer see the urologist, my regular doctor seems to be going with just a PSA blood test and so far one year in it is still very low. It was never high, and except for the swelling, there was never any prostate cancer concerns. Bloodwork was done last month, and the PSA was 0.027.
So, are you reading this because you've come across this blog post in a search because you may be pondering this procedure for yourself?
Here's what I'd say as a Greenlight "survivor" 1 year later.
If you are primarily suffering from an enlarged prostate putting the pinch on your 'pee tube' with no cancer concerns, and in the pre-procedure exam the doctor finds no 'stones,' then, just like me, just a "roto-rooter" job to pee freely, do it!
It is gonna hurt, and you're gonna be in A WHOLE LOT of pain the first few days and miserable for several weeks. I took 3 weeks off for this last year, I had the sick leave time, even though the paperwork said you could go back to work in a few days,.................. uh, no you can't go in my opinion.
Recovering didn't make for the best Christmas ever in 2014, but way better this year!
If I had chosen not to do the procedure, and after years of taking all the different drugs to make my peeing easier, I was looking at possibly getting to the point of having to use a catheter just to pee down my future bumpy road. Even with everything I went through last year, I'd instead do this procedure than that catheter! I have talked to guys that have to do that to pee, no thank you!
I would just say I hope you have a good doctor and GOOD LUCK!
February 21st, 2017 - Over 2-years later update.
Well, after re-reading this post and correcting it with my new favorite application add-on, Grammarly, I can say that since my 2015 first anniversary things have remained about the same. Still, I have that 'weak' stream in the morning, still have to 'push' and make sure everything is out before thinking you're done or if I cough or laugh or sneeze I might still that little 'leakage' surprise.
Since I had this procedure done. My brother in law, in his late 60s now, had to have prostate surgery done. Like me, no cancer just enlarged. He had the more common TURP surgery where the prostate is surgically removed, and with many more physical consequences than this "Greenlight Procedure" had such as often losing any possibility of erections as the nerves are often damaged if not just plain cut in that surgery. He is VERY unhappy with his constant incontinence problems to where he told me he usually has to wear "Depends" adult diapers.
Not good in my opinion.
So, in looking at this all over again, and now knowing someone who had the old "standard" TURP surgery versus the Greenlight Laser surgery I had, I think I would recommend the Greenlight if at all possible. NOTHING is going to be a great adventure, a lot of fun, or anything you'd ever want to do again, but having the prostrate close off the urethra and have to use a catheter just to pee is no way to live either. In my opinion!
January 2019, 4 years later update!
So, in rereading this story and correcting it, thank you Grammarly app!
I see that overall I am about the same as far as all goes in the male bits area.
Mostly still a good flow. I might get the rare twinge of pain when peeing but that is pretty rare.
I still must often use those Kegel muscles, especially in the mornings when less pee but also there is a point where the stream slows and will stop unless I 'back it up' by pushing with those Kegels to get it all out. As long as I can get it all out, the pee that is, I will be happy with things as they are and I'm not considering going through it again.
Orgasms, yes still can. As mentioned above in the story, it just comes out with the pee.
Rereading sure brings back the memories of the pain!!! All I've said throughout still is how I feel about the entire "Greenlight Experience." Even the things to think about if reading and 'on the fence' about having it done to you. I'd still do the Greenlight Laser over the whole TURP thing because my brother in law continues to have all the issues with his procedure!
Tad
So why in the heck am I having a laser surgery you may ask?
Well, for almost 6 years now I've been dealing with an older adult male health issue call "BPH." Or in English, Benign Prostate Hyperplasia, which means that my prostate gland has enlarged over time to the point that the prostate gland is putting pressure on the tube that takes urine from the bladder through the prostate to the toilet via the, well, you know what.
I am very lucky and do not now and have not had, any indication of any prostate cancer with my annual PSA tests in the very low range over the years. I have a half brother on my father's side that unfortunately has had nothing but problems and has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and has been having to deal with the treatment for that for the last few years, and he's in his 40's.
No, this is strictly an age-related malady for me. I am currently in generally good health and 57 years old. I'm no athlete but also no couch potato as where we live in North Idaho, the spring to fall seasons are generally pretty busy with lots of chores and outdoor activities. We also work on the second floor of an old building with no elevator, so it is up and down those stairs several times a day during a work day.
I've been on all the main BPH drugs over the last few years. Avodart, Flomax, Alfuzosin, and others in attempts to ease the pressure and allow things to work as they should without coming to a surgical impasse. However, in the last year and a half my Urologist has been concerned, and me too, that on ultrasounds during office visits, I was keeping somewhat large amounts of fluid in my bladder with no sensation of that already fullness. This is NOT a good combination and can lead to an Emergency room visit if one ultimately couldn't urinate. I definitely did not want that to happen to me, and as he's been recommending this procedure for the last 2 years, I agreed now is as good a time as any as I was looking at having this done in the next few years in any event.
