The following may contain TOO MUCH INFORMATION (TMI) for some.
A couple weeks ago I suffered through a night of not being able to urinate. I could have sworn someone hit me across the back with a 4 x 4 and then kicked me in the groin. I called for an ambulance ride to the hospital. I thought that perhaps I was passing a kidney stone.
At the emergency room they determined that I did not have any stones, but that my bladder was full and my urethra was blocked. A catheter was inserted and I felt instant relief. I was referred to a urologist and sent home in a taxi with catheter in place.
The urologist visit included a ultrasound of my prostate, a scope was run up my urethra to look at my bladder and twelve biopsies were taken of my prostate. I left the clinic sans catheter and was very happy of that fact.
That is until about 3 the next morning when I went through the same symptoms. This time I drove myself to the hospital, walked straight in to the emergency room and told them what I needed. Sweet relief.
Today I returned to the urology clinic in Yakima. I was greeted with the good news that I do not have prostate cancer. I hugged the doctor. Then I was told that I needed Trans Urethral Resection of the Prostate or TURP. That or learn to love my catheter. It just so happens that the doctor had a cancellation this Wednesday, so that's what I'm doing.
I'll be in surgery at about 11:30 on Wednesday morning. The procedure takes about an hour. I will be spending two nights and will check out Friday sans catheter. There are some possible risks (not as major as prostate removal) and we discussed other options, but this appears to be the best one. I have done a lot of reading on the subject over the last couple weeks.
6 comments:
Good luck with the procedure Scott. Will they use a laser?
No Bob. The use of laser or microwave was discussed, by my prostate is so large (4X normal) that the electric shaver method will be used (roto-rooter).
OUCH that's gotta hurt. But, good you have a good physician that doesn't believe in just whacking at things and removing all suspected bad items, read that prostrate. Are they concerned about the enlarge prostrate? So what is the recovery period, will this impact your ride this year?
I think I got lucky in the urologist department. The enlarged prostate is the cause of my problems and the resection should reduce the size enough to, as the doctor put it, "piss the bark off a tree" which is interesting because I never could before. Recovery is about a month and motorcycle riding is restricted, so most probably will affect my participation in the ride.
Thinking good thoughts for you Scott. Glad to hear it's not cancer, and we hope everything else goes well.
Good luck tomorrow and here is hoping for a full recovery.
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