Posted 12/31/2009 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Fred,
I have had that procedure done 3 times, twice as a day surgery, and once as an emergency procedure in the doctor's office.
You definitely don't want to be awake to have this done, trust me on that one.
The first time, I was put under, and the dr. opened the stricture with a blade. The entire procedure took about 20 minutes. So more time is used prepping you for the surgery and being put under then the doctor actually is touching you.
I awoke to find a foley catheter in place. My dr. left it in for 10 days, to allow healing. Much of that time, there was minor bleeding and clearing out of debris. For me, there was some pain issue during this time, and required low level meds.
When the cath was removed, I was able to pee better, but not like pre-surgery days.
Six months later, I was totally blocked up again. Talk about major pain, the dr. knew he had to open me up enough to at least get a catheter back in. So he did an emergency hard dialation procedure right in his office. To make a long story short, he ran into major difficulty, and I almost had to be admitted for an on the spot emergency op at the ER across the street. There was no time to sedate me, so that's why I said, you don't want to be awake. He got it in, and I had the cath for about 2 weeks while they set up another day operation.
The second op, took longer, about 45 minutes, as he used a laser to re-open me, and I left the hospital with another catheter, larger diameter to help keep it open. A week later, it was removed. There was less pain with the laser procedure in the healing process.
It opened me up pretty good, but unfortunately, barely a month later, was starting to close up again. As I was about to start Salvage Radiation Treatments, it was decided that the swelling associated with radiation would make things worse.
On October 1, had a third surgerical procedure, and they installed a suprapubic catheter (SP) in me. It exits beneath your belly button instead of through your penis. I have had this one in me now for 91 days. By mid-January, my dr and I will decided how to finally get me off of catheters.
I wish you the best in your situation. My story is a bit extreme and unsusual, but my body keeps producing excessive amounts of scar materials and thus it keeps growing back.
david in sc