GreenLight Laser Surgery for BPH

Warning: This blog post is rated PG-50 for adult language, explicit description on a man's unique body part and its function.   Some people may find these info too graphic and disturbing.  Consult your doctor for your personal health issue.

In this post, I talk about my BPH being mis-diagnosed as OAB for years, my decision to have the GreenLight Laser surgery, and my post surgical recovery process, as well as possible complication.

While all men and women won’t able to escape from dead and taxes, many men over age 50 won’t able to run away from another  issue. Enlarged prostate affect many man over age 50 which many men won’t want to talk about it or try to ignore it. Although this is a man's problem, it might affect his bed mate as well.  You might want to give your man a nudge to seek treatment if his problem is affecting your quality of life, in fact, you may save his life because prostate cancer has similar symptoms.

I start having prostate issues around age 50.  Initially the symptoms were just a bit annoying, like I had to wake up at night couple of time to urinate and had few drops of urine leakage afterward.  Gradually the frequency of night trips to the bathroom was increased to about every 2 hours and I had the feeling I couldn’t empty the bladder completely.  Because I couldn’t sleep well due to the frequent night time bathroom trips, I was dead tire during daytime.  Luckily my wife was a heavy sleeper and my frequent bathroom trips did not wake her up.

I mention this urinary problem during an annual physical to my family doctor, Dr. L.  He checked the PSA level and he checked prostate size, wich was within ormal size range.  He said all my plumbing were normal and I might just have an overactive bladder(OAB) and prescribed a drug called Oxybutynin  to treat OAB.  The medication made my mouth and nasal passage very dry, plus it made me very constipated.  Worst of all, the drug did not alleviate my OAB symptoms at all.   I told Dr. L about this and he changed to another OAB drug but the second drug caused even more side effect and it did not help my prostate problem either.  He suggested me to see an urologist.  Because I wrongly assumed only women would have OAB,  I rationalized I was just overreacting to this seemingly minor annoyance, the problem wasn’t that bad, I didn’t see an urologist immediately.  Beside, a “real man” just won't talk about his bladder problem and I really dread the digital rectum exam, I feel so violated by this procedure.  Also I had an even more serious health problem to deal with at that time, I was going blind due to RP.

 

When my urinary problem gotten worst about a year later, , I decided I should see an urologist to deal with it.  I went to see Dr. M, an urologist in the same medical clinic as Dr. L.  He checked my kidney function with blood and urine tests, checked my prostate with the dreaded digital rectum exam and he looked inside my bladder with a cystoscope to rule out other prostate issues.. .  He said my prostate  and everything were within the normal range and he also believed I had an OAB.  He prescribed Detrol LA to treat this. I tried the Detrol LA for three months but the drug did not help.  He then wanted me to try a none drug treatment procedure called  Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation(PTNS).  He said this procedure works for about 50% of his patients so I gave it a try. 

The PTNS treatment is like a single needle acupuncture.  During each treatment session, a nurse would insert a long thin needle at a nerve point on inside of my left ankle.  She then connect a wire from a small pulse generator to the needle.  A second wire from the  generator is tape  to the bottom of my foot to provide a return path.  She then turn on the generator and gradually turn up the pulse intensity level until I told her to stop.  She said I should take the pulse as high as I could without it hurting me.  I always told her to stop when I feel the tingling at my upper leg.   The generator has a timer and it would turn off the pulse after 30 minutes.  I took the full 10  PTNS treatment course  without any symptomatic relief.  At this point, Dr. M was perplexed with my lack of improvement with my OAB treatment and I stopped seeing him.  I even seek second opinion from another urologist in another clinic.  He just did the dreadful digital rectum exam and said I had OAB and prescribed another OAB drug which I didn't even bother to fill. 

 Out of frustration, I seek alternative treatments forOAB.  First, I tried acupuncture.  I found a local acupuncturist who supposedly specializes in bladder issues.  During the initial session, she exam my tongue and feel my pulse at the wrist, and said my frequent night time bathroom trip is due to kidney deficiency.  She believed  acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine would help my body to rebalance the ying and yang energy. I had 4 acupuncture treatment sessions and took a bottle of Chinese kidney tonic with unknown ingredients. The acupuncture and the kidney tonic did absolutely nothing to my prostate symptoms. She said I might need more sessions to see any improvement but it is getting expensive and I didn’t think it would work, so I stopped the acupuncture treatment.  I then tried Saw Palmetto supplement, which also didn’t help.  At this point, I just gave up and suffered this problem in silent for couple more years while the problem kept getting worst.

