Peeing , what to do?

[positive-thinking]

My husband has had issues with peeing for years ( probably why stage 4 at diagnosis, cause blamed BPH) . He recently finished last chemo 3 weeks ago and is again noticing a change when peeing. Says that he feels a great deal of pressure towards the end of the pee stream and feels like the end of his dick is going to pop off from the pressure feeling, weak stream, spray on and off, hard to start flow. We see the doctor tomorrow and will be bringing this up. My questions is will an ultra sound be the best test to see what is going on? We only have ultrasound/cat scans/ and MRI machines here where we live. What is the best one to ask about? Also if this is BPH is a TURP the best option for him? Appreciate your advice.

[positive-thinking]

I think it is called TURP? Anyone have this done with cancer in prostrate?

[APK3 in reply to positive-thinking]

Yes. I had it done (Turp)6 weeks before I started treatment for stage 4 prostate cancer. I'm glad I did. It resolved my urinary flow problems. Walking around with a catheter for a week was no fun,but I'm glad I had it done .

[positive-thinking in reply to APK3]

Thanks so much for your reply, were you experiencing the similar symptoms that my husband is currently having? We are hoping it is not the cancer but the same issue they never resolved before ( BPH)

[APK3]

Pretty similar. Hard time starting.. dribbling.. whizzing many times a day.. getting up alot at night. Made an appointment with my new primary doctor. He thought BPH. Did a PSA as my old doctor had retired and I hadn't had a PSA for a few years. PSA came back @ 139. I knew then I was in trouble...Went in to the urologist. They scanned my bladder...Saw I was retaining urine. They scoped me to see what the blockage was...Did a biopsy to confirm cancer..Scheduled a Turp the next week. Started triplet therapy 6 weeks later. Just finished my last chemo session two days ago.

[positive-thinking in reply to APK3]

Was the TURP an overnight in hospital? Lots of pain? How long before you recovered ?

Thanks

[APK3 in reply to positive-thinking]

Yes it was an overnight stay..They gave me pain meds while I was there. Kinda standard. Didn't use any after I left to go home the next day although they gave me a weeks worth of loritabs. It was uncomfortable with the catheter but I wasn't in enough pain to medicate. I'd say it was about 6 weeks for me before I felt like I healed up a bit. About 12 weeks before I felt completely fixed. I empty much better now .Some days better than others as I ended up with a sticture from where they left the catheter in for too long and it adhered to my prostate. Took two nurses to pull it out. That wasn't fun but it was the worst of it as far as pain for me anyway.

[APK3]

My life is much better after the Turp procedure. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with urinary issues any longer. Dealing with cancer treatments is hard enough. Good luck with your doctor visit.. Hopefully just inflammation.

[spencoid2]

I have severe urination problems a lot of the time. I can make no sense of it. I am finally getting a referral to a urologist associated with the UCSF gerontological urological team which specializes in prostate cancer. I have severe pain at time bleeding retention etc. Some time I am OK and at other times not and I just can't figure it out. Hopefully I will finally get some answers.

The main reason I am replying is to warn you that if you had radiation treatments, it may take a very long time to heal from a TURP.

There is a procedure called Urolift which is the installation of little things that are sort of like rivets that pull your urethra open. It was specifically developed to help people who had had radiation treatment and who were not good candidates for a TURP. I had a TURP on an emergency basis and I have still not healed completely after 4 years. I had radiation 11 years ago to the prostate. Irradiated tissue heals very badly.

If you have BPH and have not been irradiated a TURP might be the answer. I would find a good urologist and get a cystoscopy There is an imaging technique called a urogram which is specifically for diagnosing urinary issues. It is a CT scan. It was suggested for me but no one has actually ordered it. I hope the specialists at UCSF can make sense of my situation. I am really tired of the pain and other issues.

I have been experimenting with plantain tea and also an extract and think it might help lessen retention but my symptoms vary so much I can not tell if it really does help or if recovery is spontaneous and would have happened without the plantain.

