I'm guessing that has to be the main reason many guys resist it forever. Using a catheter would be better than losing wood forever.

My buddy I spoke of only caths before bed. I could live with that I guess.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I'd rather live without wood than die after a very few years....

Never underestimate cancer ~ it's nasty bad stuff .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

The be in BPH is BENIGN, you don't die of it. And it's unlikely that you lose erectile function treating it, no matter which option you choose. PC is a different story.

I often wonder if I am overblown on the anxiety part. My friend/client I spoke of earlier says his pencil still has good lead, no difficulty whatsoever there.

And going the surgery route yields tissue to examine, so it might be a good way to discover cancer early on.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

You really need to know whether the problem is benign prostatic hyperplasia or prostate cancer.

BPH is a normal consequence of aging, and only needs to be treated if it causes symptoms like incontinence, urinary retention or bleeding. If it's BPH, the surgery is hardly worthy of the word...basically a rotor rooter job, which clears a bit of tissue from around the urethra. That's called a TURP...transurethral resection of prostate. There are more modern techniques which use lasers, heat, or cryo, but afaik, all are minimally invasive transurethral procedures. A traditional turp will allow the "chips" to be examined for cancer, but cancer isn't often detected this way. The erectile nerves normally run along the surface of the prostate, while any transurethral procedure extracts material from the core, so the probability of erectile dysfunction is relatively low.

I don't like taking alpha blokcer drugs like Flomax for BPH, not even as a temporary stopgap. These drugs are linked to long lasting changes to eye tissues which make eye surgery more dangerous. And if you have BPH, you're probably coming up to the age of cataracts, too.

Prostate cancer is a malignant condition. It can also cause enlargement, incontinence, retention, and so on. But it's usually asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis and detected by rising PSA levels in the blood, followed by a biopsy. As I mentioned, there are about 20 surgical, radiological and pharmaceutical techniques for treating PC, all of them carry the risk of permanent dysfunction and/or incontinence. The technique for not treating PC is to wait and see if it kills you. Which it eventually will if something else doesn't get you first.

If these things have become a concern for you, then welcome to the rest of your life.

I've already entered into the anxiety zone. I have a hernia on my right side that will almost certainly need surgery. Had the CT scan maybe 10 days ago on a Friday, my PCP calls me on Monday saying yes, hernia, appt. with surgeon eval upcoming, but also found something suspicious on one of the inlets to the kidneys, forget what it's called. Needs to be investigated now she said.

So who knows, I certainly don't. I have an appointment on Jan 7 on that one. I'm not worried. But then I have a superman complex.

ETA: I agree on Flomax. I've been using it for about 6 months. It helps but it doesn't give racehorse peeing. It's a good point. Would one do better to run the uncertain risks of surgery as opposed to the more certain risks of long term beta blocker usage?

Bonus item: my Korean Zen teacher said there's an old saying in Korea: don't lend a man money if he can't dig a hole in the ground with his pee.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

hah hah!

Good luck on the exam.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Maybe you should begin another thread on hernias, I've had two inguinal, left and right with recurrences and a failed surgery .

Don't wait to get the hernia repaired, do it ASAP .

Don't be afraid, just be aware and be pro active on whatever they find .

Watch your blood's PST levels like a hawk .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

That's a new one on me, I did a search and I'm still not sure.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Go find and read the Snowbum articles, they'll open your eyes .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

PSA test is pretty much a constant beyond a certain age. My doctor in the last decade told me I still have the prostate of a young man. For the good it does me I suppose.

What that examination did for me. It indicated that some change of the prostate was probably normal over the years. I do not know the best age to start.

Yet everything indicates a yearly extensive blood testing and urine testing. Will head off conditions that more often than suspected will present for some form of treatment.

Few of us last the distance without some issue or issues. I believe for example that beyond a certain age. If your doctor does not have you on 81mg of asprin daily. You might ask him. No gaurantees they will prevent heart attacks. Yet there exists tons of evidence they reduce the chance substantially. It was the worlds first wonder drug. It also does not seem to reduce the potency effect with usage.

Yes without thinking about it till I read this thread. My urinary flow remains adequate. At the same time the force that was there many years ago of the stream has declined. I guess it happens so gradually over time it takes a thread like this to bring it to attention. I knew it of course but never gave it any thought.

All I know is I am not going to enter any pissing contest at my age. As for dealing with the anxiety component. Like most things it reduces somewhat with experience.

