I've been reading this group for several months and now I must avail myself
of your accumulated wisdom.

This is my history.  I am 53, overweight and live near Charlotte, North
Carolina.  I had an episode of urinating blood back in June of this year.
The blood would keep dripping even after my urine flow stopped. When the
bleeding eventually stopped, it would start again the next time I urinated.
Eventually, I would pee several times without bleeding and then, without
warning, I would pee and start bleeding again.  I went to the urologist and
he performed a DRE and said I had an enlarged prostate.  He also ran a PSA
test and that turned out to be around 2.0.  He performed a cystoscopy and
informed me that he needed for me to go to the hospital so he could do a
biopsy.  During the cysto, he had seen a spot on my bladder that needed a
closer look and he had seen a growth in my urethra.  After the biopsy, he
said that he had removed a papilloma from my urethra and that the spot on my
bladder was of no consequence.  The papilloma was the source of my bleeding
and the pathology results on it showed that it was not malignant(Thank
God!).

After all this, the BPH still needed to be addressed.  I have had symptoms
for over a year(hesitancy at night, urgency, frequent need to urinate small
amounts).  After a follow-up cysto to see if the papilloma was re-growing, I
was discussing the BPH symptoms with the uro and he had me come back for a
flow test.  After the flow test he put me on Uroxatral.  The side
effects(mainly dizziness) were annoying for a few days but they went away.
The Uroxatral has helped mostly with the nighttime hesitancy.  I've been on
the drug for about 6 weeks and this past Monday, I went for another flow
test.  Not a lot of improvement there.  95ml total with a max rate of
10ml/sec.  The uro said that I had improved over my first test but not a
tremendous amount.  He said the next step would need to be one of the
prostate reduction procedures.  I have a rectal ultrasound scheduled for
Jan. so he can determine whether to do a TUNA or a TUMT(CoreTherm System).
There was no discussion of doing a PVP.  I don' think his group has the
laser.  He said that the procedure would be done in the office under local
anesthesia.  He also said that I would need to wear a catheter for about 2
weeks.

So here are my concerns.  I don't like the idea of local anesthesia.  I was
put under for the biopsy, so why can't I be put under for the TUNA or the
TUMT.   People can be put under to have dental work done and this is a lot
more involved that any dental work I've ever had done.  I think that pain
management is a valid concern and the fact that I will have a needle put
through my rectal wall to deaden my prostate while I am awake doesn't have
me jumping for joy.  Additionally, wearing a catheter for 2 weeks seems
longer that anyone who has posted on this group.  I wonder if I should get a
second opinion.  I would like to know if anyone in this area is doing PVP
and am I or am I not an appropriate candidate.  The Charlotte area has a
number of excellent clinics and hospitals so I would think that someone is
doing PVP here.  I just want the best procedure for my situation and I want
to make sure that my uro is providing the best treatment.

So there it is.  Any suggestions or observations will be appreciated.  I am
very grateful that this group is here and I wish all of you well in your
treatments and recovery.