Hello,

  I am including part of my original post in September to cut down
the two finger typing . This is what I had to say......

"On 20 August I underwent the PVP procedure with quite satisfactory
results. Any remaining problems that I have are fairly obviously
bladder related and are slowly improving.
I am 68 yrs old ,and I had been "watching and waiting" for many years
and seen the growth from 80g in 1999 to 135g last July2004. My
symptoms took a sudden turn for the worse in July and I ended up in
hospital with total retention, which certainly focusses the mind.
My pvp did not go as smoothly as some - not only was the size a
problem, it was very bloody and from photos I was shown was an odd
shape and malformed in the channel. I had about 70cc removed by pvp
but also a small TURP procedure to avoid going too close to the
sphincter muscle with the laser. Because of this I was kept in
overnight and I elected to stay in a further night as I was in a Hotel
anyway. A catheter was left in for 4 days but I was given the option
of 3 days if it was a problem. I had a lot of blood loss , about 1
pint during the op but no need for a transfusion. I gather my case was
about as difficult as they get. Considering my alternative
realistically was a radical prostatectomy, I wasn't complaining.

During the 4 day catheterisation I had very bloody urine, slowly
clearing. When the catheter was removed I passed a lot of large black
chunks of what looked like charred blood and guts followed by a good
stream for a change.

From that moment on I have had no problems at all. No blood except for
odd spots at the start of urination for 4 wks, no pain (I have had no
pain at any time right from day 1) and things just keep getting
better. I followed orders with 3 litres of water a day,lots of walking
and no heavy exertion.

I have no incontinence,no impotence. I don't know about retro yet but
that has never been a concern.

It is now over the 6 week recovery period so things are looking good."

END OF QUOTE

29 Feb 2005.

First ,to Artie, my biggest fear for the first few months was a clot
that wouldn't pass ,and I am sure you think about this too. Well, it
didn't happen.

The last blood tinge in the immediate post-operative period was at
5weeks.

At 11 weeks ,5 November I started a series of bleeding events which
looking back form one isolated episode, but at the time seemed to be
the start of problems.On 5th November I passed a large clot and blood
without doing any particularly strenuous activity. I fished it out of
the toilet (and photographed it ! ) and laid out flat it was about
half an inch in diameter. I thought it was a piece of flesh at first
,but kept in water overnight it slowly dissolved and was in fact a
clot or scab.So we can pass quite large clots,maybe because they are
soft and easily deformed.

The next day I passed a much smaller lump but with a lot more blood. A
week later, on 13 Nov a medium blood amount but no lump. On 16 Nov
small amount of blood and on 17 Nov small 0.1 inch fleshy chunk-no
blood.On 20 Nov,minute amount of blood-twice.

Finally,2 Dec,minute amout of blood.And thats it I hope.

Lastly to the topic of retro. I was told by the surgeon that in my
case a dry orgasm was guaranteed. Well I guess my prostate is even
stranger than they thought. Although strictly speaking I do have a
"dry orgasm" mostly ,(and it is not easy to tell as since my vasectomy
20 yrs ago and creeping old age the amount was not much to boast about
anyway),and I am not a solo performer,there is definitely occasionally
some instant fluid.
What then always happens is a delayed discharge from between one and
10 minutes of the remainder. It is a real nuisance and quite messy.And
I have not detected anything like semen in the urine.
So to anyone who wants to avoid retro......be careful what you wish
for ! I guess there is a cavity that fills up and then runs out. It is
definitely not urine. I dont have any incontinence problems and no
general dribbling,but I really dont understand how the whole urine -
semen - sphincter thing works. It must be very complicated.
So there it is - I don't have retro but a condition that I have never
seen reported.

As far as the stream goes it is still good, but the bladder training
is not so good.My main problem is nearly always being handy to a
toilet. When I am out I can last for hours,but at home and drinking
lots of water,it's an hourly event. I'm not much concerned though.

Overall the PVP has fixed my problem, and I would give it 10 out of
10.

Richie