My urologist ordered up a cat scan this year. He said it was probably nothing but it has to be checked. I got the call that it was nothing.

After so many medical proceedures for myself I got to the point what is. Is just what it is. My life may have been saved when the anurisim some years ago was noticed when they where checking for something else. Early detection of any issue can be a really signifigant advantage.

You have to consider the upsides whatever they are. Modern medicine has also come a long ways is another important consideration. Certain things our parents could have died with are pretty easily dealt with today. Far better medical imaging has made a world of difference in my opinion.

You want anxiety and fear. I was about 6 when they wheeled me into the operating room. Apparently my parents thought it was a good ideal if our relatives operated on me. I thought I was going in for a common tonsil removal. Until I recognized the people in the room. Also there was a round portal in stainless steel on one wall in the operating room. I figured this is where they stuffed the dead bodies when things did not work out.

I was not petrified or terribly scared. I was seriously concerned though. Back then it was an either mask where you counted down to oblivion. Today when you are going out it is so fast. You do not even remember going.

LOL ! .

I remember my very first hernia operation, (the one they botched that's still FU-BAR) ~ the anesthesiologist put the gas to me and I counted from 10 to zero and then asked him "? now what ?" as I was still wide awake.....

He smiled and said ' wait a moment please ' and I was out soon after .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

PSA normally increases with age, since it's proportional to prostate mass. So what you are looking for is a sudden increase, which may or may not indicate a malignancy. Just be aware that it's a poor indicator...low or steady PSA doesn't indicate an absence of cancer, nor does a high or growing PSA indicate the presence of cancer. A fast rising PSA could indicate a simple urinary tract infection, for example. But a rising PSA does indicate that further testing is prudent.

There are statistics that suggest that a low "free PSA" reult is indicative of cancer, but I'm not persuaded. The only definitive test for PC is a biopsy,however, that's not a test you want to have more than once in a lifetime. Free PSA test has value if you're trying to avoid a biopsy, but it has its limitations. Everything is a decision, and every decision has consequences.

By 60 or so, you should be seeing a doctor annually and a PSA test should be part of the blood test routine. Don't depend on what you read on the net, however well meaning or well researched.

The epidemiology for daily 81mg of aspirin is very strong. However, chronic aspirin usage works by inhibiting blood clotting. if you have conditions that make you susceptible to bleeding, even something as straightforward as an ulcer, it may be a very bad idea. I believe current best practice is to recommend it only after an initial stroke or heart attack to mitigate a recurrence. So even there, the advice of a doctor is important.

My personal logic although I of course defer to doctors. They always almost prescribe 81mg of aspirin to reduce the chances of a follow up heart attack. Logically then it should also reduce the chances of a preliminary one. If you are in group that has some pre currsors to an event. Talk it over with your doctor.

Their opinions will vary. Asprin was the first miracle drug ever put into common use. Besides a blood thinner it may also act in some still overlooked or not totally understood fashions. To take it or not depends on many factors. A certain type job . Combined with lifestyle and age issues. Is probably the best guide.

In the endless search for new drugs there is little reason to go back. To really do a totally new efficiency study on a very early drug. I have always suspected there is a lot more to common Asprin than is commonly known. Or it may be as simple as it seems.

That a major function of Asprin as an anti inflammatory drug seems to get overlooked. There exists a lot of indication that preliminary inflammation leads to very serious issues. It is proven and not generally known. That it seems to play a role in reducing the chances of colon cancer. The prescription drug industry has little to no incentive to promote it over prescription drugs in any way. If there is any business out there today that puts as much value on profitability to them. As they do. I do not know what it is.

I can present one true and totally unproven suspicion. In a couple of cases the removal of material in my bladder. The pathology stated clearly it was a by product of inflamation. Not cancer. They know and expect my bladder cancer will likely reoccur and it has. That is just the nature of the beast and bladders.

I suspect the urologist thinks the interval is much longer than what he suspects. Or should be on average. We just have never discussed it. Two more eruptions and only perhaps one as there was some confusion in one initial talk between us. In over twenty years is perhaps not all that common. Even the family doctor has stated that I have done far better than average overall with this issue.

Can I give any credit to the Asprin? Of course not but still a slight suspicion remains. Again the Asprin prescribed after a stent is installed. The stent is a foreign object placed in the body. So there should be am inflammatory response. I can see Asprin keeping that down. Any inflammation near the heart can have serious consequences.

If I had half a clue to various things I think about or consider on occasion. They would probably commit me.