For about four years, my life revolved around where a bathroom was or would be. In 2019, I saw a urologist and found out my prostate was about 100 to 130 (should be about 25 to 40 for my age of 65). I took pills for about a year and saw some improvement, but still could not ever really empty my bladder.
I continued to live with it, but in late 2020, a relative was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I went in to see his doctor, and he said I needed a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), a procedure that removes the part of the prostate gland that surrounds the urethra and causes obstruction to the urethra.
I started looking into alternative procedures, and canceled the TURP. In early 2021, I called several doctors in Florida while on vacation because sleeping became such a challenge. Sometimes, I would wake up to use the bathroom 5 to 6 times and get as little as 20 minutes of sleep.
After returning from vacation, things kept getting worse, and ultimately a catheter was inserted to drain urine from my bladder. Needless to say, I needed to do SOMETHING because I could not keep letting this control my life.
After hearing about PAE, prostate artery embolism, I started calling around, but couldn’t find any physicians in MN. I talked with a urologist that was on call, and he said he knew of someone right down the block, Dr. Michael Cumming at VIE.
Dr. Cumming is outstanding. He is a caring and considerate doctor who looks his patient’s in the eye to make sure they understand what he’s going to do. In May, I went through with the procedure and within 4 hours, I was able to use the bathroom and had the catheter removed.
Since then, every week has gotten better, and last night I slept 10 hours! That has become my new normal. I may wake up once a night, but most times, am able to sleep all the way through.
Because of Dr. Cumming and VIE, I have gotten my life back and was saved from a lot of pain. I also appreciate how Dr. Cumming’s staff models after him and are very caring and compassionate. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this journey. God bless your business and life, Dr. Cumming.