HIFU Clinic in Melbourne

Melbourne first day

Melbourne is a relatively short hop on Air New Zealand from Auckland, about 4 hours. My wife had found a nice well located apartment in St Kilda, an hours walk from the Urology Associates clinic in Malvern, and slightly less to walk to the seaside. The private Cabrini hospital, where the procedure would take place, was about 200 metres further down the same road past the clinic.

Tram stops were a short walk away for our planned 'holiday' in Melbourne.

We took a minicab to the apartment from the airport. We walked in the day before my first appointment just to get the lie of the land. We went into Urology Associates and I introduced myself and asked if they were expecting me tomorrow. We received a warm and friendly welcome and confirmation that we were in the right place and I was expected for my first appointment tomorrow.

We used Uber on the day of the op so as not to arrive at the hospital all sweaty from the walk. It was approx 28 degrees and humid here in March.

The taxi company for the airport ride. Concerned about the reviews for most of the airport transport services. This one proved reliable and honest. ? Maxi Melbourne Link: Maxi Melbourne

If you plan on using Uber then be prepared for the scrum at the Uber pick up point - there was quite a crowd.

Check the links page for links to Urology Associates and the Cabrini hospital.

I stayed overnight after the procedure and my wife took an Uber home and back again the following morning. I had a private room as there was a panic that I hadn't been screened for superbugs. An admittance requirement as I had had two overseas (from Australia) hospital visits in the last year (biopsy and cataract replacement).

The Cabrini Hospital is private and everything looked professionally run and the staff from the reception desk onward were lovely. Even the food was delicious.

The pre-op meeting

The urology nurse described the catheter process, and how to take care of it.

She also talked about bowel prep., and which pharmacy nearby sold the named product. Next was the meeting with the urologist, Peter Royce, who was going to carry out the procedure. He had my MRI up on the screen and showed me the area biopsied by the NZ urologist. An additional area looked the same dark tone as the already known cancerous area, and he said, in consultation with his MRI specialist, that he would also treat the additional area, "while we're up there". Destroying slightly less than 50% of my prostate. I guess that was what my NZ urologist alluded to when mentioning the 5 or 6 spots that HIFU wouldn't get. We discussed the negative opinion of HIFU I'd received and what I'd been told.

That was it - "see you in the morning".

The day of the op

I was instructed to go and get some blood tests before going through hospital admittance. Including a PSA, which was 5.7.

Next a meeting with an admittance nurse and a chance to visit a bathroom . . . again. That bowel prep is nuclear. Then into the theatre with lots of banter between the anaesthetist, head nurse and myself.
Next I woke in a private hospital room. My wife was there.

I had a catheter in my penis and strapped to my leg. A leg bag was strapped to my calf, and that was draining into a night bag hanging off my bed. Every so often a nurse would take my blood pressure, temperature and other vitals.

The urologist came to see me and said the catheter would be in for a week, which is when I ought to be able to pee under my own control. He seemed happy enough that the procedure went to plan and shouldn't have damaged anything affecting my "quality of life". Fingers crossed.

The nurses explained the care of the catheter and bags for my release and professionally (and cheerfully) answered any question my wife and I had.

Because I'd been in an overseas hospital twice in the last year (the last time was for the biopsy that triggered all this) and could be carrying a superbug the nurse took swabs from my armpits, groin and rectum. It turns out was why I had a room to myself rather than being on the private general ward.

Remember to bring this up with all concerned if you go to Melbourne. It would be best to get the superbug screening done before the op.

Nursing staff were lovely and the food was good.

Then it was off back to the apartment via an Uber. Lots of sleep to be had.

The catheter and bag/s

and meds

Reason for the catheter -- a temporary urinary catheter helps drain urine safely while the swelling subsides. It also facilitates monitoring of output if required.

The catheter and leg bag were frustrating to empty causing the catheter to be pulled with the associated slight pain and discomfort. I realised that the bag was on the outside of my leg for the convenience of the nursing staff. Once I'd left the hospital I moved it to the inside and that made it a lot easier to empty.

Remember to pack tighter fitting underpants to stop the catheter and your penis from wiggling about when walking or moving. And baggy trousers to stop the whole lot being scrunched, with loose enough and wide enough legs to enable the leg bag to be emptied from the trouser leg bottom without removing the trousers. Dark colour in case of any urine dribbles or blood seeping out of your penis. And don't forget a tube of Savlon to apply to the end of the penis around the catheter to reduce infection. I'd also packed some extra velcro straps and found adding one further up the top of my leg prevented the catheter from moving around which aided comfort.