At round age 56, the prostate problem was so bad, I went back to see Dr. M again for help.  By that time, I had to get up about every 90 minutes at night to urinate.  Some time I couldn’t start the urine stream immediately and once started, the stream was very weak, plus I couldn’t empty the bladder in one setting.  I had to go back to the urinate 3 or 4 times within 5 minutes or so to feel the bladder somewhat empty then I felt my bladder full again in about 90 minutes.   After some more tests, he determined I am suffering from the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), BPH is also called enlarged prostate.   The BPH diagnose was confirmed by bladder ultrasonic scanner which check the post void urine residual in the bladder.  The urodynamic measurement also show I had very weak urine stream.  My BPH symptoms score was 31, which indicate I have severe prostate problem.  Base on these test results, Dr. M prescribed Flomax to treat this BPH problem.  He said this drug is very effective for most men.  I took this drug for about 3 months and it seem to provide some symptoms relief but I really hated the side effect.  I was suffering stuffy nose and constipation with this drug.  Dr. M then change to a fairly new drug called Rapaflo.  Both  Flomax and Rapoflo are alpha blocker to relax the bladder neck muscle so make urinating easier.   Rapoflo worked very well for about a year with minimal side effect.  Because this is a relatively new drug, there was no generic version, so it was fairly expensive.  Dr. M had to get special authorization from our insurance company to prescribe this drug. After a year on Rapoflo, it seem to loss its effectiveness.  Dr. M then added another drug called Finasteride, this drugsuppose to shrink the size of prostate.  Dr. M told me to take both drugs together for 3 months to see if they would help my problem, they didn’t help. 

After reviewing all my previous treatments, he said other drug treatment probably won’t work for me and I should consider surgical treatment option.  He said even though my prostate is relatively small at 40g, but unfortunately, most of my prostate grow are inward to the urethral, the tube that carry urine out of the bladder.  I guess why my doctors didn't initially believe I had enlarged prostate because all my enlargement was inward while the outside was within the normal range.  I would think the cystoscopy could detect this condition.  He said he usually recommend surgery when the prostate size is larger than 80g.   Because of my inward prostate grow, my urine flow was severely constricted.  He offered me two minimally invasive surgical options.One option is called Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), the second option is call Photoselective vaporization of Prostate (PVP), this procedure is also called GreenLight laser treatment.  He said even though my prostate is not that large, but in my case surgical option should be considered.  He gave me some information to read about each procedure.  Because I really afraid of any sort of surgery, I researched extensively on each procedure on the web and it took me few more months to decide to take the surgical option, and all the while I was suffering even more severe BPH problem like occasional urine retention and painful urination.

In a nutshell,  TURP uses an electrified wire loop to cut away the excess prostate tissues that is blocking the urethra.  This is the gold standard for BPH treatment because it has very long safety record and has long lasting result but it has potentials of greater blood loss and longer healing time.  Some people have the TURP may need to stay in hospital overnight. The newer GreenLight aser uses high heat to vaporize the obstructive tissues.  This option has became more popular now because it has been proven just as effective as TURP but with  less blood loss and shorter healing time.  People on blood thinner medication have less complication with GreenLight Laser and usually no hospital stay.  Both these procedures have the potential side effect of retrograde ejaculation and the need of catheter and urine bag after the surgery.  Depends on your condition and your doctor, the catheter would stay in your bladder for few hours to few days.    There is even a newer treatment option call Urolift.  Urolift procedure does not remove any tissue, instead it uses staples  attach the obstructive tissue to the inner surface of the urethra.  Urolift  has no blood loss and no sexual side effect.   his procedure is so new, it is not yet available in Colorado.   I was really hoping for this option.  After months of reading and procrastination , I decided on the GreenLight laser treatment.  The fear of post surgery complication and unknown recovery process were the main reasons of my procrastination.  I hope the following details would put some of you at ease and help you make the right health care decision.
 

After telling  Dr. M about my choice, he scheduled the surgery for August.  One week before the surgery day, I went to his office for the pre-operative physical exam.  He listened to my heart and lungs, he ordered baseline EKG and blood works.  He said I was in good physical shape for the procedure.  He prescribed four medications to be taken after the surgery.  The medications were:

·       Ciprofloxacin 500mg.  This antibiotic to be taken twice a day for 7 days.
·       Ketorolac Tromethami 10mg.  This is an an anti-inflammatory drug to be taken 4 times a day for 5 days max.  This is a very potent medication; it has some nasty side effect and must be taken with food.
·       Diazepam 5mg.  This is a muscle relaxer to be taken 3 times a day as needed.  This drug would help to reduce burning sensation during urination.
·       Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen 5/325mg.  This powerful pain killer to be taken 4 times a day as needed. 

