AMS 800 Urinary Control System

    John, how much are you leaking? Heavy pads or light pads? Soaked or just damp?  I would like to hear some details so we all know exactly what you are dealing with.  IF you are using two pads a day you should be able to get good results with the sling.  Look forward to hearing more about your story.

    KW

I too am surprised the doctor suggested the sling is not an option for you... at such a rather small amount of leakage.  But I can affirm that the AMS 800 works very good for me... and it's not comberson at all, now that I am used to it.  But after all, I was goingl through lots and lots of pad each day.  I was not able to retain one drop of urine in my blatter.  As it went in, it leaked out.  If it is the 800 for you, be assured that from the experience of many guys, it will work good.  But...

One more thing you should be aware of.  The AUS is not perfect.  I wear a small pantiliner each day to catch the tiny drips, but one application in my briefs per day is all that's needed to catch the miniscule drips.

And just a p.s. -- It takes how long in Canada?  And we (present administration) are wishing that for our healthcare system?  I think I prefer what we already have, which works pretty good, in my opinion. 

Gene214

John...As another implantee of the AMS 800 I can unqualifiedly recommend its use as an effective remedy for one who suffers Intrinsic Sphnicter Deficiency (ISD).  My surgery was in Jan 09 with activation in Mar 09.  Since the activation I have been dry...whether I am just sitting and relaxing or doing some sort of strenuous activity.  The sphnicter holds!  The button and tubes implanted in the scrotum are hardley noticiable and have become as much a part of me as its two next-door cousins.  The other intruder, the pump that activates my 77 year-old privates into that of a much younger man is much more intrusive and requires some getting used to before one can feel comfortable.  Bionically speaking, the two implants are wonderful inventions that has given me my life back after my cancer journey.

John...having said all that, I am a bit hesitant in your case and hope you are not going for over-kill.  To be honest if I had only been leaking enough for two pad changes per day I probably wouldn't have had the implant.  I was leaking in all positions, night and day, just a continuous flow.  It was an easy decision for me.  In your case, I think I would try another doctor and another opinion before proceding.  But in the giant scheme of things life sometimes is just a roll of the dice...The numbers definitely are in your favor with the AMS 800 but there are also the possibility of snake-eyes.

Good Luck to you. 

Salty

Gene214

John...KW makes a very valid point...I have experienced a squirt when some sort of pressure is appied to the perioneal area where the cuff is located such as when I sit down on the leading edge of a hard chair and pressure is exerted on the cuff.  The leak or squirt doesn't appear simultaneously but does happen upon arising from that position and the pressure is released on the cuff.  Its annoying but not a big problem for me as I am learning to accomodate by initially sitting further into the chair and then its no problem.  Some sporting activities might be a problem for you...such as biking.  The human being normally sets upon the two hip bones and surrounding muscle and there are no problems when doing that.  Placement of the cuff is very important for a successful outcome.  My doctor told me that he was able to get the cuff in the very best possible position around the bulbo...but the result is that I must accomodate a bit.  Having a generous supply of surrounding muscle would certainly help...of which, I am seriously lacking...an added component of older age for which I am severely afflicted.

Salutaions KW...I hope at some future time we have the opportunity to meet.  I have followed your journey and it has been of great assistance to me in my travels as well.

Good Luck

Salty

DrJohn said...
I am Canadian but I earned my PhD at Duke. I have lived and worked throughout the United States although I currently reside in Toronto. Let me address your comments about the differences in our healthcare systems in two ways: 1) functionality and 2) values. The Canadian healthcare industry is world class when it comes to dealing with emergencies and urgent care. Elective surgery is treated in that way, i.e. it can wait but, even then, the time period is acceptable to most Canadians. In fact, my AMS surgery is technically elective since some urologists want to observe changes over 24 months post-surgery. Once I made the decision, surgery was scheduled for three weeks later. Our cancer research leads the world, as well, with Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto hosting more dedicated cancer scientists than anywhere else. We can choose any doctor we want, including specialists, and the medical system provides incentives for doctors to practice in communities with low populations (we currently have a shortage of General Practitioners). Please note, 75% of our 34 million people live within 75 miles of the 49th parallel border with the U.S. so we have very small communities throughout the second largest (geographically) country in the world. For perspective, California has about 37 million people.