With our Blue Cross insurance, they recommend doing any expensive procedures, as this surgery, at the end of the calendar year to save out of pocket expense after the yearly deductible has been met, and mine had been met so now was the time. Last December a colonoscopy and this December my first surgery of any kind.
Online research about the procedure:
My doctor had already given me the brochure, the type with photos of older men playing golf
(I don't play golf) mixed with color drawings of everything that's happening causing you to have this brochure and to be contemplating this procedure. So I looked it up on the Internet to get more information.
This laser procedure has been done for about 5 years now. And while there is a pretty high success rate, the people that have had it done, and posting the most, are the people that have had problems with the procedure or the recovery, or not getting the expected results after going through all of this.
The sales pitch to me to give the go ahead? "This procedure turns back the clock about 30 years in the stream and flow," and if all goes as planned I should be able to stop taking any meds for this problem, forever, that sold me!
In November I met with my doctor and told him I wanted to go ahead with the Greenlight surgery. He said OK, but he needed to "take a look" and make sure I was a "viable candidate" for the procedure. So at this visit, he said: "let's take a look right now, OK?"
Wait,.....what!?! I was thinking that since he'd been trying to get to agree to this for quite a while, and now he has to check? Shouldn't he had already known if I was 'viable candidate'?
So I got to experience my first 'something going the wrong way' in an important area! I was given a horse sized antibiotic and wiped around 'the area' with betadine before he says the all too common, "this might hurt a bit" as the catheter with a camera goes where literally nothing has gone before from this direction. On the 40 inch TV in his office, I see my insides as the camera works its way to the bladder. A not very long distance that felt like a long, long, long way as the catheter moved through. He said everything looked good and showed me exactly what he would be vaporizing when he is actually working on me. He said that with what he, and I, was seeing on the screen everything should be fine and it wouldn't take very long to take care of my problem. He detailed what areas and landmarks in the area of the prostate one must be careful of while vaporizing to keep any collateral damage from occurring from the laser, which if done could cause all kinds of problems for me. Pulling out the catheter and the pain is there as is the urge to pee like NOW. And when I go to pee, that is my first experience in the pain I'd be dealing within about a month. So it was set up that a nurse from his office would call me and get everything scheduled in a few days. So I went back to work and started to really think, do I really want to do this?
If one doesn't already know it, YouTube is also the video repository of many things medical, and there were quite a few videos of other guys procedures, so I watched several of those in researching the do I or don't I part of this. In one video I saw and had seen for myself at the doctor's office, I was glad that I don't have any urinary tract stones like the one video I watched it looked like 4th of July fireworks going off from the laser skipping off the hard stones all through the area of his prostate.
The difficult part of this for me was finding some good reviews of guys that have had this procedure done. North Idaho Urology, didn't have any I could find on their site and it got depressing as most of the detailed stories I found were from England and the east coast of the US. And as mentioned above, mainly from people that had preexisting problems that were more than this procedure could truthfully help by their own descriptions to complaints that the patient didn't get the results he'd hoped for with some saying they had to have this procedure done twice!
Many also complained about the number one side effect of this procedure in that this procedure usually stops any outward ejaculation as the laser dissolves the flap of skin that allows the sperm to shoot out with the seminal fluid from the prostate, the prostate's main reason for existing by the way. In the literature, it is called a "retrograde ejaculation" as the semen goes into the bladder to be later peed out instead of shooting out.
To be very honest, at 57, that issue is no longer of any consequence to me and the least of my concerns, and I'll be one of the guys happy that there will be no more mess if that should be a result for me! At first, I did get somewhat depressed thinking I'd made a bad decision in saying OK. Of course, then the realization hit that like many reviews, and I often read reviews, people that are happy with something they bought or had done, well, those people seldom write about their good experiences. The people with problems, they seem to write the majority of reviews.
Many also complained about the number one side effect of this procedure in that this procedure usually stops any outward ejaculation as the laser dissolves the flap of skin that allows the sperm to shoot out with the seminal fluid from the prostate, the prostate's main reason for existing by the way. In the literature, it is called a "retrograde ejaculation" as the semen goes into the bladder to be later peed out instead of shooting out.
To be very honest, at 57, that issue is no longer of any consequence to me and the least of my concerns, and I'll be one of the guys happy that there will be no more mess if that should be a result for me! At first, I did get somewhat depressed thinking I'd made a bad decision in saying OK. Of course, then the realization hit that like many reviews, and I often read reviews, people that are happy with something they bought or had done, well, those people seldom write about their good experiences. The people with problems, they seem to write the majority of reviews.
12/13/14- Saturday, the day after.
A little over 24 hours now since the procedure.