Three days before the surgery, I got a call from a nurse from the surgery center.  She took down a list of medications and supplements I am taking.  She told me not to eat or drink after 12AM and arrive at the surgery center at 7AM.   She told me to wear loose fitting pants because I would have a catheter and an urine bag attach too my leg after the surgery.  A pair of shorts would be perfect.

Monday, surgery day.  We arrived at the hospital day surgery center at 7:00AM.  I was given an ID bracelet on my right wrist, I was also given a bracelet on my left wrist which ID me as legally blind.  This ID was really helpful because the hospitals staff seem to  take extra time with me.  They would tell what they going to do on me before doing anything.  I already pre-register and provided insurance info few days ago.  I was in the prep room around 7:30AM.  I was told to remove all my clothing and put on a hospital gown. They also put a pair of compression socks on my legs to prevent blood clot forming. A nurse took my weight, checked my vital and inserted an IV line on the back of my left-hand after she checked my ID.  The anesthesiologist came by around 8:30Am. He asked some routine medical question and gave me a choice of spinal tap or general anesthesia, I chose the genera anesthesia because I don’t want to feel anything. .  He said both methods are safe and had about the same amount of side effect after waking up. Dr. M then came by to let me know the procedure will take about an hour and he l do the surgery soon.  I was wheeled into the operating room around 9:00am and all the while I was having second thought on the surgery.  I was just hoping I made the right decision.

The operating room was cold and I was cover under couple of warming blankets.  After one more ID check, I was hooked upTo a BP monitor, oxygen monitor, and EKG monitor.  I was told a breathing tube will be place in my mouth after I gone under.   The anesthesiologist said he would start the drug and told me I should seel sleepy soon.  The next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room.  I had absolutely no memory about the surgery.  I asked for the time and was told it was 11:15AM.  The first thing I felt was the very bitter taste in my mouth, the second thing was I felt I has a full bladder and had a strong urge to urinate but couldn’t. The OR nurse  told me the surgery is done andI have a foley catheter inserted in my penis.

The OR nurse brushed my teeth with some water and gave me few ice chips to chew on to get rid of the bitter taste.  Next an urine bag was connected to the Foley catheter.  Once the drainage started, the urge to urinate went away within few minute.  Dr. M came by to let us know that procedure went well.  He told me to take out the catheter at home on Wednesday 7AM and come to see him for following up on Wednesday 3PM.  The initial drainage in the bag was pinky in color while we were in the surgery center, but it changed to darker red after we gone home.  Dr. M told us to expect blood in the urine bag for couple of days.  He also told me reframe from strenuous activities for 2 weeks.

We were given one small and one large urine bag. The small bag would only hold about 500ml of urine.  The small bag has 2 Velcro straps that can be used to attach the bag to my leg so I can walk around with it.   The large bag would hold about 2l of urine and it has couple of hooks to hold the bag onto a bed frame or other things.  Either bag must be placed blow the bladder for proper drainage operation.  Because I don’t plan to go anywhere for the next 2 days, I asked the nurse hook up the larger bag to the catheter.  I would just carry the large bag when I move around inside the house.

While waiting the anesthesia drug to wear off in the recovery room, I felt a bit light headed and nausea.  My BP was at 85/55.  The nurse gave me a cup of apple juice to drink and few crackers to eat.  My BP was back up to round 125/85 after few  minutes.  The nurse asked whether I need a pain killer which I declined. 

Because I don’t see well, a nurse instructed my wife how to empty the urine bag, how to clean the leakage around the penis and how to remove the catheter.  She also went over all the medication and other discharge paper work.  We were back home round 12:30PM.

Because I haven’t eaten anything after 8PM the day before, I was very hungry and thirsty.  After lunch, I took a Cipro and a Ketorolac pill and took it easy.  I had no pain from the procedure.  I think the most uncomfortable part was the catheter in the penis.  Wife emptied the urine bag twice and the urine in the bag was red.  I was not able to sleep at all that night due to the catheter.