The American media has tried to make our medical system "wrong" for years but when Natasha Richardson bumped her head on a ski slope in Quebec and subsequently died, the media suggested that she was not airlifted from the resort because of our antiquated system. The facts: following the incident, Richardson and her friends/family refused to be taken to the hospital that was a 3-hour ambulance ride away in Montreal; she died many hours after that point. Our medical system works well most of the time and it is undergoing a massive overhaul to improve service, reduce cost and digitize records using a new Microsoft program designed for that purpose.

The Canadian system has worked for over 50 years when a Conservative government decided that it was every Canadian's right to have access to "free" medical services. It certainly helped that Prime Minister Diefenbaker's mother was in palliative care at the time! That's my segue to values. It's estimated that between 40-50 million Americans have no medical coverage and, perhaps, just as many are under-insured. American politicians, medical industry lobbyists and, indeed, the media have conspired to demonize the Canadian system as expensive and socialist. It's expensive but totally manageable when you have the government negotiating on behalf of every Canadian. Our taxes are generally about the same as America with a few exceptions at the upper end and I can speak directly to that issue having paid taxes on both sides of the border. Americans need to get beyond the labels and negative connotations of "socialism", "government run", etc. and demonstrate that no American should be left behind when it comes to healthcare. It's unconscionable that a country that spent trillions of dollars on the war of choice in Iraq and bailing out the auto industry and Wall Street cannot seem to make healthcare part of its value set. Medical care should be a right for all Americans not the cause of bankruptcy and a life of misery. The high quality of healthcare in the United States is unquestionable but it should not be based on capitalistic, market principles. Americans should also be better informed about alternative systems before politicizing the options. Even Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, although flawed factually in some parts gives a fairly good overview of the comparative differences.

Frankly, I think that Obama is flip flopping on the healthcare issue. The closest he has come to making healthcare a "right" for Americans is to say that "healthcare should be affordable for all Americans". I don't know if that is the same thing.

On a personal note, Ron Taylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Taylor_(baseball)) is my GP and he likes to say that when it comes to making money, he was too early for baseball and too late for socialized medicine in Canada. Our doctors make decent coin but they are not making as much as they could in the United States and, yet, we still seem to be able to recruit doctors to our country.

Sorry for the long note but I enjoy debating and with only four days to go before my surgery, I prefer to think that our system is working just fine!

Thanks

Salty_clark said...

John...I wish you well on your upcoming surgery and hope you are able to attain all the benefits you have outlined in your posting.  But John...your politics are showing.  Whatever your particular political leanings are this forum is not the place for expressing them.  The hair on the back of my neck rises when I hear phrases such as "war of choice in Iraq" and other such present government tidbits scattered throughout your rant.  As I recall we were being shot at in the skies over Iraq while we were enforcing a U. N. mandate.  I don't see "choice" entering into the discussion at all when considering whether we fight someone who is shooting at us.  This is not a philosophical question like most academians love to assert when in front of an audience of like-minded shallow-thinking people who lean toward a socialistic system where "government can take care of everything."  I can blow holes in most things in your rant but I will leave it at that and just let you know that words have meanings based on your frame of reference and I know definitely where you are coming from.

Salty

Whoops Salty ...  Speaking of rants, your radicalism is showing.  I would hate for you to shoot holes in this "shallow minded thinker". 

 Who said anything about socialistic?  We have a medical coverage crises in this country.  Just because you (and I) are old enough for Medicare doesn't mean that the Fifty Million Americans without medical coverage should be left to shift in the wind. Outside of the indefensible trillions spent on war that should have been better spent protecting American's health, no one argued about war.

