Waterworks problems

Jun 18, 2008
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I'm telling this story because I am aware that there are very many male caravanners out there in the age bracket where things start to deteriorate in the water works department and may, like I was, be in line for TURP or BNI procedures. The good news is that it isn't all bad news! (in retrospect anyway).

Sunday 23 May - fabulous sunny day travelling back from hot days at Nunnykirk CC site. Monday 24 May - different! This was prostate op day. The hospital arranged a taxi for 06.30 - very good. Arrived at the 'Arrivals Lounge' at 06.50. Doors locked. Another chap already knocking at the door. After a while a person arrived who slightly reluctantly let us in. 'We don't open till 07.15 but you can wait in there'. After that things progressed gradually until at around 11.30 I was on the table in a very undignified position. You mothers would probably recognize it! I'm glad I wasn't looking at me from the surgeon's end of the table! One of the surgeons was introduced to me as a student - so I thought I was going to be practiced on by the apprentice! However, 'student' is relative as he already been in training for seven years. The first job he was given was to paint my nethers with antiseptic - nice work if you can get it! He did seem to have a bit of a problem getting the camera the right way round, but then don't we all? I had opted for a spinal anaesthetic so I was wide awake watching the whole proceedings on the monitor as the camera and instruments intruded up my dignity. This meant I could also chat to the surgeon and anaethstatist, who it turned out was interested in the caravanning world and was looking to buy a VW T5 camper conversion. I told him it would set him back 40 grand or so, but I suppose this is small change to people in his profession - and his wife was a doctor too. After about 50 minutes of slicing and scraping my insides the job was done and they stuck what felt like a half-inch hose up there. That stayed put for the next 24 hours - what a relief to get it taken out!

The next stage of the process was waiting in the recovery room for a bed to become available. Through some administrative mishap the ward I was to be taken to wasn't expecting me until the evening so my wait was longer than planned. Still, this gave me the chance to observe some of the other patients coming out of the theatres - I realised my situation was very mild in comparison with some and this put things into perspective. After some time (not evening after all) I was taken to the ward and to my great relief I was given a single private room. This was very much appreciated as the nature of the condition means that privacy is important - it was to me anyway. The rest of the ward was open-plan and had about 20 beds and seemed old fashioned to me. However a new hospital is nearing completion so I hope the environment will improve for future people going through this in our town.

Not having been in hospital for at least 50 years I was not familiar with the routines and found that time passes only very slowly. I would say that the treatment I got from the nurses was fairly impersonal, but not unfriendly. It was mostly that they seemed so busy, so that sometimes they would promise to come along to do some procedure then forget about it for a while. This was annoying when I had to produce samples then get scanned within ten minutes - I had to go through the process again a couple of times before things got co-ordinated. I was also amazed at the hours the nurses worked - 12 to 14 hour shifts. Can they still be fully efficient at the end of a shift?

On Tuesday morning (day 2) the doctor pronounced me fit to go home that day as tests showed things were functioning ok. Wonderful! Unfortunately I had a bit of a set-back and had some pain in the nether regions, so didn't get chucked out until Wednesday midday. Still, I suppose 2 ´ days wasn't bad for what was significant surgery.

I am now taking things easy at home. My plumbing seems to be recovering reasonably well considering what it has gone through (or what has gone through it!) though there are brief moments of discomfort that I won't go into to and I don't think I'll run a marathon today. Mrs Meldrew2 has put me under strict house-arrest for the next week. I am taking advantage of the enforced idleness, though I may go stir crazy pretty soon. I'm not one for day-time TV! I can't wait to attack those squashed bugs on the front of the caravan that battered us on the journey back from Northumberland. The important thing is that I am back to full form by the end of June for our planned 3-month Europe caravan trip.

By the way, the last stage in the hospital process is being sent to what they call in our hospital the 'Discharge Lounge'. I think they could have thought of a better name, given all the unpleasant discharges that occur in hospitals! Any suggestions?
 
Jan 19, 2008
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At our local hospital it's called the Departure Lounge.