The day (the 12th) started with myself and wife Stacy getting up about 4:15 a.m. to be awake and at the hospital, about 20 minutes away, by 5:45 a.m. I kept waking up during the night so it wasn't as big a deal as it would have normally been to drag myself out of bed that early in the morning. Stacy had met me at the hotel on the 11th, that we'd gotten for this, as she was returning from a Boise business trip. I was taken there by a friend who wanted to do some family Christmas shopping and had agreed to take me down to Coeur 'd Alene because for this procedure I had to be at the regional hospital very early in the morning. The night before on the 11th it was to be no food after 8:00 pm and no water after midnight. I had been given two small containers of a pink antiseptic soap and directions on exactly how, and where, to wash with them. I used them before going to bed that night. I did have some small sips of water in the morning because I had been told in the call with the pre-surgery nurse a couple of days earlier to take some of my usual medications the morning of the procedure.
We got to the Emergency entrance as requested at exactly at 5:45 a.m. only to find out that the outpatient surgery department on the second floor doesn't even open until 5:50! A short wait and the elevators started to work just before 6 a.m. to take the ride to the second floor, and then we were up in the waiting room to check in at Outpatient Surgery.
Signing in, when we were called, took about 10 minutes of going over and signing all the legalese and disclaimers of modern-day medical. A short wait later and then I get called, and Stacy comes with me to the recovery room I'd be back in after the procedure. Once there it was more questions and a few more pages of disclaimers. Even though at the hotel I had used some special antiseptic soap given to me by the doctor's office, I was given 4 bags of warmed thick antiseptic wash pads for Stacy and me to again go over my body to make sure I was clean, really clean!
The cleanser they used this time did cause irritation and itchiness in several areas of my body as I had by now stripped and put on the open back gown I'd be wearing the next couple of hours. I waited on the gurney, the nurse got the IV going in my right hand, gave me some antibiotics and pain pills to be working in me as they were working on me.
The anesthesiologist came in and ask me some general health questions, any allergies to meds and to take a look at my throat and jawline. Oh, and more paperwork for his end of my procedure with more disclaimer forms to sign. Shortly my doctor came in and also went over the 'worst case scenarios' of what was going to soon be happening to me, but also how he didn't think there would be any problems this morning.
The cleanser they used this time did cause irritation and itchiness in several areas of my body as I had by now stripped and put on the open back gown I'd be wearing the next couple of hours. I waited on the gurney, the nurse got the IV going in my right hand, gave me some antibiotics and pain pills to be working in me as they were working on me.
The anesthesiologist came in and ask me some general health questions, any allergies to meds and to take a look at my throat and jawline. Oh, and more paperwork for his end of my procedure with more disclaimer forms to sign. Shortly my doctor came in and also went over the 'worst case scenarios' of what was going to soon be happening to me, but also how he didn't think there would be any problems this morning.
Then it was waiting for about 20 minutes. The nurse in charge of the procedure came in, more questions and checking my 'connections' then she started to wheel me to the operating room. Down a hallway past other rooms to the room with large lettering saying "Warning Laser in Use." Down a bit past the doors then backed into the room, the doors closing in that room is the absolute last thing I remember until waking back up in the recovery room about an hour later. Waking about 8:30 a.m., with waves of scale 10 intense burning pain from my penis and a feeling that my bladder was going to explode like it was so full, but I couldn't pee because of blockage. I have absolutely no recollection of anything in the operating room. No one talking or even what it looked like inside the room.
In recovery, the nurse keeps checking on me asking how I felt and I each time explained the intense pain in my penis. I was given 2 glasses of water and a small container of applesauce as I had not eaten since around 8 p.m. the night before. She gave me a shot of Fentanyl in my IV to see if that helped with the pain, but it didn't really, the drug just made my body feel exhausted but my mind was still wide awake and alert. Stacy was allowed to come in and be with me a little before 9 a.m., and her first remark was how pale I looked. I was also a little scuffed up from the procedure with red areas on my eyelids and arms as well as where the leads had been for the ECG.
The nurse offered a topical pain relief cream saying it had worked on another guy that was having a similar reaction like I was having, but honestly, I didn't think it would make a difference, so I declined. I got up and began to get my stability going again. Stacy was given a packet of post-surgery info as well as a prescription for the pain meds as those can't be called in like the two other prescriptions I'd be taking the next few days had already been.
The pain was causing me to sweat quite a lot as well as at this point any movement that even slightly pulled on the catheter caused instant and excruciating pain! The catheter came out of me, and the tube was attached by Velcro with that Velcro attached to me by heavy-duty adhesive pads to my left thigh (that I would regret on removal!).
The long tube then went to a collection bag that had a plastic hook to hang and hold the bag. As I slowly recovered from the anesthesia and got dressed, a sudden wave of nausea came over me, and I threw up everything I had in my stomach, the water, the applesauce and whatever else just that fast. I was told that the reaction was more than likely from the anesthesia I had been given for the procedure.
After that and a while later, as there was nothing else recovery could do for me, and they were just checking up occasionally, we got ready to go and I was wheeled to the car in a wheelchair that no one could get the feet area extended for me and my 6 foot height, so it was a very painfully cramped ride down to the car in a wheelchair set up for a very short person. We were pulling out at 11:12 a.m. and heading home.