 Tuesday, The day afger surgery  In the morning, wife noticed the overnigh urine in the bag still bright red but not thick like blood.   Wife emptied the urine bag around noontime, the urine was red.   Even though Dr. M told us the blood in the urine is to be expected for few days I still gave his office a call just to be sure.  His nurse said it is OK and not to worry.  I also told the nurse about the constipations I am having probably due to Ketorolac medication.  She told me to drink 60 to 80 Oz of water plus it is OK to take a laxatives to help me go.  I had the feeling the balloon tip at the catheter prevent the stool to move.  Anyway, I took a dose of Miralax for constipation relief.

 

In the afternoon, the urine drainage was somewhat clearer.  But In the evening, the urine drainage was a bit reder than in the afternoon.  I was a bit worry because GreenLight Laser supposedly have minimal bleeding, but I had tendency to overreacting on health problem.

Wednesday,2 days after surgery. Slept about 3 hours last night.  Wife emptied an almost full urine bag at around 1AM and again at around 6AM, urine color was light red. I Had an erection while sleeping which was a very painful experience because the catheter was still in the penis.  Try not to do that if you can help it.

Per Dr. M’s order, I removed the catheter at 7AM,  In order to remove the catheter, I first had to deflate the balloon at the tip of the catheter by cutting off the small plastic tube that was used to inflate the balloon with water.  The balloon was completely deflated after the water was drained in few seconds.  The catheter was inserted about 3 inches deep.I slowly pull it out while running hot water over it to make the process more comfortable.  I felt way better after the catheter was taken out.  Had a bowel movement soon after removal of the catheter.  Had little bit of light red leadage from penis. 

11AM had the first pee after the catheter removal.  Urine had little bit of blood,  Had severe Burning sensation.  The urine flow was involuntary interrupted due to burning sensation but resume soon after.  I felt the bladder was not empty this time.  Took a Diazepam to see if it would help.  Since I couldn't see whether I had blood in the urine, I used a piece toilet paper to touch the tip of the penis after each urination.  If I see a stain, I knew I had blood in the urine.

2:30PM had urgency to pee but only small amount of urine came out.  Had few drops of blood.  Had burning sensation again.

3:00PM follow up with  Dr. M.  He told me to empty the bladder.  He then used  a bladder ultrasonic scanner to see how much urine was left in the bladder.  He said there was only 1 Oz urine left in the bladder.  He said this is a good sign and told me to drink plenty of water to flush the whole urinary track.  I told him about burning sensation and bloody leakage, he said all these are normal healing process and should go away in few days. I was told to come back in one month for follow up.

6PM. I had the full bladder.  Urine stream was strong, no constricted feeling with urine flow.  Notice small blood strain on the paper underwear.  Burning sensation was not as bad as before.  Be sure to get some disposable underwear to catch the leakage.

Thrusday, 3 days after the surgery.  Had a good night of sleep for many years.  I only woke up twice during the night to pee.  Urine stream was strong and completely empty the bladder.  I only felt Very light burning sensation, I think the Diazepam really help.  I am still drinking a lot of water.  So far, I haven’t taken the prescription Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen because I had no pain.

 Friday, 5 days after the surgery.  I had to wake up 4 times last night to empty the full bladder because I drank a lot of water during the day.  I couldn’t tell whether any blood in the urine but I felt a small blood clot came out one time.  I only experienced slight burning sensation wile urinating last night.

Urine in the morning was normal, no blood.  Minimal burning sensation.  Last day on Ketorolac medication.

Saturday, 6 days after the surgery.  Had to wake up few times to urinate because large mount of water intake during the day.  Minimal burning sensation.  Urine flow was strong and bladder was completely empty.  No blood in the day time urine.  There were only small of leakage on the paper underwear.

Sunday, one week after the surgery.  Everything seem fine.  No blood in the urine but still having light burning sensation while urinating.  We went out to eat and then go shopping.  I noticed if I stand too long, more than an hour, I felt some pain at the groin area and I had to sit down to alleviate the pain.

I am very happy with the result so far.  While I had last minute doubt  about my decision even while laying on the operating table, I am glad I took the plunge and had the surgery.  .  I only wish my doctors had the correct diagnose sooner.  Because of the misdiagnose, I was treated for OAB instead of BPH for years.  Finally, I must thank my wife for emptying all those urine bags and making sure I take the correct medications at the right time.  Without her help, my recovery process would have been much harder the first week.  I know I am still weeks or even months away to fully recover from the surgery and to have normal bladder function.

