Hi All,

I ended up in PVP land in a bit of a hurry.  The first part of December
everything in the urinary department had been tweaked so that it worked
quite well.  I had had problems in the past and in fact 15 years ago I was
told that I was a good candidate for prostate surgery.  Back then I
determined my getting up at night problem was allergy related because when I
would go away from home and sleep in a different bed I had no problem.
Alternative Medicine gave me a way to control the problem and clear the
offending things that I was reacting to.  I have actually taken 6 courses in
Alternative Energy Treatments and have self studies 4 others.  With this
knowledge I am able to work on myself and keep out of most trouble.

On Dec 20th I came down with a serious case of diarrhea and immediately felt
my prostate was getting sore and swollen.  At the same time my ability to
urinate also decreased and by Christmas night I was in the ER having a
catheter installed.  I was totally shut down.  It took 4 tries to get the
catheter into the bladder.  The comment was made that my prostate was
"really inflamed"!!  It sure was.

The catheter stayed in till Jan 4th when it was removed.  My bladder was
filled with water and I was able to void it all out.  A Cystoscopy and a
flow test were scheduled for the following week and I went home.  The night
of the 4th I was back in the ER having another catheter installed as I had
shut down again.  Not one drop would come out.

The Cystoscopy showed that the median lobe of the prostate was pushing up
into the bladder and that the lateral lobes were closing off the urethra.
No wonder I couldn't go!  The size was estimated at 60 to 90 grams.

TURP was suggested as the "Gold Standard" for my problem.  I said I was
interested in PVP not TURP and was told that was an option but we do not do
it.

The next day I called Dr Lin and was in his office the following day.  His
sonogram showed a prostate about 100 to 120 grams in size.  He said that is
no problem, I will operate on you next Tuesday Jan 18th.

The surgery was done as planned but the prostate was more like 150 grams in
size.  Some of it did not show up in the sonogram!  The median lobe was
sticking way up into the bladder so there was a lot of work to clean things
up.  The surgery took 2 hours.

A catheter was put in after the surgery and removed early the next morning.
After the removal it was water drinking time to get the urine to clear up.
I urinated in three cups in a row with the later one having to be clearer
that the ones before.  I ended up with a total of nine cups and then I could
go home because things were clear enough.  Did the prostate hurt?  No I have
not felt a thing from what is left of it.  I do have some burning during
urination but not that bad.  With all of the tools that had been up that
small hole in the past weeks I expected it would hurt because it is not used
to that type of wear and tear.

I was told to take it easy on Thursday and that I could drive on Friday.  I
was not to lift anything over 5 pounds, no booze, and no sex for the next
three or four weeks.

I was bad last Sunday when I got groceries.  They were a little too heavy
and I had some bleeding Sunday night.  It is starting to clear up and I am
taking things easy for a couple of days.

There is still no pain from the prostate and the burning is starting to
decrease.

The TURP Doctors flow test appointment was yesterday and I went to the Dr's
office to cancel it.  I told them the surgery and been done by laser the
week before.  They were somewhat shocked to see me standing there with a
smile on my face.  With a TURP I doubt that I would have been there.

This brings you up to date.  If there are questions please ask.

For my money the PVP green laser is the "Gold Standard" and Dr. Lin is a
great Dr. to do it!

Bill