[positive-thinking in reply to spencoid2]

Thanks for the reply, my husband has never had any radiation at all. I sure hope you find answers soon. Thanks so very much for all the information, I have wrote this imagining ( CT ) down to talk to urologist about as he is calling in June. The very best to you

[Tonyliv]

I had a bladder neck incision, to widen the bladder where the enlarged prostate was strangling the urethra. Helped a lot. I’m stage 4 and RP was not an option.

[positive-thinking in reply to Tonyliv]

Thanks , glad it helped . Sounds like they really need to investigate what's going on , than proceed. The doctor we seen yesterday was in no way having any scans done. We have an actual neurologist calling on /June 6 the and may be more help. Thanks

[Tonyliv in reply to positive-thinking]

I had a cystoscopy; camera up the penis.

[Big_Mcc]

I had TURP prior to cancer diagnosis. Worked amazingly well. Diagnosed with prostate cancer 7 months after the TURP but I still pee well 10 yrs later.

[traxcavator in reply to Big_Mcc]

What I did is to buy 10 straight catheters on Ebay. When I had/have problems, I insert the catheter. The straight catheters are a bit more rigid than a Foley, so they're easier to insert. Instructions online. If there is restriction, it helps to spin the catheter gently. I wrap a piece of toilet paper around the outermost end of the catheter because the lube makes it hard to get a grip.

I try to be as clean as possible, and reuse the catheter lubing it with KY jelly or Astroglide. If there is any pain stop. For me there are two points where there is restriction: first at what's left of my prostate, and then the urinary sphincter. When fully inserted there is around 11 inches in from the tip of the penis. After use, I rinse the catheter thoroughly inside and out, then rinse again before re-inserting.

A little over a week ago I had Ireversible ElectroPoration. (More on that in a separate post.) They didn't put in a Foley at the beginning of the procedure. I was up 10 or more times that night with the straight catheter. There was some swelling in the prostate area that was restricting flow.

The next day I went back to get a Foley installed. That was the most painful experience of my life. It took around two hours for a couple of radiology interns to get it in. Meanwhile my bladder was getting more and more full. When they finally got it in, there was around a liter of urine. It appears that they bruised the urinary sphincter, and until last night that was preventing urination without a catheter. I took the Foley out after five days because of the discomfort and concern that I was out of antibiotic. (Given the amount of pain getting it in, I was concerned that there might be infection without the antibiotic.)

I've been taking Oxybutinin for bladder spasms. I take it until a little after lunch because I don't want it interfering with my beer and wine habit. For now I'm taking Cefdinir (antibiotic) to avoid infection. I started Flowmax generic yesterday noon. That coincided with less need for catheter. Some one of these may be making my throat irritated. As soon as I feel confident enough, I'll stop the medications.

From one of my scans, they tell me I have a colon diverticulum. It may cause pressure on the urethra. In which case an enema helps to get the volume down. I'll be trying to address the diverticulum issue in a few weeks.

John

[spencoid2 in reply to traxcavator]

I had great difficulty inserting any catheter for a long time. The I discovered the Tieman tip which is between straight and Coude and is tapered. Coude often bunched up instead of going through and straight was also difficult. The Tieman is just right I can get it in when totally blocked. I also bought some very large three way catheters on E-Bay thinking that they so stiff that I coiuld get one in in an emergency and could flush with diluted hydrogen peroxide if there was a lot of crap that was blocking the small lumen of the 14 FR catheters. Never had to nor had the nerve to use one yet.

[Islandboy2021]

I had issues urinating. Was taking Flowmax. After chemotherapy I had my prostate radiated and this helped with urinating. I have had problems since. Shrinking the prostate was the best fix.

[positive-thinking in reply to Islandboy2021]

Wonder if radiation or TURP is less risk for side effects? I know that both have side effects but wonder why they chose radiation for you and not TURP?

[Islandboy2021]

I should make a correction that I haven’t had any problems since the radiation to the prostate. The radiologist believed that 20 targeted beams to the prostate would shrink it. Like I said after the treatment I was able to urinate without any problems.

Originally I was diagnosed with BHP before the cancer diagnosis. They gave me antibiotics for the BHP and I had no idea, I should have been more proactive and did my own research. I was ignorant and had no idea of the importance of stopping the disease early.