Page 1 of 2
Prostate problems
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:42 pm
by Miloman
Can anybody tell me if the general have the laser system for reducing the size of the prostrate please.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:15 pm
by trevnhil
That treatment has never even been mentioned to me in the 9 years or so of seeing the urologist.
But of course that does not accurately answer your question.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:24 pm
by Miloman
Thanks Trev, I guess I will have to visit and ask if nobody on the forum knows. It is the latest non evasive treatment for an enlarged prostrate which many of us will suffer from in later life.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:18 pm
by outasite
If your prostate is enlarged get a biopsy as soon as possible. Mine was growing very slowly and I had a biopsy at the General and was found to have the very first stages of cancer. I am now getting treatment for this. I have not been told of laser treatment and certainly the General will not have it as I would have been treated by them rather than having to travel to Nicosia.
Travelling to Nicosia is a small price to pay for the alternative.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 10:37 pm
by trevnhil
I had a biopsy a couple of years ago and all the samples were clear. I am on tablets only... at the moment.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:04 am
by JimX
I also use the general and as far as I am aware they do not use Laser treatment in Pafos for Prostate enlargement reduction, as far as I know, they just prescribe me pills for the condition and of course blood testing. unfortunately, I could not afford private surgical treatment.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:31 am
by Miloman
Thank you all for your replies
Mike
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:59 am
by Dominic
Happy in Cyprus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:16 pm
Remember to haggle the price: Cypriots do! Seem to remember my son-in-law got the price of his varicose vein surgery down by about 25%, just from haggling.
I am sure there is a Monty Python sketch in there somewhere. I mean the price haggling, not varicose vein surgery.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:03 am
by robf
I was turped in the UK by Mr Bottom (I kid you not), took longer than i expected to recover, but all fine now. I remember reading somewhere that laser treatment is much less traumatic and is done on an outpatient basis, but needs repeating more often.
Haggle sketch from Monty Pythons life of Brian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u75XQdTxZRc (should be mandatory for those moving to Cyprus
)
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:13 am
by Dominic
I was thinking more along the lines of a patient going in for gall bladder removal, but by haggling ends up with an appendectomy at half the price, at which point Graham Chapman would enter in his army uniform and tell them to stop being so silly. Or something.
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 4:08 pm
by trevnhil
Correct!! unless you're lying down of course
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 4:19 pm
by Devil
Lincoln wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:14 pm
Anyone with Prostrate problems is WORRIED. I also had early stages of Prostrate Cancer. My choice >>>>I flew to Athens and had BRACHYTHERAPY. That was 11 1/2 years ago. CURED. I still have a PSA test every year to re-assure myself. I was in Hosp for two nights only. This treatment is also done in the UK. Anyone on a state pension (UK) can get FREE NHS treatment in the UK.
Not CURED; you are in remission. My oncologist and my urologist (in Switzerland) have always drummed into me that cancer is never cured. I was zapped in 1995 after a PSA of 28. After 1 year my PSA was about 0.4 and it stayed that way, in remission, for about 15 years with no treatment. Then it started to rise again to 4 over a couple of years (out of remission) and I was put on Zoladex and bicalitamide which has brought me back into remission at about 0.2,
My curiosity: have you had any lasting side-effects from the brachytherapy?
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:35 pm
by PaphosAL
Can someone please explain what a 'good doctor's digit' test means, please? AL
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:44 pm
by trevnhil
The doctor pokes his rubber gloved finger up your behind to feel if there are any abnormalities
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:09 pm
by PaphosAL
OMG, it's bad enough going to the dentist for a routine check-up and scrape. Let alone to the hospital for someone to poke their rubber-gloved finger up your rectum and feel around...
I thought they had little cameras and x-rays for this kind of investigative stuff nowadays?
Ouch! AL
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:34 pm
by trevnhil
The biopsy is much worse than that
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:38 pm
by PaphosAL
Thanks, Trev. Going to bed now, shaken and stirred... Cheers- AL
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 8:22 am
by daveg
Having had a PSA test every year since I was 55, €20 Evangelismos Hosp. Just walk in results in 2 hrs, it was obvious that the results were trending upwards to the point of having a biopsy.
Within 10 days I had the prostate removed after the biopsy results showed cancer was in its earliest stage.
BTW the PSA test isn't full proof but anything with a reading above 4 is considered a warning...mine went up to 6.3.....so gentleman get a test.
I Must stress I had NO symptoms....
Re: Prostrate problems
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:30 am
by Devil
ronk wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:31 pm
>Devil - interesting! May I ask if you have had any lasting side effects from the drugs you are taking?
May I also ask how old you were when your PSA was found to be 28? Feel free not to answer if you consider the questions a bit cheeky.
As someone who has had prostate cancer how valuable/reliable do you think the PSA test is..as say compared to a good doctor's digit?
The only side effect from the hormone therapy is hot flushes (à la menopause in the fairer sex) but a pill stops them. Body hair is much thinned out, but that is an advantage (head hair and beard are normal, to my barber's delight!)! I was 62 on Dx, now 85. Of course, there are two PSA tests. The ordinary one is a good indicator but not absolute; there are several things that can affect the reading, such as sex in previous 24 h (if only!), riding a bicycle or a horse, rally driving, prior DRE etc. The DRE is equally only indicative because the tumour may not be felt if it is on the anterior side of the gland; a biopsy is the only reasonably sure way. The transurethral biopsy allows the surgeon to sample the exact area most likely to have a tumour. A transrectal biopsy covers a large area (in effect, 12 biopsies in 1) but could miss a small tumour but it doesn't require hospitalisation.
Re: Prostate problems
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 11:44 am
by Devil
Percent-free PSA. PSA takes two major forms in the blood. One is attached, or bound, to blood proteins and the other circulates freely. The percent-free PSA test indicates how much PSA circulates free compared to the total PSA level. The percentage of free PSA is lower in men who have prostate cancer than in men who do not. Studies show that if your PSA results are in the borderline range (4 to 10), a low percent-free PSA (less than 10%) means that the likelihood of having prostate cancer is about 50% and that you should probably have a biopsy.
Some doctors recommend biopsies for men whose percent-free PSA is 20 or less.