After having the surgery about 30 days ago and being catheterized overnight
in the hospital I was sent home without the catheter. It appeared I was
passing urine so it seemed appropriate to release me. However, later that
day I began to strain a bit at urination while producing less and less. Not
having a full understanding what was happening, I delayed going to the
hospital and went into an excrutiating episode of acute urine retention and
had to be taken to the emergency room at 1 AM, by ambulance.

After being re-catheterized for a couple of days, then removing the
catheter, the flow increased and I was glad to be unloading. The stream had
improved 2-3X and the bladder was 40% less full than before the surgery
(after 2 weeks).

However, a month after the surgery, despite no problems with ejaculation, I
am having rectal senses of "fullness" after emptying..... even though my
bowels are moving well. This sense of "incomplete evacuation" also seems to
overstimulate the uretha (or something in that area) which I understand is
virtually destroyed during PVP and has to "rebuild" itself. These
unfortunate sensations can last well into the afternoon on some days and are
leaving me somewhat miserable at times.

I'm hoping that the overstimulation of the prostate during the PVP procedure
will soon calm down and the problem resolve itself. But I must say that this
procedure is somewhat oversold. No doubt it is superior than anything else
out there, but my experience indicates that the side effects are still no
walk in the park and patients should not necessarily expect a trouble free
experience. Laserscope, the company providing and selling the technology
should be much more forthcoming and honest about these matters while
surgeons and hospitals should follow suit and be required to give each
patient written information about all the side effects to look out for,
particularly acute urine retention.

It's easy to get inebriated with "new technology." Not so easy, at times, to
live with its consequences.

Any remotely similar experiences out there?
Please keep the information (as well as the stream) flowing.

Sam