TURP Operation, Still Suffering

[ThaiPauly]

I had a TURP operation at Bangkok Hospital a week last Wednesday.

 

The surgeon was Dr. Wittawatt who is well thought of by some on this forum.

 

The problem is that 10 days now after the operation I am still in considerable pain when

I try and urinate. At first after the catheter was removed I had a good flow although painful, but now it's agony

and only a small stream comes out, but it keeps on coming out involuntarily. I also have a pain in the rectum whilst trying to pee.

I am not drinking as much water as I should i know because I know exactly what I am in for

afterwards. My penis also feels tender and it dribbles a lot. I just wear underpants in the house as it's not worth

wearing shorts as I constantly wet them, so I put a towel underneath me.

 

I had a follow up today and the doctor cannot understand why I am in this state 10 days later, normally things

settle down after 3 or 4.  I have still got a slight urine infection which I have been taking medication for from

day 1, and my biopsy came back negative so I know it's not cancer.

 

I am due to fly to the UK three weeks tomorrow but am now very worried that I will not be fit to travel.

I am taking painkillers every six hours to control the pain.

 

Getting up in the night to pee is the worst because the pain is so bad it fully wakes me up and I cannot then get back to sleep

much after 2am

 

I have decided after speaking to a friend who had a similar operation that I will once more up my water intake to 2 litres a day

and accept the consequences.

 

I am asking any of you guys out there is you have had any bad experiences with this procedure?, or just what your

experience of it was?

 

Thanks for reading.

[xylophone]

I feel sorry for you TP as I have been there, done that a few years back, with much the same sort of result for the first 3 weeks at least.

 

About three days after I was discharged from hospital as supposedly being "cured" and although not peeing normally, at least I was peeing, I found I was unable to pass water despite the urge to do so, and it didn't matter how hard I tried, nothing worked, so by the time I got to the hospital I was sweating profusely and almost on the point of collapse, so they rushed me into the emergency room and stuck a catheter down the old fella, which produced over 1.5 L of urine!

 

A catheter was inserted and a bag was attached and strapped to my leg and that's how I went about my business over the next week or so, even wearing it to bed so that I didn't have to get up in the night.

 

I was then told I would have to use a catheter around three times a day to retrain my bladder and was instructed on how to use it and despite the fact I thought it would be horrendous, it actually wasn't bad at all, with just a little pain initially until I got used to the procedure.

 

As I recall I did this for about a week, perhaps more before I was able to pee unaided, so to speak. So by the time I was due to fly back to Thailand (I had this operation in Melbourne) I was pretty well back to some sort of normal.

 

I don't know how severe your pain is, and although I only took painkillers for a few days, the pain wasn't that severe in my case.

 

From my research on this sort of operation, the surgeon has to be extremely careful as to how he operates on the prostate and how he deals with tissue around the bladder neck/entrance to the bladder because any damage to that part of the anatomy will result in leakage and pain, this until it tends to heal itself, given time.

 

You say that you are in "this state 10 days later", but I was in a similar situation a couple of weeks plus after my operation as to all intents and purposes they do not always go that smoothly.

 

I wish you all the best and hope that given a little more time, things will settle down for you, as they did for me.
 

[ThaiPauly]

Thank you for your very helpful response Xylophone, you have given me some hope that I may improve.

 

Luckily for me I can still pee though it hurts like H*ll, so I may get away without another catheter.

 

One thing I did not mention is that for me healing of any wound /operation takes longer as I have type 2 diebetis. But even sitting on my office chair is painful on my sternum, so I will now get back to the sofa

 

Thanks a lot for your words, they have given me some hope when I could not see a light at the end of the tunnel.

[xylophone]

26 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

Thank you for your very helpful response Xylophone, you have given me some hope that I may improve.

 

Luckily for me I can still pee though it hurts like H*ll, so I may get away without another catheter.

 

One thing I did not mention is that for me healing of any wound /operation takes longer as I have type 2 diebetis. But even sitting on my office chair is painful on my sternum, so I will now get back to the sofa

 

Thanks a lot for your words, they have given me some hope when I could not see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Your urine infection is not going to help TP.........if you still have it, has the Dr cultured it to find out what the bacteria is??

 

May have to change antibiotics if it is still there??

[ThaiPauly]

no, he just said i had a urine infection based on a urine sample.

 

he changed the original anti-biotics on Monday after i called him to tell him they were making me physically sick

[xylophone]

3 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

no, he just said i had a urine infection based on a urine sample.

 

he changed the original anti-biotics on Monday after i called him to tell him they were making me physically sick

Hmmm........what were you on and what are you on now??

[Lacessit]

You should not have these problems with a TURP. You need to push the surgeon harder, although here there is always the issue of face.

Unfortunately, in Thailand there is a bigger risk of botched surgery.

What kind of painkiller is prescribed? I would suggest oxycontin until you get back to the UK.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

am due to fly to the UK three weeks tomorrow but am now very worried that I will not be fit to travel.

I am taking painkillers every six hours to control the pain.