I was sent home from the hospital with some pills. I was prescribed panadol and a stronger pain killer, anti-biotics and another drug to help urine flow. I subsequently didn't need the panadol or the stronger pain killer. Apart from the minor discomfort when I accidentally pulled the catheter I felt no pain at all from the procedure.

I comfortably explored Melbourne and its surrounds during my two week stay, one of which I had the catheter.

The day after the op

Now I'm sitting at my laptop in our AirBnB apartment in Melbourne 24hrs after having half my prostate vaporized. Technically I still have a prostate and the same things that go wrong with prostates can still go wrong with what's left of mine. Including prostate cancer.

For no apparent reason I was feeling a bit sorry for myself so we stayed in all day. The advantage of renting an apartment rather than a hotel room.

Day 2 after the op

On the second day after the op we went sight seeing in Melbourne. Using the public transport system, especially the trams. The strap securing the catheter to my leg slipped down causing a lot of discomfort when walking. I didn't know this had happened unti I went into a gents to see what was causing the discomfort. There was blood appearing in the urine and by the time I got back to our apartment it looked like the bag was full of blood. I emptied it, drank a lot of water and had a kip for a couple of hours. My urine returned to a normal colour.

There is a night bag that simply attaches to the day bag (the day bag didn't need changing for a week, just emptying). This made things very simple. I rigged a stand for my night bag out of a dining chair and compost bucket (just a precaution) found in a cupboard in the kitchen of our apartment, and that worked well. Surprisingly, to me anyway, I slept soundly on my back in the same position so as not to disturb the set up. Nothing leaked.

Washing the night bag and associated pipework in the shower was easy enough, and our apartment had a balcony so I could dry the bag in the sun. Similarly I showered and washed the straps and swapped them for the spares that had been provided. My wife helped with that as it would have been difficult otherwise. I was provided with spare straps and loads of alcohol swabs for cleaning the connections and outlet tap pipes.

I carried a roll of velcro to fix camera straps or keep tripod legs together. I improvised an thigh strap to stop the tube waggling around between the thigh strap and the leg bag. Less wiggling and jiggling means more comfort. And post shower the additional strap helps keep the tubing in place when swapping out the straps.

Rotating the thigh strap toward (for sitting around, bending down at home etc) or away from the penis (for walking) helps stop the rubber tube going into the penis from having too much slack and therefore increased risk of jiggling. Again reducing the jiggle increases the comfort no end. Pun intended.

Next appointment at the urologist is 6 days from the op. To have the catheter removed and a wash up meeting with the urologist. Hopefully all will be good and I'll be able to pee at the drop of a hat.

Catheter removal

The day has come. We're 10 minutes early at the clinic and I'm expected. Receptionist greets me by name. Urologist door is open and he sees us and greets us by name and has a few minutes banter about 'zip!' - how quickly and easily the catheter comes out.

In with the nurse, drop your trollies to the ankles and lie down here. After a few preliminaries and rubber gloves it's 3 deep breaths and on 3 . . . . It isn't exactly painless but it's all over in a fraction of a second.

Trial void. Next I drink a couple of litres of water from the cooler, have a short chat with the urologist about what's left of my prostate and then we get sent off out to the high street to have breakfast and coffee etc.

And told to come back and use their bathroom when I'm ready to pee. I didn't wait. The orange juice with breakfast triggered my bladder to ask for a pee and I went to the bathroom in the cafe we were in. All good. Pretty near normal flow and no blood. After breakfast I went again just for the sheer hell of it.

Back at the clinic the nurse was delighted with my news. She then did an ultrasound scan of my bladder to see if it was retaining some urine. It was, just a little. Probably because I'd drunk so much fluid that morning and the scan didn't come right after a pee. Anyway she was happy and said that's it -- I could go from the clinic and go home. I was supposed to see the urologist for a parting chat but his door was shut, so assuming he was with a patient, we thanked the nurse and left.

We'd planned our trip (and flexi flights) to have a few days after catheter removal 'just in case' but these weren't needed - we could just enjoy Melbourne catheter free.