[?] Anyone using an Artificial Urinary Sphincter?

Hi,

I'm 67 years of age, living near London, England, and had a DaVinci
robotic prostatectomy in a large London hospital 12 months ago. The four
PSA tests that I've had at 3 monthly intervals to date have all come
back 'undetectable' so the operation itself was undoubtedly a success,
but I am still just as stress-incontinent as I was ten months ago.

When I saw the consultant a couple of days ago he told me that since I
wasn't fully continent after a full year it was because my one remaining
sphincter was failing to close completely. He said that my situation is
unlikely to improve in the future and now intends to refer me to UCL (in
London) to discuss the possibility of my having an Artificial Urinary
Sphincter fitted which is, apparently, a 2 hour operation under full
anaesthetic. He said that this operation should certainly fix the
incontinence and improve my quality of life, but he also mentioned that
roughly 1 in 20 of these operations might give problems of one sort or
another and require a further operation at a later date to correct them.

I've searched on the web to find out more about the Artificial
Sphincter and as a result I now understand a bit more about what is
involved, along with the pros and cons of the operation and its
consequences. Nonetheless I'd very much like to hear the personal views
of anyone in this NG who uses this device and is willing to relate their
experiences (good or bad) to help me decide whether, or not, to opt for
the operation.

Finally, let me say that after having read so many of the sad messages
on this NG over the last year from people who have had (or are having)
such a rough time, I do feel rather guilty about asking for help with
such a non-life-threatening matter, but I'm hoping there will be some
people reading this posting who will understand my concerns and be able
and willing to offer useful comments.

My grateful thanks to all those regular contributors to this NG.

TIA - Dave

--
David C.Chapman - (dcchapman@minda.co.uk)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:35:37 +0100, David Chapman <dave@minda.co.uk>
wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> I'm 67 years of age, living near London, England, and had a DaVinci
>robotic prostatectomy in a large London hospital 12 months ago. The four
>PSA tests that I've had at 3 monthly intervals to date have all come
>back 'undetectable' so the operation itself was undoubtedly a success,
>but I am still just as stress-incontinent as I was ten months ago.
>
> When I saw the consultant a couple of days ago he told me that since I
>wasn't fully continent after a full year it was because my one remaining
>sphincter was failing to close completely. He said that my situation is
>unlikely to improve in the future and now intends to refer me to UCL (in
>London) to discuss the possibility of my having an Artificial Urinary
>Sphincter fitted which is, apparently, a 2 hour operation under full
>anaesthetic. He said that this operation should certainly fix the
>incontinence and improve my quality of life, but he also mentioned that
>roughly 1 in 20 of these operations might give problems of one sort or
>another and require a further operation at a later date to correct them.
>
> I've searched on the web to find out more about the Artificial
>Sphincter and as a result I now understand a bit more about what is
>involved, along with the pros and cons of the operation and its
>consequences. Nonetheless I'd very much like to hear the personal views
>of anyone in this NG who uses this device and is willing to relate their
>experiences (good or bad) to help me decide whether, or not, to opt for
>the operation.
>
> Finally, let me say that after having read so many of the sad messages
>on this NG over the last year from people who have had (or are having)
>such a rough time, I do feel rather guilty about asking for help with
>such a non-life-threatening matter, but I'm hoping there will be some
>people reading this posting who will understand my concerns and be able
>and willing to offer useful comments.
>
> My grateful thanks to all those regular contributors to this NG.
>
> TIA - Dave


Hi Dave,

Your concerns are fully understood be everyone I daresay. There was
several discussions on here in the past year from a couple people who
had the operation. I think they may have both had an AMES 800 or
similar named device implanted. Hopefully they may still be around to
offer some info. My recollection is that the feedback was mixed as
far as success. You should be able to use Google's advanced search
and do a groups search on the topic and find the old messages. I
realize how much one might want to get things fixed but I think I'd
wait more then a year before having the operation.

Dave, I had the AMS 800 installed a couple/few years ago and have had
good luck with it. I still use a pad a day, a very light pad. Bladder
spasms can still push urine past the artificial sphincter, but I guess
that's to be expected. I was using about 3-5 pads per day before getting
the AMS 800 installed. The surgery was not too bad, and there is a
little bit of a learning curve, but I would sure do it again. I have
seen one poster on this NG in the past who did not have good luck with
it. Best of luck to you.


DoubleOwSeven wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:35:37 +0100, David Chapman <dave@minda.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm 67 years of age, living near London, England, and had a DaVinci
>> robotic prostatectomy in a large London hospital 12 months ago. The four
>> PSA tests that I've had at 3 monthly intervals to date have all come
>> back 'undetectable' so the operation itself was undoubtedly a success,
>> but I am still just as stress-incontinent as I was ten months ago.
>>
>> When I saw the consultant a couple of days ago he told me that since I
>> wasn't fully continent after a full year it was because my one remaining
>> sphincter was failing to close completely. He said that my situation is
>> unlikely to improve in the future and now intends to refer me to UCL (in
>> London) to discuss the possibility of my having an Artificial Urinary
>> Sphincter fitted which is, apparently, a 2 hour operation under full
>> anaesthetic. He said that this operation should certainly fix the
>> incontinence and improve my quality of life, but he also mentioned that
>> roughly 1 in 20 of these operations might give problems of one sort or
>> another and require a further operation at a later date to correct them.
>>
>> I've searched on the web to find out more about the Artificial
>> Sphincter and as a result I now understand a bit more about what is
>> involved, along with the pros and cons of the operation and its
>> consequences. Nonetheless I'd very much like to hear the personal views
>> of anyone in this NG who uses this device and is willing to relate their
>> experiences (good or bad) to help me decide whether, or not, to opt for
>> the operation.
>>
>> Finally, let me say that after having read so many of the sad messages
>> on this NG over the last year from people who have had (or are having)
>> such a rough time, I do feel rather guilty about asking for help with
>> such a non-life-threatening matter, but I'm hoping there will be some
>> people reading this posting who will understand my concerns and be able
>> and willing to offer useful comments.
>>
>> My grateful thanks to all those regular contributors to this NG.
>>
>> TIA - Dave
>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Your concerns are fully understood be everyone I daresay. There was
> several discussions on here in the past year from a couple people who
> had the operation. I think they may have both had an AMES 800 or
> similar named device implanted. Hopefully they may still be around to
> offer some info. My recollection is that the feedback was mixed as
> far as success. You should be able to use Google's advanced search
> and do a groups search on the topic and find the old messages. I
> realize how much one might want to get things fixed but I think I'd
> wait more then a year before having the operation.

Hi Bob,

Many thanks for your reply. I've tried to e-mail you privately
because I'd like to know more about your experiences, but my messages to
you are getting 'bounced'.
My own e-mail address is valid if you'd care to respond to me
privately.

All the best - Dave

In article <g7fp3e01v3@enews1.newsguy.com>, Bob C. <BC@Bob.org> writes
>Dave, I had the AMS 800 installed a couple/few years ago and have had
>good luck with it. I still use a pad a day, a very light pad. Bladder
>spasms can still push urine past the artificial sphincter, but I guess
>that's to be expected. I was using about 3-5 pads per day before
>getting the AMS 800 installed. The surgery was not too bad, and there
>is a little bit of a learning curve, but I would sure do it again. I
>have seen one poster on this NG in the past who did not have good luck
>with it. Best of luck to you.

--
David C.Chapman - (dcchapman@minda.co.uk)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------