Adult diapers or have a catheter fitted.

Local government hospital will fit a catheter and bag for around 300bht.

Not great, but at least you'll be able to move around and fly.

I bought myself some fisherman's pants when I had to wear a catheter, really good for hiding the bag.

Edited September 7, 2019 by BritManToo

[ThaiPauly]

I am on Meiact anti-biotics now 400mg a day. The ones that made me puke were Cravit 750mg 1 a day

 

I am on tramol painkillers Lacessit. Can you get oxycontin from the pharmacy? Why do you recommend it?

They prescribed me Ultracet which is more or less the same as Tramol,,,but my wife can buy it for a fraction of the cost the hospital charge in Airport Plaza

[ThaiPauly]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Adult diapers or have a catheter fitted.

Local government hospital will fit a catheter and bag for around 300bht.

Not great, but at least you'll be able to move around and fly.

I bought myself some fisherman's pants when I had to wear a catheter, really good for hiding the bag.

I would not be so worried about the diapers or the catheter BritMan...it's the pain that will stop me. Plus I am going alone and don't know how I would lug a case around an airport in my present condition

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, ThaiPauly said:

I would not be so worried about the diapers or the catheter BritMan...it's the pain that will stop me. Plus I am going alone and don't know how I would lug a case around an airport in my present condition

Contact the airline and get them to take you around in a wheelchair, they will deal with the baggage.

[ThaiPauly]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Contact the airline and get them to take you around in a wheelchair, they will deal with the baggage.

As I am flying through the middle east I would have to be careful of what painkillers I was taking wouldn't I?

 

Maybe a doctors letter would do the trip.

 

But if I am deemed unfit to fly do airlines normally give you a refund or postpone until one is fit enough to fly? Never had to do it before, but I will give it one more week before I really consider it. My Dad would be mortified if I don't make it

[Lacessit]

13 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

I am on Meiact anti-biotics now 400mg a day. The ones that made me puke were Cravit 750mg 1 a day

 

I am on tramol painkillers Lacessit. Can you get oxycontin from the pharmacy? Why do you recommend it?

They prescribed me Ultracet which is more or less the same as Tramol,,,but my wife can buy it for a fraction of the cost the hospital charge in Airport Plaza

You would need`a hospital prescription. Not available from pharmacies direct.

I recommend it because injected morphine does nothing for me, whereas oxycontin is extremely effective. Everyone's physiology is different, so it is a matter of finding the most effective pharmaceutical for your circumstances.

[xylophone]

24 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You should not have these problems with a TURP. You need to push the surgeon harder, although here there is always the issue of face.

Unfortunately, in Thailand there is a bigger risk of botched surgery.

What kind of painkiller is prescribed? I would suggest oxycontin until you get back to the UK.

Generally, I agree with your post, and there may be something amiss as regards the operation, as I did infer when I mentioned the bladder neck, however I had my TURP done privately in one of the best hospitals in Australia, the Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, done by one of the top urologists and I still had some problems for a while afterwards.

 

Having said that, I have experienced the "saving face" aspect of a doctor here and because he just kept prescribing different antibiotics for my UTI, despite me asking him to culture one of the samples, I ended up in a serious condition and having to have intravenous injections for 14 to 16 days on trips to the hospital, this with a very rare antibiotic.

 

And it cost me a lot of money.

 

I just hope ThaiPauly recovers fully in time for his trip.
 

[jonwilly]

Over ten years now since I last had a TURP procedure. I wore a bag and catheter for about a week before it was removed.

Just an enlarged Prostate Gland now which causes too many visits to toilet if I drink of an evening.

 

john

[scubascuba3]

 
But if I am deemed unfit to fly do airlines normally give you a refund or postpone until one is fit enough to fly?

Will depend on the terms of your ticket if you can pay and change the date

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

12 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

As I am flying through the middle east I would have to be careful of what painkillers I was taking wouldn't I?

Yes it might matter.  Which country?

[ThaiPauly]

I am flying with Gulf so I would imagine Abu Dabi, I can't be bothered to get all my paperwork out I'm in too much pain

[Sheryl]

I am on Meiact anti-biotics now 400mg a day. The ones that made me puke were Cravit 750mg 1 a day

 

I am on tramol painkillers Lacessit. Can you get oxycontin from the pharmacy? Why do you recommend it?

They prescribed me Ultracet which is more or less the same as Tramol,,,but my wife can buy it for a fraction of the cost the hospital charge in Airport Plaza

You cannot get oxycontin anywhere in Thailand. It is not approved for use here and never has been. It is also out of favor back in the West as it is the main source of the epidemic of opioid addiction. In fact manufacturers are being sued. Whatever you do, do not mention this drug to your doctor. Not only is it unavailable but it will likely make him think you are an addict/drug seeker.

 

Outpatient unless suffering from terminal cancer your options are:

 

- paracetemol with codeine (controlled, have to get from hospital. Very constipating and may also cause nausea).