The pain was causing me to sweat quite a lot as well as at this point any movement that even slightly pulled on the catheter caused instant and excruciating pain! The catheter came out of me, and the tube was attached by Velcro with that Velcro attached to me by heavy-duty adhesive pads to my left thigh (that I would regret on removal!).
The long tube then went to a collection bag that had a plastic hook to hang and hold the bag. As I slowly recovered from the anesthesia and got dressed, a sudden wave of nausea came over me, and I threw up everything I had in my stomach, the water, the applesauce and whatever else just that fast. I was told that the reaction was more than likely from the anesthesia I had been given for the procedure.
After that and a while later, as there was nothing else recovery could do for me, and they were just checking up occasionally, we got ready to go and I was wheeled to the car in a wheelchair that no one could get the feet area extended for me and my 6 foot height, so it was a very painfully cramped ride down to the car in a wheelchair set up for a very short person. We were pulling out at 11:12 a.m. and heading home.
The ride home was very painful even as Stacy tried to make it as easy as she could but the road is the road, and most bumps caused the catheter to pull which meant pain. An hour and a half later and we stopped at the store to pick up my meds, and I started to nod off in the car while Stacy was waiting for the meds to get filled in the store. Then it was home. Getting out of the car and up the stairs was slow and a long process and as long as I kept the left leg the catheter was taped to as straight as possible so it wouldn't pull, I could lessen the pulls and pain.
After I was settled in the Lazyboy I'd be sleeping in that night, I just kind of veg. Without any bumps or moving much the pain through the catheter was lessened substantially. About 3 p.m., Stacy warmed some soup for me as I was hungry again having had nothing to eat since the applesauce I'd thrown up at the hospital. I had the soup, and some tea and overall was finally starting to feel a bit better. Stacy took my temperature, and I had a slight fever, but we both chalked it up to the body trauma I'd been through just a few hours before. About 3:40 p.m., I again went from feeling OK to quickly feeling like I couldn't pee to getting nauseous and throwing up everything again, a good portion of the soup and all the water and tea since back home.
The rest of the evening was just watching TV and getting settled again. We were both happy to see that by the evening much of the urine going into the bag from the catheter was clean, not even any pink as it had been most of the day. I took my p.m. round of meds and started to get sleepy again, so we called it a day, a long day for both of us.
Overnight I slept generally OK, just in spurts, I slept straight through for about 3 hours then woke up, was awake for a while, started to listen to an audiobook then stopped when I realized I was sleeping through the book and shortly fell asleep again. Waking up and going back to sleep 3 more times until about 6:30 when Stacy woke up and her shifting on the bed woke me up again in the nearby chair.
This Saturday morning there was some pink in the bag again. As far as taking out the catheter, the original paperwork from the doctor said to leave it in for 2 days, but the doctor himself had said the day before to take it out first thing this morning. I was wanting to err on the side of caution so compromised with Stacy about keeping it in until about noon. I was concerned that if out too soon, swelling could make a visit to our local hospital a possibility if I couldn't pee.
Before noon and as she's reading all the stuff about catheters being in too long and she wants it out now, so I say let's do it.
In the bathroom with towels in case of any blood, Stacy washes up with soap and water then clips the second valve to release the water that's been stretching out my urethra, causing the excruciating pain, and making it so the catheter can now be pulled out. Stacy starts out very slow, but the pain in going slow has me saying to speed it up! The over a foot of catheter with a bulge near the base HURTS like *#$!! as it is pulled through my poor part! Fluid, some blood, and there was already blood leakage around the catheter anyway, comes out and on the towel and my legs. I didn't have the expected urgency to pee after removal as I'd read I might.
About an hour later and now I have to go, as I had expected this time it BURNS, BURNS, BURNS, causing me to stop and start as it burns so bad going through.
I still haven't gone number 2 yet, and Stacy believes it to be a result of me getting constipated because of the pain meds. Although I haven't needed any since yesterday, I did have 3 doses between the hospital and home during the day so that may be the cause. I had also been prescribed a laxative because straining for the next few weeks is not a good thing in the recovery process and getting plugged up because of the pain meds is a common occurrence. It was recommended to get some adult diapers, so we did. Uncomfortable yes, but I am dripping blood and some urine so I'm glad I have them.
12/13/14- Update. About 2 p.m., finally! Solids without strain and no longer any burning with urination.
12/14/14- the above elation was very short lived. By the afternoon I was back to burning and bladder spasms making urinating very problematic. Up one time during the night, the same problem with burning and spasm of the bladder that I can feel in that on off, on off, sensation while trying to pee. I just have to sit and let everything calm down so I can go, it takes several minutes each time. So between the burning from the urine traveling through my inflamed urethra and the bladder spasms, it is quite a few minutes at that. And I am taking a drug to supposedly help with those spasms.
