November 16, 2012
FridayLiz and I met with Dr. Bruce today for my pre-op meeting for the TURP scheduled for December 10th. Liz was interested in reviewing my need for the TURP and I was interested in finding out more about why Dr. Bruce thought I needed a month of recuperation time afterwards.
Dr. Bruce started with a new drawing of my bladder and prostate: this guy likes to draw, evidently. And he is quite good at describing things through illustrations. So, he gave us
the brief re-explanation of what was going on; adding more than last time... adding that the "median-lobe" of my prostate was flopping over at times and that even though now-a-days they usually can do laser surgery, when there is a median-lobe situation they go back to the traditional form of surgery. Liz asked if we still need to have the surgery if the original symptoms aren't continuing, and I reported that there is no longer any urgency about urination since I've been taking the Finasteride, and that I am not having as much frequency at night. We spent the next 30 minutes or so with Dr. Bruce doing a cost / benefit analysis of doing or not doing the TURP. On the benefit side of doing the TURP, I stave off any possible recurrence of bladder stones, and there's less chance of pressure build-up in the bladder. On the cost side of the TURP, my ejaculate will not include semen afterwards, and I will return to having the same chance any older man has of future prostate cancer after stopping the Finasteride. On the benefit side of not doing the surgery, I can keep taking Finasteride which lowers the chance of prostate cancer, and will not have to have this surgery as long as my symptoms don't return. So, that is good news. We set another appointment for 6 months.
