SAN ANTONIO — Benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as an enlarged prostate, is a common condition—50% of men are expected to have one by the age of 60.
Bruce Wagner spent most of the last 10 years dealing with an enlarged prostate.
"I've been under treatment for this for quite a while," he said.
His main complaint was an inability to urinate properly.
"When you go to bed at night,, you think you are empty, and you have to get up two, three, four, and, in my case, five or more times a night," Wagner said.
The main symptoms of an enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia include a frequent or urgent need to urinate, difficulty starting urination, a weak urine stream or a stream that stops and starts, and inability to completely empty the bladder.
After close to 10 years of medication, he knew it was time for surgery.
"It was my point where I said I had enough," Wagner said.
The standard method has been TURP, or resection of the prostate. Surgeons cut it with a hot wire and remove pieces at a time. But along with that procedure comes an increased risk of bleeding, longer recovery time and a prostate size imitation.
"I did a lot of research about that and did not like the results because it's a very messy bloody procedure," he said.
A newer surgical option, which is only conducted at a handful of institutions in the country, including at San Antonio's University Hospital, is called laser enucleation of the prostate.
"(It)involves going between the shell of the capsule of the prostate, the pink portion and the white bulb of the prostate—like peeling an orange from the inside," said Dr Ahmed Mansour, an assistant professor at UT Health San Antonio who also sees patients within the University Health System.
"I was in," Wagner added. "I had the surgery and was out the next day."
He also has this message for men going through what he did: "I would encourage other guys to get seen by their doctor sooner rather than later if they have problems."
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