Also this morning, due to sitting so much and sleeping in the Lazy Boy chair the first night home is back pain. Stacy put a "Salonpas" patch on the lower right on my back, it's hurting when I bend at just that right angle. The recovery paperwork stresses LOTS of liquids during the recovery, I'm not a coffee drinker so in addition to the usual water and decaf tea I drink I was also having quite a bit of cranberry juice, pomegranate and blueberry juice, and lots and lots of warm or cold decaf tea.
12/16/14- I thought I'd go a day or so and see how things were developing before updating. Overnight on the 15th I had the most, and last so far, problem getting past the burning that stopped all effort when up to urinate at about 1 a.m. It took almost an hour of feeling the burning urine getting almost to the tip and out only to stop due to pain. That was torture! To be repeated again at 5 a.m. when I had to go again. My back pain from sleeping in the chair is almost gone now which does help.
Also yesterday and again today I'm becoming a 'regular' guy again which feels so much better than the stuffed feeling of constipation. Also yesterday, the 15th, the Outpatient Nurse called to check up on me. I told her of all the issues I am having, from excruciating pain peeing and such, and I am glad that although normal this few days out. I am lucky in that some of the issues are recovering so fast, according to her, like almost no pink urine, although she did say, as I had read, that pink pee indicating bleeding can last off and on for up to or more than a month.
Of course, I fell for the trap of feeling a bit better and doing too much. Even though I didn't think I was doing too much, no heavy stuff, things like that, I still developed a fever and feel lousy again. Last fever over 99 was the 14th, so in that too I thought I was recovering a bit faster than the usual. NOPE! Also, I only used the adult diapers they recommended for about 4 days, and by then I wasn't leaking as often anymore, and no blood was leaking so I went back to my regular underwear, a lot cooler to wear!
12/19/14- A week ago today as I'm writing this I can easily remember the pain I mention above! Since the 16th I had problems with daily low fevers in the 99 range and diarrhea until yesterday. I think the diarrhea was from the spasm medicine.
That was listed as a possible side effect although it hadn't mentioned the dark green color of the excrement. I didn't take the med yesterday and was again stopped up until this morning, but with no more feelings of the bladder spasms, I didn't need to take that medicine again.
That was listed as a possible side effect although it hadn't mentioned the dark green color of the excrement. I didn't take the med yesterday and was again stopped up until this morning, but with no more feelings of the bladder spasms, I didn't need to take that medicine again.
I have been doing basically nothing, just reading, listening to music, audiobooks, or podcasts and watching the Roku or stuff on the DVR, or DVDs. I do NOT want to take any chances at causing myself problems, which is why I had thought this time of year, since it's cold and snowy or rainy outside in my area of the world, would be a good time as there wouldn't be any problems with me totally 'chillin' for the first 3 weeks. Which are the important weeks according to pretty much everything I read and was told about this procedure.
Oh yes, and the entire reason for even doing this? My pee stream and emptying my bladder? To be honest, I don't recall ever having a stream as strong as it is now and I feel I am surely totally emptying with every pit stop! But on the latter, I'll find out for sure when I have my first post-op meeting with my doctor on January 8th. My skin in various places is still recovering too, the places where the leads were for the ECG, the areas where the super tape was on my thigh, the bruise from the IV on my right hand, all getting slowly better.
12/22/14- My first time out since my procedure, I had my 6-month dental check-up scheduled well before the procedure, and since I felt OK to go I did. 10 days after the operation I found out with this outing that I can't stray too far from the bathroom just yet or beyond a place I can easily go to the bathroom, as when I get the 'urge' to go, I will very quickly HAVE TO GO NOW!
12/22/14- My first time out since my procedure, I had my 6-month dental check-up scheduled well before the procedure, and since I felt OK to go I did. 10 days after the operation I found out with this outing that I can't stray too far from the bathroom just yet or beyond a place I can easily go to the bathroom, as when I get the 'urge' to go, I will very quickly HAVE TO GO NOW!
12/24/14- A few more days gone by. Basically the same as above, my biggest issues is still the burn when peeing.
12/28/14- On Christmas afternoon I began having problems with bladder spasms again. Very uncomfortable to the point I had to take the spasm medicine again. I hadn't taken it for over a week. Later that evening I wound up taking the pain meds again also. I hadn't taken any pain meds since the second day, I took 3 over the next 2 days. Blood in the urine had actually increased with a very noticeable dark pink the first thing out then going to clear. And still the sometimes intense, sometimes not so fierce, but always still a painful experience at almost every pee. I have also had off and on low fevers, tops out at around 99 and Stacy thinks I could have a urinary tract infection that might explain the still painful pee. I might email the doctors office in the next few days unless since it's been a little over 2 weeks, there isn't finally a noticeable easing of the pain.
12/29/14- Monday, so I did email the doctors office this morning and the nurse called this afternoon. She went through the issues I'd mentioned in my email and was most concerned with the dark wine colored pee. She said that's an indication I'm plain doing too much and to REST!
01/01/2015- New Year's day! Over the last few days, the pain while peeing has miraculously almost totally stopped. I thought it never would totally stop! No spasms in days now.