Monday, 8 days after the surgery.  Nothing unusual to report.  However, I have noticed I need more frequent urge to urinate even though the bladder was not that full.  From my research, this is part of the healing process too.  It might take some people few months to have regular urge.

Tuesday, 9 days after the surgery.  Minor set back this morning.  I was constipated and had to strain to get it going.  There was a blood stain on the toilet paper.  I didn't take Miralax yesterday,  I think I would take a dose of Miralax for the rest of the week..  No blood in the urine for the rest of the day.

As a side note.  I have noticed my vision is bit blurrier.  I don't know if this has anything to do with the surgery or the medications I took.  I think I also gain couple of pounds due to lack of exercise.  I can't wait until next week to go back to my exercise routine again.

10 days after the surgery.  Wife said there were some blood in the toilet.  I was a bit constipated and had to strain a bit to get it going.  I have ran out of laxative.   

11 days after the surgery.  Constipated again in the morning.  Had to give a push to get it going.  Big mistake.  I saw a bright red stain on the toilet paper.  Although I am drinking plenty of water or juice, and eating plenty of fruit, I guess lack of exercise really make my bowel sluggish.  Need to get a bottle of Miralax.

12 days after surgery.  Little bit of blood in the urine.  Burning sensation at the end of urine stream.  Took a dose of Miralax.  There was a small blood clot pee out once.

13 days after surgery.  Still having a bit of blood in urine.  Burning sensation at the end of urination.

2 weeks after the surgery.  Not much changed, still have bit of blood in the urine and burning sensation at the end of urination.  I am just a bit worry about this, I might give my doctor a  call tomorrow just to  be sure.  I found some people talked about their recovery after the GL surgery, some people had blood in their urine for few weeks.  Also I still waking up 3 to 4 times a night to pee,  this is suppose a normal post recovery process and may take few months for some people to correct.

15 days after the surgery.  I am easing back to my exercise routine.  I rode my exercise bike at half speed this morning and had a short walk with my guide dog after noon.  Urine seem to be clear most of the day, but had a bright red spot on the toilet paper in the evening.  Still having burning sensation at the end. 

16 days after the surgery.  Rode exercise bike at half speed.  I saw a big red stain on toilet paper.  Wife said there was a bit more blood in the toilet than yesterday.  Well,  I guess I am not ready to go back on exercise routine yet.

17 days after surgery.  No exercise bike, but went out with guide dog for a short walk.  No blood in the urine all day.  Stinging sensation at the end of urination.  I didn't call my doctor about the blood in urine, lets wait and see.

18 days after surgery.  No exercise bike.  Went out for a short walk.  No blood in the urine all day.  Stinging sensation at the end of urination.

19 days after surgery.  Ditto.

20 days after surgery.  Ditto.  One tiny blood clot came out.

3 weeks after surgery.  No blood in the urine for the past 4 days, but still having stinging sensation at the end of urination, but not as bad at last week.  To day would be my last day taking Miralax.  I plan to start back on exercise routine again tomorrow.  Unless my recovery changed, no more daily  update on this post.  My next update probably after my one month follow up with my urologist .
 

4 weeks after surgery.  I was back on my exercise bike at half speed for the whole week.  I was also using the 5 lbs dumb bells with weight training.  No blood in urine for the past week.  Still having burning sensation at the end of urination, but the intensity and duration have lessen somewhat.  I notice few drops urine leakage at the end of urination, I hope this is just a temporary problem.  I still need to wake up 3 to 4 times a night to urinate and had the feeling of not completely emptying the bladder.   I only had these problem at night, I hope these were temporary problems too.  My one month follow up with Dr.  was delayed by a week because Dr was not available.

5 weeks after surgery.  Back to my regular exercise routine.  There was one incident at mid week with trace of blood in the urine.  Other than that, no noticeable change from week 4.  I am losing patient, I wish recovery could go faster.  At this time, I find the frequent urgency to urinate most bothersome.   The urgency sometime could be triggered by drinking a cup of cold water, seeing toilet or even just the thought of urinating.  If I hold the urgency for couple of minutes, it usually goes away. 