My comments were about medical care and medical coverage.  It needs fixing in a big way.

lifeguyd said...

Salty_clark said...

John...I wish you well on your upcoming surgery and hope you are able to attain all the benefits you have outlined in your posting.  But John...your politics are showing.  Whatever your particular political leanings are this forum is not the place for expressing them.  The hair on the back of my neck rises when I hear phrases such as "war of choice in Iraq" and other such present government tidbits scattered throughout your rant.  As I recall we were being shot at in the skies over Iraq while we were enforcing a U. N. mandate.  I don't see "choice" entering into the discussion at all when considering whether we fight someone who is shooting at us.  This is not a philosophical question like most academians love to assert when in front of an audience of like-minded shallow-thinking people who lean toward a socialistic system where "government can take care of everything."  I can blow holes in most things in your rant but I will leave it at that and just let you know that words have meanings based on your frame of reference and I know definitely where you are coming from.

Salty

Whoops Salty ...  Speaking of rants, your radicalism is showing.  I would hate for you to shoot holes in this "shallow minded thinker". 

 Who said anything about socialistic?  We have a medical coverage crises in this country.  Just because you (and I) are old enough for Medicare doesn't mean that the Fifty Million Americans without medical coverage should be left to shift in the wind. Outside of the indefensible trillions spent on war that should have been better spent protecting American's health, no one argued about war.

My comments were about medical care and medical coverage.  It needs fixing in a big way.

"Whoops Salty ...  Speaking of rants, your radicalism is showing." 

Yeah I guess I am a radical and you know something...I am proud of it.  A Radical American...has a nice ring to it, doesn't it!

During the Depression I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma.  Each man stood on his own two feet taking care of his family as best he could.  Acceptance of assistance was frowned upon generally and rejected by most except that given by the nearest of friends or relatives or good church people in the direst of times.  The values of that time were transferred to me.  We had a mistrust of governmental handouts and the strings attached.

It is always interesting that, when one espouses American ideals of working hard, taking care of your family and not expecting government handouts, it is a "radical" view in some eyes.  I am called a radical when I say that Americans are a unique people that want the government to do what the Constitution calls for and no more than that.  Our present government is rapidly moving toward "cradle to grave" care for everyone in all aspects of our lives.  And this includes health care.  I can empathize with those who beseech the government to do more and more but carefull what you wish for...it will be too late after its in place.  Whether one likes to call it by other names or use pleasant sounding words socialism has begun in America with the takeover of the finance system and the auto industry.  A socialized form of federal health care for all is coming and with that will be a general detirioration of the system. 

Why is it that everytime the liberals want to get some of their programs passed regardless of the consequences they say we are in the midst of a  "crisis".  And who said anything about forgetting about the 40 to 50 million Americans who reportedly have no insurance coverage.  There are ways to solve that without coverting over to socialism such as, for example, qualifying each one of these non-covered people with a wage-means testing and the government pay their insurance.  Taxes will go up on all working people and income-producing people.  There would be relatively little affect on the remaining covered people and our traditional health delivery system...the best in the world...will remain intact for all to enjoy.

Now, the meat...you need to go back and read carefully my comment regarding the war in Iraq.  I made reference to "choice" of war in Iraq as if we elected on our own to go to war without any consideration for all the events involving Saddam that led up to our involvement.  The present government likes to make it appear that we just arbitrarily put on our field packs, shouldered our weapons and marched off to conquer foreign lands.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Lies and damm lies have a way of clouding the issues and historical fact.  Another reason for my lack of trust in the present government to get it right in an issue as important as health care.

And, finally, a personal note.  When I was 18 I signed a contract with the U.S.Army that I would render such services as they desired and they would provide me with reportedly the best medical care for the totality of my life.  I am technically still in the Army at the age of 77...They chose to transfer me to the Retired Rolls.  My contract with them is for life but, technically, I could be activated at any time should the need arise.  So, do not under any circumstance think that I am on the dole or receiving handouts from the government.  It is earned in blood.