For about 7 years I'd been keeping moderate BPH at bay, using "natural
remedies" and some biofeedback principles.  I NEVER allowed my bladder
to get full; I obeyed that adage "An empty bladder is a happy
bladder".  However, I did have difficulty with starting a stream and
with intermittent flow.

In recent weeks I could sense I was losing it; the difficulty in
starting became worse, until one night (the 15th of January 2008) I
went to an ER.  They prescribed Flomax, which worked moderately well
for about 3 days.  Then it stopped and I began to stop.  I panicked,
which threw me over the edge into incipient lock-up.  Back to the ER
where a Foley catheter was inserted (It was HORRIBLE).  That was on a
Sunday night.  I was able to get to a Urologist on Tuesday for a
consult.  He fought like hell for me and was able to get me into
surgery on a Wednesday of the following WEEK!  Usually you have to
wait ~2 to 3 weeks for an appointment at a hospital.  Nevertheless I
spent ~ 1.5 weeks with that catheter; the pain was incessant and
relentless.  The urologist's office had neglected to CLEARLY advise me
that I could take Tylenol for relief, so I had NOTHING the whole time.

I had the PVP last Wednesday; it has seemed so far to got well, and
I'm now recovering.  I flow in a nice firm gush (for ~ 5 seconds most
of the time), but so far my bladder invariably
constricts/spams/contracts after the stream ends, which has been
inducing a rather hard ache in the privates.  This seems to be
subsiding a bit, at this time.

The WORST part about this is that the BPH accelerated on me before I
had a chance to plan, and then act rationally; everything was done in
an emergency mode.  I didn't even know the Uro who actually did the
job for me!  I do NOW, though; he is most DEFINITELY a most powerful
main man!

That's my sad little tale; any questions, please don't hesitate!