Implants and BPH

[Stayingstrong]

Just got scheduled for Dec. 6. Dr. Eid in NYC is doing the procedure. Considering this my 70 th birthday gift to myself (70 years old on November 30)
I am prioritizing this over BPH issues since this holds greater importance to me than dealing with the typical BPH symptoms.
Anyone out there who had the implant prior to the BPH issues and/or treatment for it?

[Lost Sheep]

I don't think BPH would have any effect on the implant, nor the implant on your prostate. But I am not a medical professional. I do have one experience with one interaction between my implant (reservoir) and my prostate (now diagnosed as cancerous).

Advantage: If one eventually needs to have any procedure that affects erectile capacity (in my case an upcoming prostatectomy) one does not worry about ED.

Disadvantage: In my case we are doing an open prostatectomy as robotic/laparoscopic was deemed problematic due to the reservoir being right next to the prostate. This situation would vary, depending on location of the reservoir and experience of the surgeon.

Good luck.

[Stayingstrong]

Does the surgeon doing the prostatectomy see any issues working around the implant?

[Lost Sheep]

Does the surgeon doing the prostatectomy see any issues working around the implant?

Short answer, "no".

The first surgeon planned to do the prostatectomy robotically, but after seeing the images (CT scan and PET scan) thought the reservoir too close to the prostate to be sure of not damaging the reservoir. He is a highly experienced surgeon and reputed to be the best in my city, if not my state. But he had never done a prostatectomy on an implanted man; I would be his first. So, I opine he was being extra-cautious.

So, I elected to go with the surgeon who did my implant. I at first declined his services since he only does open prostatectomies. But when I interviewed him, he had the confidence that he could move the reservoir easier in an open procedure than in a robotic and if the reservoir or tubing were damaged, he could repair it right then and there. Metastasis is a MAJOR concern with my cancer diagnosis (no evidence yet of metastasis, but micro-metastasis rarely shows such evidence), so being able to move things around and take wide margins is an advantage of an open procedure, as well.

Post-op examination of removed tissues (margins around the prostate and a few lymph nodes) is VERY important to me, as there is a high likelihood of some invasion of the cancer outside the prostate gland.

[Stayingstrong]

I believe that I would have followed your logic as well.

[Rider1400]

I was being treated for BPH with drugs which had terrible side effects. Couldn’t cum and seemed to make my ED worse. At that point I was debating on having implant surgery before or after having a water oblation done on my prostate. The Dr I was seeing wanted to do a TURP, but I was not liking his old school thinking. Likely Would never cum again if you do that procedure. Was having problems with scheduling my procedure and finally completely pulled the plug on the BPH issues and went with the implant. I had asked my previous (prostate) Dr about which should be done first and he said didn’t matter. He had done many turps, oblation, and other radical removals on implanted patients and said it’s rarely any issue at all. At my consult with implant Dr I asked the same questions. He also stated that if I couldn’t find a Dr to do my prostate treatment after implant that I needed to keep looking as he or many other colleagues of his do them regularly on previously implanted patients. He did however mention that I should choose a Dr that has experience with implants as they understood the plumbing and how it all works. I’ve been implanted 16 months and my BPH is about the same , at this point I’m just dealing with it and will continue to do so until it becomes bad enough that I don’t have a Choice. I’ve found that cutting back on coffee and eliminating sodas helps a lot and drink lots of water has seemed to help with the BPH. After having implant I feel great about my decision to go with it and put off prostate issues. I was very qualified for prostate surgery and insurance pays to have it done, but I feel my ED was having a much greater impact on my quality of life than my prostate. Hope all goes well with your decision.

[Stayingstrong]

Thank you for that response.
Your situation and mindset regarding it matches me exactly.
My sex life is far more important than dealing with the BPH symptoms and, like you, the TURP that was recommended requires a long recovery and retrograde ejaculation is probable. That is just not acceptable to me, although the urologist acted like it was no big deal.