Hi Dave,
The conclusions I have drawn (correctly or incorrectly) is that what works for most prostate conditions doesn't work for some. I think everyone goes in with a positive attitude and hopes for the best, but if your doctor and the procedure is sound and the outcome is less than desired then it is likely that your body is not cooperating.
Also LUTS often is a combination of prostate and median lobe protruding into the bladder and tight bladder mouth issues, so all need to be addressed ... but that may take several procedures.
By my doctor's account I had the largest prostate he ever saw. I could tell this from the original cat scans prior to my first GL laser, when the formula put my prostate at the size of a baseball, even though he estimated it at 120g.+. By his account he removed 70g. twice (once with the laser and once with the turp) and some additional amount with the second laser a year after the first. He said I now have a 40g. prostate which includes a 15g. median lobe that no longer protrudes into the bladder (down from a 40g. median lobe which was protruding prominently into the bladder) If his numbers are close, my prostate was over 180g. to start.
The other factor is I apparently am a spontaneous bleeder (even though I don't take blood thinners, aspirin, etc.) in the prostate area. I had two incidents of hematuria, each more than a year after the prior procedure, and this last time the prostate kept bleeding after the turp and removal of clots. In the past 16 months I needed 14 pints of blood total for the 2 hematuria incidents and the cleanup of clots afterwards.
I've also been told I had chronic prostatitis (non bacterial so non-treatable) that infested my prostate with abcesses and pus pockets that were visible during the laser and turp procedures. So I guess the hard time I have had is mostly due to my own anatomy.
An interesting side light is that last week my doctor told me to stop taking probiotics and all vitamins. He had a suspicion that the pro biotics may have caused the bleeding. I don't know, but a few days after I stopped taking them (I have been on bactrim almost a month while wearing the foley cath and was taking the probiotics to preserve my stomach flora - now I am just eating yogurt) I stopped bleeding on my own. Coincidence?
Fingers are crossed once again now that my cath is out (shh... knock on wood).
Bob
Chicago Dave said...
Bob:
I always look forward to your posts; they are always so informative. How unfortunate that you continue to have problems years after your first procedure.
A question struck me the other day, and maybe other readers have wondered about it as well. If you had to sum up what lessons you've learned from your experiences, could you do it? The worst outcomes sometimes happen to the best doctors with the best procedures, so maybe there is *no* lesson to be drawn????????
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