“Within a week or two, it started to feel much better. There was a lot of relief.”
For many years, Alan dealt with the symptoms of an enlarged prostate. Despite the use of medication, his symptoms steadily grew worse. The prostate is usually the size of a walnut, but Alan’s had enlarged to the size of a tennis ball, and the impact on his life became dramatic.
Serious Discomfort and an Extra Pair of Pants
“I could feel it when I sat. It was very uncomfortable,” Alan said. “In all honesty, it was very hard at times to go an hour without having to urinate. And when you’re driving two hours, it really becomes an issue. What routes do you take? And where can you stop?”
He had to bring along an extra pair of pants, in case of a urinary accident.
To rule out prostate cancer, Alan underwent a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which is a blood test that measures the amount of protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate. His PSA results were extremely high, and his urologist monitored the situation carefully, conducting several biopsies but finding no cancer.
With Alan’s condition worsening, his urologist recommended surgery.
A Desire to Avoid Surgery’s Risks
Alan considered the urologist’s recommendation, but was worried that the effects of an invasive surgical procedure might make matters worse.
“It can leave you incontinent,” Alan said. “It can leave you dependent on catheters for the rest of your life. It’s not pleasant. It has a very long recovery time.”
Still, Alan’s quality of life needed a boost. He, but he knew that his problem needed another solution.
Unrelated Research Leads to a New Option
Oddly enough, it was Alan’s nonprofit work in another field — pediatric cancer — that led him to discover an alternative to surgery.
Alan’s granddaughter survived a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, or rhabdo, which affects muscle tissue, mostly in children and adolescents. Because of her experience, Alan founded a nonprofit organization to promote research in rhabdo and find a cure.
In his work for the nonprofit, Alan discovered information on prostate artery embolization (PAE), a treatment for enlarged prostate he hadn’t heard of before.
“I read a couple articles, I think they were published in Europe, and they talked about success rates as high as 85 percent,” Alan said. “I said ‘hmmm, let me look into this,’ but my urologist had no information. So I started to research what places do the procedure, and I chose Penn.”
A Comfortable Consult with the Doctors at Penn
Alan lived close to Penn Medicine’s Princeton, NJ, campus, and he felt comfortable with the choice. After all, Penn was the first medical center in the region to perform PAE. That experience, combined with the advanced technology Penn employs, ensures the best possible outcomes for PAE patients.
Alan did a consult with interventional radiologists Timothy Clark, MD, and Ansar Vance, MD. Alan had his doubts, but the doctors were able to allay them.
They explained that rather than an invasive surgery, PAE uses microscopic particles to block blood flow to the prostate. Once these blood vessels are blocked, parts of the prostate shrink, creating more room for urine flow and reducing symptoms of enlarged prostate. PAE has fewer risks and a faster recovery time than surgery.
“The doctors explained that it had been used for a number of years, and that it was fairly successful,” Alan said. “[I figured] that the worst thing that could happen would be that it wouldn’t work, and I would have to do the surgery after all.”
A Smooth Procedure with Great Results
In Alan’s case, limitations on the amount of time he could be under anesthesia caused his PAE to split into two procedures. In each case, Alan said, everything went smoothly.
“It was extremely well executed,” he said. “They explained the process very, very well. As far as I was concerned, it was ideal.”
After the outpatient procedure, Alan was able to walk back to his car. He did experience some discomfort, which he described as “no more than I was having before the procedure.”
“Within a week or two, it started to feel much better,” Alan said. “There was a lot of relief.”
A Recommendation for Others Seeking Help
Alan felt great about minimal aftereffects and the positive results of PAE at Penn Medicine.
As a follow-up to his procedure, he visited his original urologist. According to Alan, the doctor had never before had a patient who had undergone a PAE procedure. The urologist was surprised at how much Alan’s prostate had shrunk.
The takeaway, Alan said, he is satisfied with his Penn Medicine experience and recommends that anyone with enlarged prostate explore PAE as an alternative to surgical treatment.
“I was surprised that it was minimal, absolutely minimal. Very pleased with the procedure,” he said. “I’ve recommended it to I don’t know how many people.”
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