My plumbing has been getting furred up for a few years now. Usual nightly trips to the Karzi. I've also had the symptoms of a bloated tiddle-tank with sometimes colicky pains. Her Ladyship has been on to me for ages to go to my doctor. When on the ambulance service I'd seen the investigative procedure done in theatre to examine the prostate and didn't fancy the doc doing this incase I had a homophobic reaction :O(

My wife mentioned my nocturnal wanderings to the doc when she was attending the surgery for a problem with her knee and he informed her that it can now be done with a blood test :O)

This I did and they checked for prostate problems along with glucose levels, kidney function and bugs in the blood. All was ok except for glucose levels but after having another blood test after fasting that was ok.

I'm still up and down to the Karzi a few times in the night but at least my prostate is clear and I'm not incontinent ... heh! heh! heh!
 
Aug 12, 2007
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I have to say I've just laughed myself silly over your tale - probably not what you want to hear, and I wasn't really laughing at your misfortunes, just your wonderfully comic delivery of it all! You have an amazingly descriptive way of telling the story which brings it to life most (startlingly!) vividly.

I've been feeling a bit down in the dumps the last few days, and your story cheered me up no end, so thank you!

And I hope your nether regions are very soon back to normal, everything working as it should be, and pain free. :eek:)
 
Jun 18, 2008
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My situation was that although I had very few symptoms typical of prostate problems I had urine retention which could have potentially led to kidney failure, so the consultant said. It was therefore imperative that I undergo this surgery to safeguard my long term health. The short term (I hope!) discomfort should be worth it and I would recommend anybody who has such problems to get them resolved the hard way! Beware of Tamsulosin (Flomax) which is now available over the counter, as using it without doctor's knowledge could mask conditions such as mine.
 
Jun 18, 2008
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I have to say I've just laughed myself silly over your tale - probably not what you want to hear, and I wasn't really laughing at your misfortunes, just your wonderfully comic delivery of it all! You have an amazingly descriptive way of telling the story which brings it to life most (startlingly!) vividly.

I've been feeling a bit down in the dumps the last few days, and your story cheered me up no end, so thank you!

And I hope your nether regions are very soon back to normal, everything working as it should be, and pain free. :eek:)
Thank you Soozeeg - glad to hear my story cheered you up. You can nearly always find the funny side of situations! Perhaps I should have also described the incident with the saline drip stand!
 

Mel

Mar 17, 2007
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Glad you are on the mend vm and well done for going to the doctor in the first place. Most men don't. Of course they cover this up with being macho, but us "girlies" (who bravely suffer all sorts of indignities to our nethers) know that they are really too scared. So come on chaps toughen up and follow vm's example.

I'm going to hide now.

mel
 
Oct 30, 2009
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hi vm, glad to hear your op went well and are now on the mend, when blokes of our age start having "P" problems it is a worry you suspect the worst but wont do anything about it in the belief that it will cure itself "of course it never does" like LB I had the usual symtoms but ignored them for a long time.

untill it got so bad I dared not drink anything for hours beforehand if I had to go somewhere, cos 10 mins later "busting" but nowhere to go senario.

I mentioned my problem to the doctor while in the surgery for something else and he did a blood test 2 days later phone call

come to see me, worried I went down he said your blood sugar levels are quite high go to hospital for GTT test "glucose tolerance test" which I did, turns out I am now diabetic. blood sugar level was over 24". normal is about 5.5.

that was 8 months ago with careful management (and a box full of smarties/tablets) I have got it down to 6.1.

I still have the "P" problem allthough it is nowhere near as bad now and I do miss all the sweet stuff??? but at least the prostrate is in good order and I have the satifaction of knowing what the problem is.

so if anyone reads this and is a male 55+ and has a "P" problem?? go see the doctor, you know it makes sense.

colin
 
Jul 6, 2009
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I hope you are well on the mend now Colin and not bursting to get out of bed every night. I am writing to tell fellows of our age not to be afraid to tell their docs about your night visits. I think they expect you to have these problems because my doc asked me as a "by the way"so I admitted I had a problem. He did a blood test and the finger test and declared I had benign prostate something or other. I now take a 1mg tablet everyday and sleep through the night, Wonderful!

I walk with a few pals on Wednesdays and we called ourselves he 3 o'clock club!!. I daren't tell than I don't qualify anymore.

Seriously, don't be afraid to tell your doctor, it may mean less trips to the chemical waste disposal unit.
 
