Do you remember the public bathroom with a stall that required a nickel to open the door? It is reported that most Americans are chronically dehydrated. I am not one of the 70%-80% that are in that category. I drink water like crazy, which also means I go to the bathroom a lot.
For close to a decade I noticed that in the winter my urge and frequency of urination was excessive. The last several years have required way too many bathroom breaks, especially at night. Despite my dad requiring medical intervention several times for his prostate when he was over 55 years of age, I was completely uneducated about a mans prostate. Here is what I have learned.
First, and most importantly, I am not a doctor. Double-check everything I say in case I have erred. The prostate surrounds the urethra. The prostate tends to grow as a man ages. The swelling prostate can pinch the drain pipe from the bladder. BPH, benign prostate hyperplasia, is so common in senior men that my urologist’s office uses the term freely, under the assumption I should know exactly what it is. 30% of men have an enlarged prostate by age 50; and by the age of 80, 90% of men will require medical treatment for an enlarged prostate.
I have spent the last year being treated by my urologist for BPH. He also confirmed that cold weather weakens the muscles making urination problems even more excessive. I have found that about half of the men my age have the same issue as I and want to talk and learn more, or have their own stories to tell about BPH.
My first visit in February had me completing the questionnaire that pretty much tells the doctor I have BPH. Of course, he also had to use the finger test. I will not elaborate. My doctor suggested a surgical procedure called the Urolift. He started me on a prescription of Tamsolosin. I now know it is generic Flomax. Most men can achieve some relief with medicine. I did not. Now after almost a year of treatment and multiple conversations, I learn that many men do not really find much help from the medicine, and many take multiple prescriptions. I suspect the one reason they can live with it better than me is they avoid liquids and stay chronically dehydrated.
By May I knew I had to act. The meds did not help. I could not sit through an hour meeting without visiting the bathroom. I have no problem taking excessive bathroom breaks while out on the farm, but I could not live my entire life outstanding in the fields with my back turned to the road. I also remembered that the previous winter I had some episodes where the urge came so quickly I could barely get my gloves off and sort through all the layers of clothes before, well, you know what happened.
A summer visit where the urologist examined my bladder with a camera and did a flow test confirmed the BPH diagnosis. We needed to make sure we had the real problem before we surgically altered my prostate to give me urinary relief, so to speak. I deferred the surgery to Nov 11 since the recovery required limited activity for several weeks. At each doctor’s visit they ask if I can give a urine sample. My answer is always the same, “Every 7 minutes that is why I am here.”
A 30-minute surgery used implants to pull the enlarged prostate away from my plumbing. About 5% of patients have bleeding and have to go home with a catheter. I won that lottery. The next day I thought I followed the nurse’s instructions correctly to remove the catheter. It did not work as planned. I can tell you this; laughing while removing the catheter does not help the process.
Relief was not instantaneous. There is no need to recount the stinging I endured while voiding that first week. I now know that voiding is the medical term for peeing. This last week, a full 30 days from surgery, I am now making it to 4 or 5 am before I wake up to void. Some nights I go twice, but no more 4-5 trips per night. The doctor said that it could take up 6 to months for the bladder muscles to recondition; my brain is actually what needs to be retrained the most.
The surgery was not cheap; it was $18,000. If I live another 25 years and save 3 bathroom trips per night, those 27,375 visits to the bathroom cost me $.65 per trip. That is a lot more than the nickel in 1970; I guess that is inflation. I must also state, I never paid a nickel when I was a kid. I built up my immunity by crawling under the door. I also saved that money and invested it so I could afford the surgery. But I joke about a serious issue. BPH should not be left untreated; bladder, kidney and urinary tract problems are inevitable if ignored for too long.
Tonight I will pour a beer and raise my glass in a toast to the man who decided he would let a doctor do that first prostate procedure with a surgical instrument up his, well…. Never mind. I think he was a very brave man.
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