I start back to work next Monday the 5th. Still peeing varying amounts of blood with every pee. Lately, I'm also passing blood clots which while not painful feels very uncomfortable as they shoot out. I still have occasional pain at the end of peeing. I'll ask the doctor about that on the 8th. Pee-stream still great but first thing in the morning still a little weak but I believe that's due to not drinking as many fluids as before, although I am no longer drinking anything past 5 PM so I won't be up several times during the night. While I don't go crazy drinking liquids, I don't need to dehydrate myself anymore and am pleased I can be comfortable most of the night now, and I'm now usually only up once.
01/08/15- So I met with the doctor this morning, almost one month after procedure check-up. Urine test, blood pressure, oxygen percentage, and pulse rate, then an ultrasound of my bladder to see if there was any liquid in it after the above urine test. Less than 2 teaspoons in an amount which was way less than the 10 ounces worth of liquid in my bladder when I had decided to have the Greenlight Surgery done. I talked with him about things as they are right now, which is generally pretty good. A great stream, that actually is better than I can ever recall, but still blood at the start of just about every pee. Not too many of the clots passing the last few days. He said the blood could go on for several more months, go away for a while then even start up again and that the blood is often the last thing to stop, it just takes time.
He said the feelings of slight pain at the end of peeing is probably still some bladder spasms as it empties. I told him of the occasional "oops" of a slight leakage when bending, laughing or coughing. He said incontinence is normal and should also clear up with time. I asked him about the procedure itself as I had mentioned above that I have no recollection of even being in the laser surgery room.
He said the actual procedure itself was only about 15 or 20 minutes work after everything was all set. He said it was faster as I had a smaller prostate and he'd just "floored the pedal and gave it the gas" and lasered away till done. I told him that the first two weeks were the worst and I had often wondered what I had done to myself, but now, as things continually get better reasonably rapidly and with the improvements, this procedure had supplied, I was glad to have had it done.
He said that most of his patients have a similar response and are glad to have had this done. My next surgery check-up appointment is 4 months from now.
01/13/2015- Unless I have something major happen this will be my last post on this subject except to update my next doctor visit in May. By date, a month ago yesterday I had the Greenlight procedure done, and a month ago today I was in agony!
I am back to normal in physical activity and was actually very physically active over the weekend. As we had gotten a new Snow Thrower from Sears after the doctor's visit on Thursday the 8th and both Saturday and Sunday we were learning to drive and use it by clearing the snow I couldn't move with our Polaris quad snowplow.
Saturday I did over 11,000 steps that day and wrestled that 400-pound machine quite a lot. Sunday was over 8,000 steps. Even with such a busy weekend, there has been no excess blood in my urine, just some light pink at the start. The only occasional issue is still incontinence and that little amount of pee that appears and leaks out of nowhere. I take care of it immediately, and it has never been that 'peed my pants' look, but it is still very annoying. No longer passing any blood clots, no longer any pain before, during, or after peeing.
So that's it for now. After an incredible amount of pain and a slow recovery of weeks instead of days, I am still glad to have had this procedure done. I have no problem talking about this and if any reader of this post has any questions just contact me.
02/13/2015- My 2-month update. I decided to keep up with monthly updates for a while to at least my next doctor visit. I'm feeling basically back to normal with no more blood for weeks now, no pinkness at all, also no more pain. I haven't passed any more of those bits of scabs either, which is excellent since it was an uneasy feeling and visually off-putting experience.
The stream is great, in the mornings it is slower but still better than the dribble it used to be. I now can "hold it" a bit better so every time I have to go, it isn't now or else as it had been.
Only annoying issue is still some incontinence which seems to be caused occasionally by my the pushing of the sphincter muscle when bending, laughing, or coughing. Not much but it is as if there's residual urine in the urethra that gets pushed out at sometimes like mentioned above which can be a bit embarrassing with a telltale spot on the pants. Till next month.
12/29/14- Monday, so I did email the doctors office this morning and the nurse called this afternoon. She went through the issues I'd mentioned in my email and was most concerned with the dark wine colored pee. She said that's an indication I'm plain doing too much and to REST!
01/01/2015- New Year's day! Over the last few days, the pain while peeing has miraculously almost totally stopped. I thought it never would totally stop! No spasms in days now.
I start back to work next Monday the 5th. Still peeing varying amounts of blood with every pee. Lately, I'm also passing blood clots which while not painful feels very uncomfortable as they shoot out. I still have occasional pain at the end of peeing. I'll ask the doctor about that on the 8th. Pee-stream still great but first thing in the morning still a little weak but I believe that's due to not drinking as many fluids as before, although I am no longer drinking anything past 5 PM so I won't be up several times during the night. While I don't go crazy drinking liquids, I don't need to dehydrate myself anymore and am pleased I can be comfortable most of the night now, and I'm now usually only up once.