Aug 4, 2004
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My situation was that although I had very few symptoms typical of prostate problems I had urine retention which could have potentially led to kidney failure, so the consultant said. It was therefore imperative that I undergo this surgery to safeguard my long term health. The short term (I hope!) discomfort should be worth it and I would recommend anybody who has such problems to get them resolved the hard way! Beware of Tamsulosin (Flomax) which is now available over the counter, as using it without doctor's knowledge could mask conditions such as mine.
Thanks for the heads up on Flomax as I was going to try it.
 
Jan 12, 2007
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hi all

for my sins im a hgv driver (im hgv positive if you really want to know :) )

well when i was 45 i had to undergo a medical....and part of the medical was the cup and cough test,which wasnt too bad

so when i was reaching 50 a work mate who is in his 50s said to me that the doctor didnt do the cup and cough test at 50 he did the bend over and sing moonriver test which at first i was worried about but thinking about it,im glad that these tests are carried out because if i didnt have to have a medical every 5yrs to keep my hgv licence i might never know about problems untill it was too late

hgv dave
 
Aug 4, 2004
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I take disapan at night so only wake up 3 or 4 times but duringt he day every half an hour. If I go for a beer after the second beer I am up and down like a yo yo. Quite embarrasing and sort of curtails your social life. Got an appointment with a specialist in September. Darn long time to wait. Also got an appointment with a specilalist for a rear end problem at end of June.
 
Jun 18, 2008
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I take disapan at night so only wake up 3 or 4 times but duringt he day every half an hour. If I go for a beer after the second beer I am up and down like a yo yo. Quite embarrasing and sort of curtails your social life. Got an appointment with a specialist in September. Darn long time to wait. Also got an appointment with a specilalist for a rear end problem at end of June.
Ian

Sorry to hear that your condition sounds a major disturbance to your life - I'm shocked you are having to wait so long to see a specialist though. I took prescribed Tamsulosin whilst waiting for surgery and it was very helpful but as the surgeon said, could lead to a false sense of security. I hope the outcome of your diagnosis is positive and you don't need surgery. Although it wasn't suitable in my case, Green Light Laser surgery seems to be the modern method of treatment with few side effects. My recovery progresses a little at a time, but tomorrow I'll be back driving again - yippee!
 
Nov 5, 2006
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Iv had the symptoms for a few years But having had the rear end periscope tests a few time all seems to be ok.I must say the reversing camera job isnt to painfull,That is until they attach the flash camera.that tends to make one's eyes water
 
Aug 4, 2004
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The worse thing is the long wait to see a specialaist a all sorts of negtive thoughts are created which don't help much. Wouldn't be so bad if the wait was only for a few weeks not a few months.
 
Aug 1, 2007
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The waiting is the worst bit of any ailment

We are not wealthy people But now we enquire how much a private Consultation will for the initial assessment then go NHS for treatment

Good luck any way and hope things do not get any worse in the mean time
 
Jun 18, 2008
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I've now been back home for two weeks, generally taking things easy but I was back driving short distances a week ago. Freedom!

Driving 180 miles to London tomorrow. Pretty well all post-op discomfort/inconveniences have gradually disappeared now, improving day by day and if I was in a peeing contest with a horse, I wouldn't put money on the horse! I would recommend to anyone diagnosed with BPH to ask their GP if TURP surgery would be appropriate. The short period of discomfort may well prove a very good investment! Don't put it off!
 
Jun 8, 2010
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I've now been back home for two weeks, generally taking things easy but I was back driving short distances a week ago. Freedom!

Driving 180 miles to London tomorrow. Pretty well all post-op discomfort/inconveniences have gradually disappeared now, improving day by day and if I was in a peeing contest with a horse, I wouldn't put money on the horse! I would recommend to anyone diagnosed with BPH to ask their GP if TURP surgery would be appropriate. The short period of discomfort may well prove a very good investment! Don't put it off!
Hi, You have just given me a good laugh, not at your ailments, but how you decribe them. I am a nurse, and find that men dont usually talk about their P problem, so well done. If you were women we would be having a contest to see who had the worst symptoms, and the best cures... lol. So well done all to bring this subject up, and good luck. x
 

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