6 weeks after surgery.  No blood in urine.  Noticeable decrease on burning intensity and duration, but I can definitely feel it and the end of urination. 
Post surgery follow up with Dr. M.  During the office visit, he had me empty my bladder and then scan my bladder to see how much urine was left.  He said I had about teaspoonful of urine left.  I complained about frequent urgency and leakage, he prescribed Oxybutynin  to treat the OAB symptoms and wanted me to take it 3 to 6 months.  He said my OAB symptoms are very common after prostate surgery.  He scheduled a 6 month follow up.  You might recall that Oxybutynin  was the first medication I tried and I didn't like the side effects.  I will give it a try again to see if it would help this time around.

7 weeks after surgery.  The burning sensation is almost gone, I just feel a very slight brief sting at the end.  I am hoping that would gone too by next week.  The Oxybutynin didn't seem to help my OAB symptoms, but I have only taken the medication for 4 days. 

8 weeks after surgery.  The burning sensation at the end of urination has completely gone, I guess that mean I am completely healed.  It has taken longer time to recover than I like but I am glad it is over.  I am still happy with the result.

 The Oxybutynin has not helped my OAB symptoms.  The drug gave me very dry nosal passage and stuffy nose.  The side effect is very uncomfortable.  The most bothersome side effect is constipation.   I think I go to stop taking it and just live with these OAB symptoms for awhile and I hope they would go away in the near future. 

Three months after surgery.  The symptoms of OAB have not improved at all, and I told my doctor about this.  Well, he wanted to double up my oxybutynin and take laxative as needed to relieve constipation.  He said I could try another OAB drug but he said all could cause constipation.   I decided not to take any more drug for now because I just hate constipation.

At this time I am not even sure I have OAB because I only have frequent urination problem while sleeping.  From what I read on the web, I might have nocturia.  

In a nutshell, this is my current status

Before GL procedure	After GL procedure
Hesitant at start of urination	Full throttle
Weak urine stream	Pee like a horse
Dripping at the end	Full stop at the end
Imcomplete voiding	Completely empty
Frequent urination	Some what worsen at night
More control over urge to pee	Cold water would trigger strong urge to pee
I-PSS score  : 24	I-PSS score : 8 Mainly due to nocturia and urgency.

Four months after surgery.  No change on my night time urination problem.  In addition, I had slight stinging sensation during urination for the pass month or so.   I have found that red wine would let me sleep for about 3 hours then the hourly urination would return.  At first I thought the night time urination was due to alcohol intake so I stop drinking red wine for couple weeks just to see what happen.  What I found was as soon as went to sleep I had to pee about a hour later and continue do so hourly.  I also noticed washing my hands with cold water sometime would cause strong urge to urinate.  

It seems the Green Light surgery fixed one thing but created another problem.

Seven months after surgery.
Had a follow up visit with Dr. M.  At the clinic, I was told to pee and had an ultrasound scan on my bladder.  The result indicated that I was able to empty the bladder completely.  I told Dr. M that I still need to pee 4 to 5 times at night.  I told Dr. M that I haven't taken the oxybutynin because of the constipation problem.  He wanted me to try a different drug called Imipramine 25mg once daily before going to sleep.  He said this drup was intended as antidepressant but can be used to treat night time urination.  He said this drup should not cause constipation.  He wanted me to try it for 4 weeks and call him back with the result.  After I gone home I look up the info on the drug,  one of the common reported side effect is constipation, WTF ??? 

I tried the Imipramine for 6 weeks with no noticeable better result.  I told my doctor about this and he told me to double up on the dosage for another 6 weeks.  I decided not to do so because I just don't like the side effect.  Beside in my recent eye chect up, the eye pressure has increased to the point that I need eye drop to control it.  From what I read, Imipramine could affect eye pressure for some people, I just couldn't risk any more damage to what little vision I still have.

12 months after surgery.

I have noticed some of the pre-surgery urinary issues seem to resurface. At night, I have to strain a bit to start to pee and I have the feeling of not completely emptying the bladder sometime.   These issues are very minor and not that bothersome at this time.  I was told the GL procedure should help my urinary issues for 3 to 5 years for most people. This is really disappointing, I was hoping I don't need to deal with these issues for few years, I guess I am one of the unlucky one, but I have no regret with my decision on this surgery. 



Thank you for reading.  I would love to hear your experience.  Unless something change, no more undate on this post.


 

Reference material

I did not make the surgical decision lightly and I had done a lot of research before making that decision. Please google the following items for more information to help you which BPH treatment is right for you.  There many YouTube videos on the this subject too.

• BPH treatment options
• BPH symptom score 
• GreenLight Laser for BPH treatment
• TURP
• TURP vs. PVP
• Urolift
• Overactive bladder