Hi everyone,

I had my PVP last Thursday, so it's a little over 6 days since the
procedure.  I'm doing incredibly well.  I feel very fortunate to be
representative of PVP at its best, it would seem.

My surgery was at 9:30 in the morning.  I awoke in the recovery room,
feeling some soreness around my bladder.  Not too bad, but not
pleasant.  As I began to feel more comfortable, I gained the courage to
begin drinking fluids in earnest to try to generate that first pee.  I
was dreading it.  I was afraid it would really hurt.

So I took a tablet of pyridium, with the hope it would relieve the
urethral sting I was expecting.  Around 2:00pm I was ready to give it a
try. I pointed myself towards one of those plastic measuring containers
and let 'er rip.  It was incredible.  I have no recollection of EVER
seeing myself gush like that.  A cranberry-colored torrent.  And the
sting was actually quite tolerable.

Shortly thereafter, I walked out of the hospital a very happy man.
Cottage Hospital is directly across the street from Dr. Laub's office
in Santa Barbara (which is right next to the Best Western I stayed at).
I walked right into the doctor's office, shook his hand, and thanked
him profusely.

The evening after the operation, back in my motel room, I began feeling
increasingly uncomfortable.  The main issue was soreness/pain in the
bladder area, which I wasn't expecting.  Not agonizing, but
definitely uncomfortable, and more so because I was worried about it.
I thought about calling Dr. Laub, but decided to hold off.

Fortunately, by the time I went to bed, I was feeling much better.  And
in the morning, the bladder pain was just about gone.

The most difficult part of the whole experience, for me, was the
stinging pain I experienced each time I peed.  It got much worse than
that first pee in the hospital.  Maybe it was because the pyridium was
wearing off.  It was never unbearable, but I was definitely not looking
forward to each pee!

The unrestricted flood that came out of me each time was actually a bit
daunting.  This may seem strange, but after years of trying to coax
every drop out of myself, I found myself thinking,  "Whoa boy!  Ease
off!"  I was startled at the feeling of losing control each time I
let go.  Though I suppose it would have felt better if it didn't
sting so much.

Anyway, the sting has gradually lessened over the past several days.
Today, it's been quite comfortable each time, except for my one
middle-of-the night trip.  Which reminds me-I've been getting up
just once each night.  And during the day, my intervals have averaged
about 4 hours.  Never less than 3 hours, sometimes as long as 6.  Flow
remains constant.

A side note is that I've done the whole thing with almost no drugs.
As you may remember, I was terrified of taking antibiotics, and I hate
taking meds of any kind.  (For the past year, I've been splitting my
Flomax capsules into two separate doses, taking that half dose only
when it seemed absolutely essential.)   Dr. Laub agreed to give me only
one dose of Cipro before the operation, and none afterwards.  I took no
painkillers whatsoever, except for that single Pyridium tablet.  And I
ignored Dr. Laub's advice and stopped taking Flomax immediately after
the procedure.  The last thing I wanted was an even bigger stream!

I can't tell you how happy I am to wake up each morning
medication-free!

I definitely chose the right guy to do this.  In addition to having as
much PVP experience as anyone on the West Coast (I believe), Dr. Laub
is a good person.  He listened to my concerns about antibiotics, and
didn't try to scare me into taking the usual post-op course of drugs.
He's always answered my questions, and he surprised me by calling me
today at home, about a week after the procedure, to see how I'm
doing.

Of course it was all the reports from his satisfied customers on this
newsgroup that made me choose him in the first place.  Thanks you guys!

I also really like his assistant, Sarah Morrison.   I went up to Santa
Barbara (from L.A., a distance of about 90 miles) all by myself, and
she was a welcoming and friendly presence, visiting me in the hospital,
and calling me the next day in my motel room (from her home).  Thanks,
Sarah!

I suppose that the reason my course has run so smoothly is that I have
no other health problems.  And in the last 6 months, I've been taking
even better care of myself, trying to heal my condition through
alternative means.  Which has meant lots of dietary changes, and even
having my silver fillings removed to get rid of the mercury.  The good
news is that those changes seem to be helping, because the PSA reading
taken just BEFORE my PVP was 4.48 (down from 4.99 about 2-and-a-half
months ago).  With my big pre-PVP prostate, that's not too bad.

So there it is.  The one remaining issue for me-a mystery at this
point-is how sex will feel.  Chances are I've got retro because of
my median lobe (I started to write Laub!) involvement.  So I'm a
little fearful about that.  But the reports from you guys has been
generally comforting to me in that regard.  In any case, I feel like
I've made the best decision I could under the circumstances.  I'm
glad to have my life back, and not to be continually distracted by my
bathroom routines, and by having to figure out a solution to this
problem.

And . . . to be off Flomax!  Is it just me, or does it seem like every
other TV commercial these days is for Flomax?!

Bruce