Not entirely sure. Although my stream had slowed over the past 2-3 years, I
thought it was just inevitable "old-age". My problem came on pretty suddenly, with
a feeling of pelvic "congestion" and pain, then complete blockage within a few
days. I went to an urgent care facility and the doc there put me on cipro and told
me to get to a uro asap. The cipro had no effect over the next week.

Fortunately, the uro was a family friend and got me an appointment within a few
days. After a bladder scan, when he verified that I was actually retaining a liter
of urine, (the catheter insertion hurt like hell), he wanted to get me some relief
quickly. I tried Flomax for a few days with no effect while I catheterized myself
morning and evening. Getting the catheter past the prostate was extremely painful,
and took a loooong time. A second visit to the uro gave the same result - he
drained 1100 ml of urine after a second bladder scan. At that point, after going
in with a cystoscope to take a look, he told me my prostate was "huge", and my
options were catheterizing myself several times a day for an indefinite amount of
time while we played with other drugs, or have the surgery. He had considerable
trouble getting the scope past the prostate (the pain rivaled a kidney stone). My
bladder already had early signs of damage from being stretched. Believe me, by
that time, I wanted to be done with the catheters, so he was able to do the
surgery within a few days. As far as I know, my prostate was never actually
measured, except for the 30 grams of tissue removed during the TURP.

How big was your prostate?

Ed

I had a TURP about three months ago. My URO told me the same thing, that TURP is
the gold standard, the procedure he preferred in my case. I didn't have cancer,
but my prostate was very large, requiring me to self-catheterize 2-3 times a day.
I had been retaining 900-1,000 ml of urine according to bladder scans taken on
several occasions. He said that PVP is more likely to allow reoccurrence of
blockage in a shorter time, especially when a large amount of tissue must be
removed. He removed about 30 g. of tissue which was cancer free. At 55 years of
age, he told me I had the prostate of a 70 year-old. I spent two relatively
pain-free days in the hospital, and I'm doing very well 3 months later. No
incontinence, a stronger stream than when I was 16, but do have retrograde
ejaculation, as he predicted before the surgery, although it has not affected the
quality of  sensation during intercourse. Best of luck to you.

Hello all
(I posted this as a reply further up the list, but go no comments).

I, too, have urinary problems inherited from HDR Brachytherapy for
advanced Prostate Cancer,  performed in mid July this year. I had to
wear a Foley Catheter for almost 4 wks post discharge from hospital.
I'm on 1Flomax/day and still have probs voiding, from zero at night
(Nocturia) to about 80% at high noon, plus retain approx 250ml on a
post void Bladder scan.

Going into the HDRB, my prostate was 65cc and had previously had some
"easing" done 16 yrs ago by a General Surgeon. So, in essence, I got
Prostate Cancer on top of an old BPH complaint.

Just yesterday, I saw the Uro who did the HDRB implant and discussed
either another TURP or PVP. He opted for the TURP as he said it was
more reliable, the Gold Standard, easier to remove the correct amount
of tissue, and there were some problems showing up from the newer
Laser treatments.

Anyway, he won't do a thing until he has a look at another Cystoscopy
he scheduled for me in a few wks time.
He did comment that any re-sectioning would need to possibly wait
another 3 months for the tissue damaged by the HDRB to re-stabilize.

I'm not too confident on any of these things, but will have to "bite
the bullet" eventually dependent on his opinion/s....

Anyone else in here with a similar story?

PS: I do post more regularly in alt.support.cancer.prostate

-- Reader to complete...
-- Please reply to this ng as my email adress is fake:

-- Regards

-- CC