 

' Tramadol - can buy in pharmacy

 

- NSAIDS and paracetemol

 

While people tend to assume narcotic is better than NSAID this is not necessarily true. If the pain is due to inflammation NSAID may be best as it reduces the inflammation which narcotics do not.

 

You should not be having this degree of pain 10 days post op. Some problems with urine flow yes, can take weeks or even months to straighten out, but severe pain is abnormal and needs investigation.

 

If your doctor is not tsking it seriously and doing investigative tests see a diffetent urologist. Soon.

 

 

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

I would add that if you are so severely ill that you doubt ability to fly/being allowed on a plane you should go directly to the ER if SuanDoc/Sripat. Something is very wrong.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[ThaiPauly]

I have just got back from Bangkok Hospital where I have had a catheter fitted.

 

Just as well as it half filled immediately. So any danger I was in has passed for now as long as I keep the catheter in.

 

Sheryll, you say go to ER at Suan Doc but I went to supposedly the best Urologist in CM at what is supposed to be the best hospital in CM. It would have been much cheaper to have the operation at a government hospital but this Doctor was recommended on this forum and was trained by Dr.Bunnakit.

 

What on earth is a guy gonna have to do to get it right in this country?

 

I will be speaking to Dr.Wittawatt first thing in the morning to see what he has to say for himself and where we are supposed to go from here

[BritManToo]

20 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

Sheryll, you say go to ER at Suan Doc but I went to supposedly the best Urologist in CM at what is supposed to be the best hospital in CM.

Bangkok Hospital is the most expensive hospital in Chiang Mai.

Suan Doc is the best.

IMHO.

 

But at least you've got the catheter in, which i hope is giving you some relief now.

Edited September 8, 2019 by BritManToo

[uhuh]

1 hour ago, ThaiPauly said:

I am flying with Gulf so I would imagine Abu Dabi, I can't be bothered to get all my paperwork out I'm in too much pain

Gulf is from Bahrain, nothing to do with Abu Dhabi. Different country. 

Anyway, now you have a catheter there should be no reason why you should be unable to fly. To make sure, see a doctor 2 days before departure. And of course,  follow Sheryl's advice above

 

Edited September 8, 2019 by uhuh

[uhuh]

43 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

oxycontin... is also out of favor back in the West as it is the main source of the epidemic of opioid addiction.

 

Make this "back in the USA".

It is (still?) quite popular in some European countries where there is no opioid addiction crisis (yet).

[ThaiPauly]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Bangkok Hospital is the most expensive hospital in Chiang Mai.

Suan Doc is the best.

IMHO.

 

But at least you've got the catheter in, which i hope is giving you some relief now.

You are not joking it is the most expensive, but there was no mention on here of a decent urologist at Suan Doc

 

Also, how long can you keep a catheter in before it needs replacing? Obviously I can empty the one I have, but after a TURP operation I should never need a catheter!!!

[ThaiPauly]

26 minutes ago, uhuh said:

Gulf is from Bahrain, nothing to do with Abu Dhabi. Different country. 

Anyway, now you have a catheter there should be no reason why you should be unable to fly. To make sure, see a doctor 2 days before departure. And of course,  follow Sheryl's advice above

 

As I said ,it was a guess I had more important issues to think about at the time

[BritManToo]

35 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

You are not joking it is the most expensive, but there was no mention on here of a decent urologist at Suan Doc

 

Also, how long can you keep a catheter in before it needs replacing? Obviously I can empty the one I have, but after a TURP operation I should never need a catheter!!!

Catheter is usually good for 3-4 weeks, before changing.

Some people make them last a bit longer.

Hang the bag by the loop from your knickers at the side, then fisherman's pants over the top (in case they didn't tell you).

Edited September 8, 2019 by BritManToo
typo

[ThaiPauly]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Catheter is usually good for 3-4 weeks, before changing.

Some people make than last a bit longer.

Takes a bit of getting used to....you have not had a TURP op I don't think, have you BM ?

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

Takes a bit of getting used to....you have not had a TURP op I don't think, have you BM ?

No, I'm only a recent sufferer, and the drugs seem to work just fine for me (6 months in now).

Looked at TURP as an idea, then rejected it as too risky with incontinence/impotence/pain as possible side-effects.

Edited September 8, 2019 by BritManToo

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

7 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

I am flying with Gulf so I would imagine Abu Dabi, I can't be bothered to get all my paperwork out I'm in too much pain

Gulf Air will transit in Bharain.  Here is the relevant text from the Customs website -

 

"Passengers may bring into the country, medicines for personal use only. An original prescription from a registered medical practitioner must be enclosed (stamped and signed by the relevant medical authority with full details of the patient and medical condition). All medication should be in original packaging and should not have expired.

 Hallucinatory or psychotropic medicines and drugs are not permitted without a prior approval from the Ministry of Health.  Any passenger found with such medicines will be liable to prosecution under the relevant laws."

 

http://www.bahraincustoms.gov.bh/page.php?SID=WTBkR2JscFVNREZPYVZwMFVGUlpiV015TURsT1ZFazk%3D