01/08/15- So I met with the doctor this morning, almost one month after procedure check-up. Urine test, blood pressure, oxygen percentage, and pulse rate, then an ultrasound of my bladder to see if there was any liquid in it after the above urine test. Less than 2 teaspoons in an amount which was way less than the 10 ounces worth of liquid in my bladder when I had decided to have the Greenlight Surgery done. I talked with him about things as they are right now, which is generally pretty good. A great stream, that actually is better than I can ever recall, but still blood at the start of just about every pee. Not too many of the clots passing the last few days. He said the blood could go on for several more months, go away for a while then even start up again and that the blood is often the last thing to stop, it just takes time.
He said the feelings of slight pain at the end of peeing is probably still some bladder spasms as it empties. I told him of the occasional "oops" of a slight leakage when bending, laughing or coughing. He said incontinence is normal and should also clear up with time. I asked him about the procedure itself as I had mentioned above that I have no recollection of even being in the laser surgery room.
He said the actual procedure itself was only about 15 or 20 minutes work after everything was all set. He said it was faster as I had a smaller prostate and he'd just "floored the pedal and gave it the gas" and lasered away till done. I told him that the first two weeks were the worst and I had often wondered what I had done to myself, but now, as things continually get better reasonably rapidly and with the improvements, this procedure had supplied, I was glad to have had it done.
He said that most of his patients have a similar response and are glad to have had this done. My next surgery check-up appointment is 4 months from now.
01/13/2015- Unless I have something major happen this will be my last post on this subject except to update my next doctor visit in May. By date, a month ago yesterday I had the Greenlight procedure done, and a month ago today I was in agony!
I am back to normal in physical activity and was actually very physically active over the weekend. As we had gotten a new Snow Thrower from Sears after the doctor's visit on Thursday the 8th and both Saturday and Sunday we were learning to drive and use it by clearing the snow I couldn't move with our Polaris quad snowplow.
Saturday I did over 11,000 steps that day and wrestled that 400-pound machine quite a lot. Sunday was over 8,000 steps. Even with such a busy weekend, there has been no excess blood in my urine, just some light pink at the start. The only occasional issue is still incontinence and that little amount of pee that appears and leaks out of nowhere. I take care of it immediately, and it has never been that 'peed my pants' look, but it is still very annoying. No longer passing any blood clots, no longer any pain before, during, or after peeing.
So that's it for now. After an incredible amount of pain and a slow recovery of weeks instead of days, I am still glad to have had this procedure done. I have no problem talking about this and if any reader of this post has any questions just contact me.
02/13/2015- My 2-month update. I decided to keep up with monthly updates for a while to at least my next doctor visit. I'm feeling basically back to normal with no more blood for weeks now, no pinkness at all, also no more pain. I haven't passed any more of those bits of scabs either, which is excellent since it was an uneasy feeling and visually off-putting experience.
The stream is great, in the mornings it is slower but still better than the dribble it used to be. I now can "hold it" a bit better so every time I have to go, it isn't now or else as it had been.
Only annoying issue is still some incontinence which seems to be caused occasionally by my the pushing of the sphincter muscle when bending, laughing, or coughing. Not much but it is as if there's residual urine in the urethra that gets pushed out at sometimes like mentioned above which can be a bit embarrassing with a telltale spot on the pants. Till next month.
04/17/2015- A little over 4 months into this now. Generally, things are still good. There have been a couple of issues that I will be discussing next month when I see the Doctor again as he'll be checking up on me. In early March I had a slight cold, and when coughing from that, I was having a problem with 'leakage' with a cough, or laugh, or sneeze. It was really embarrassing since at first, I wouldn't know when I might have it happen, and then it got to be somewhat frequently occurring which was worse because it was so frequent! And while that is bad in my opinion, I have been noticing that the force of the stream while peeing has occasionally lessened and isn't full force all the time as it was at first. I'm even getting that old feeling occasionally of having to pee again shortly after doing so and having, especially in the morning, some pretty weak streams.
I'll update after the Doctor visit.
05/18/2015- Well, last Thursday, May 14th, I had my final check up post surgery and also my final check in with the Urologist. Things are still generally good, I did discuss the leakage if coughing, laughing or sneezing I mention above. Nothing as bad as while I had a cold, but on occasion, leakage is still a bit of an issue.
He said that "stress leakage" as he called it, is NOT a normal problem after this surgery and suggested I work on my Kegel muscles, "down there," to strengthen that area and help hold things in better. I told him that the "Fire Hose" stream of the first few months is generally gone now but I still have much better pressure than before the procedure. First pee in the morning is much slower but still not the dribble it was before. He said that all the pressure reduction is normal with the prostate recovering from being hollowed out by the laser and closing back up a bit.
He talked with me about something I really didn't recall seeing in any of the documentation I was given or even in the information I got online. He said that the company that sells the Greenlight 'experience' says the doctors should advise the patient that the procedure "may only be effective for about 5 years" and then have to be done again to maintain the 'flow.'
