In May 2017 I had a serious urine retention episode — unable to pee, more bluntly put — that kicked off a lengthy period of depression and anxiety due to the difficulty I had with needing to insert a catheter five times a day, since I couldn’t urinate on my own.
Not at all. Not even a drop. My urologist told me that smooth bladder muscle doesn’t recover from an injury as regular muscle can. So I’d need to use an intermittent catheter for the rest of my life. Which wasn’t a cheery prospect.
But as the years passed, I grew more comfortable with using a catheter. My worst days were behind me. And slowly, bit by bit, I was able to pee more on my own. So much so, earlier this year I asked my urologist here in Salem, Oregon if I could have a repeat bladder function test.
That 2017 test involved filling up my bladder with increasing amounts of water through a catheter. Then the nurse would remove the catheter, leave the room, and I’d try to pee on my own into a measuring container. In 2017, like I said, I couldn’t get out even a drop on my own.
This year, 2025, my urologist said that since I failed the bladder function test eight years before, there was no point to doing another test — even though I’d told him that now I could pee quite a bit on my own.
When his nurse conveyed that decision to me, I said that I’d like to get a referral for a second opinion. Every urologist in Salem is part of the same practice, so I’d need to see a urologist in either Portland or Eugene. Since the traffic is much less in Eugene, I said that I’d prefer a referral there rather than Portland. That got me a referral to the Oregon Urology Institute.
My first visit with Dr. Brenton Sherwood was on July 18. I liked him a lot. He listened patiently as I described my concerns and hopes. I never felt rushed. He talked about the Aquablation procedure that’s a milder alternative to the TURP procedure for dealing with an enlarged prostate that’s interfering from the flow of urine from the bladder.
I came away optimistic, though three follow-up visits were scheduled to see if I was a candidate for some form of prostate surgery.
On September 11 I had a cystoscopy where a (thankfully) tiny camera is inserted in the urethra to check out the bladder and prostate, along with an ultrasound probe up the rectum that measured the volume of my prostate. Dr. Sherwood said that my prostate wasn’t obviously obstructive, but could be contributing to some obstruction. My prostate was only 13 cc in size, quite small, which meant I wasn’t a candidate for Aquablation, which requires a minimum size of 30 cc.
That wasn’t good news, as I was impressed with the Aquablation procedure. However, I wanted to continue with my Oregon Urology Institute visits. On October 23 I had the bladder function testing. After my bladder was filled with water, I was able to urinate 350 cc on my own, with 550 cc remaining that I got out with a catheter.
Today, October 31, I had an appointment with Dr. Sherwood to review the test results. I was totally prepared to hear him say that I wasn’t a candidate for any sort of surgery, because my prostate wasn’t very large and my bladder muscles weren’t very strong.
But he said that I was a candidate for the TURP procedure, transurethral resection of the prostate. Dr. Sherwood isn’t certain that I’ll benefit from it, but there’s a good chance that I will to some extent, and the downsides (complications) are less than the upsides. So I said, “let’s go for it.” I figure that probably the worst that can happen is that I’ll be in the same condition I am now: able to pee some on my own, but not enough to avoid using a catheter five times a day.
I’m grateful that Dr. Sherwood gave me this opportunity for another urological assessment eight years after my bladder became atonic, dysfunctional. I have no idea how it is that I’m now able to urinate quite a bit on my own, even though I couldn’t for a long time. A pelvic floor physical therapist who I saw in 2017 told me that there’s some research showing that bladder nerves can regain some functionality. That seems to have happened in my case.
Bottom line: get a second opinion if your urologist says prostate surgery isn’t an option for you, even, or especially, if you’re using a urinary catheter and you’ve noticed improvement in your ability to pee on your own. Don’t give up hope, even when you feel hopeless.
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