New advanced treatment called Aquablation used to help men with enlarged prostates
For 69-year-old Andre Price, living with an enlarged prostate was affecting every part of his life.
"I was getting up every hour and a half," Price says of having to wake frequently to use the bathroom. "I started feeling worse and worse. It seemed to me like it affected my whole makeup."
It even affected time with his grandkids.
"Sometimes I just didn't feel well enough to be bothered. I'd sit around, mope around and watch them entertain one another. It did affect my quality time with them."
But then Price met Dr. Jordan Alger, a urologist with Urology Associates who is one of just six doctors in the Denver metro area using Aquablation, a relatively new procedure to treat enlarged prostate.
"Instead of the traditional approach where we'd use instruments that had heat, we're using an instrument that is guided by a robotic arm that uses a high-pressure water jet. Think of it as a power washer for your prostate," Alger says of Aquablation.
One of the main advantages is that when you use a water jet, you're not using the same thermal energy, so you avoid side effects - scarring, sexual side effects, particularly ejaculation, and that side effect is minimized when you're using Aquablation."
Aquablation was first used in 2017 but wasn't used in the Denver metro area until January of this year. The procedure takes an average of 45 minutes, and most patients go home the same day.
"We take things like urination for granted, when they impact your life, it becomes stress and depression for a lot of people," says Alger.
For Price, Aquablation has been a game changer.
"I can go now. Those little ankle biters (his grandchildren), they really keep me busy, and old grandpa can hang with them."