I was hoping that as mentioned at the beginning, that doing this was a "once in a lifetime" necessity and not to be done again, and again, and again!
Of course, time will tell, but I would have a tough decision to make if I had to do this all again, and not including the cost! We have decent insurance (Blue Cross), so out of pocket for this procedure, including the follow-up checks and tests at the Urologist's office have been a bit less than a thousand dollars for an over six thousand dollar procedure. I had more than enough sick time to be off for the 3 weeks of initial recovery, but it did kind of put a big damper on things recovering from this over the Christmas holiday.
But at his office he asked the big question for him, was I satisfied that I'd done it? I had to say yes, I was looking down the pipe of some problems in the next few years and this fixed it for me. Will it last for the rest of my life? Don't know, but I sure hope so.
He said he didn't need to see me again unless I was having problems and I could go back to just the annual finger in the butt test and PSA blood test for cancer with my general practitioner. But I did finally get to stop taking any medications for this issue and so for now, I'm done!
ONE YEAR LATER
So, by day, today is the day, by the date, it's tomorrow, whichever way you'd want to look at it, it has been a year since I had my "Greenlight Laser Experience".
Things are as good as they're going to be after a year. I can remember today being the WORST pain I can recall ever experiencing with that catheter. I hope to never experience that again!
Overall, still glad I had this done. The stream is still good overall, sometimes slower in the morning first time but during the day good.
I still have occasional leakage and try to push out all pee and have been exercising those Kegels! But I think that is going to be the lasting effect of this procedure. It isn't all the time, just at times a sneeze, or a cough and then, oops, but not every time.
Since I no longer see the urologist, my regular doctor seems to be going with just a PSA blood test and so far one year in it is still very low. It was never high, and except for the swelling, there was never any prostate cancer concerns. Bloodwork was done last month, and the PSA was 0.027.
So, are you reading this because you've come across this blog post in a search because you may be pondering this procedure for yourself?
Here's what I'd say as a Greenlight "survivor" 1 year later.
If you are primarily suffering from an enlarged prostate putting the pinch on your 'pee tube' with no cancer concerns, and in the pre-procedure exam the doctor finds no 'stones,' then, just like me, just a "roto-rooter" job to pee freely, do it!
It is gonna hurt, and you're gonna be in A WHOLE LOT of pain the first few days and miserable for several weeks. I took 3 weeks off for this last year, I had the sick leave time, even though the paperwork said you could go back to work in a few days,.................. uh, no you can't go in my opinion.
Recovering didn't make for the best Christmas ever in 2014, but way better this year!
If I had chosen not to do the procedure, and after years of taking all the different drugs to make my peeing easier, I was looking at possibly getting to the point of having to use a catheter just to pee down my future bumpy road. Even with everything I went through last year, I'd instead do this procedure than that catheter! I have talked to guys that have to do that to pee, no thank you!
I would just say I hope you have a good doctor and GOOD LUCK!
February 21st, 2017 - Over 2-years later update.
Well, after re-reading this post and correcting it with my new favorite application add-on, Grammarly, I can say that since my 2015 first anniversary things have remained about the same. Still, I have that 'weak' stream in the morning, still have to 'push' and make sure everything is out before thinking you're done or if I cough or laugh or sneeze I might still that little 'leakage' surprise.
Since I had this procedure done. My brother in law, in his late 60s now, had to have prostate surgery done. Like me, no cancer just enlarged. He had the more common TURP surgery where the prostate is surgically removed, and with many more physical consequences than this "Greenlight Procedure" had such as often losing any possibility of erections as the nerves are often damaged if not just plain cut in that surgery. He is VERY unhappy with his constant incontinence problems to where he told me he usually has to wear "Depends" adult diapers.
Not good in my opinion.
So, in looking at this all over again, and now knowing someone who had the old "standard" TURP surgery versus the Greenlight Laser surgery I had, I think I would recommend the Greenlight if at all possible. NOTHING is going to be a great adventure, a lot of fun, or anything you'd ever want to do again, but having the prostrate close off the urethra and have to use a catheter just to pee is no way to live either. In my opinion!
January 2019, 4 years later update!
So, in rereading this story and correcting it, thank you Grammarly app!
I see that overall I am about the same as far as all goes in the male bits area.
Mostly still a good flow. I might get the rare twinge of pain when peeing but that is pretty rare.
I still must often use those Kegel muscles, especially in the mornings when less pee but also there is a point where the stream slows and will stop unless I 'back it up' by pushing with those Kegels to get it all out. As long as I can get it all out, the pee that is, I will be happy with things as they are and I'm not considering going through it again.
Orgasms, yes still can. As mentioned above in the story, it just comes out with the pee.
Rereading sure brings back the memories of the pain!!! All I've said throughout still is how I feel about the entire "Greenlight Experience." Even the things to think about if reading and 'on the fence' about having it done to you. I'd still do the Greenlight Laser over the whole TURP thing because my brother in law continues to have all the issues with his procedure!
Tad
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