Op means I can sleep well again
FOR the last two decades Chris Allard has put up with a medical complaint that affects most men his age.
‘About 0 years ago I started noticing I had joined the “first in last out” club at the toilet,’ the 71-year-old said. ‘But I just put up with it.’
Things got so bad he was waking up three times a night to go to the loo. Mr Allard, who ran a kitchen and bathroom fitting business until retirement, suffered from an enlarged prostate. A decade ago he was given drugs to counter the problem – but stopped taking them because they made him drowsy. Eventually things got so bad he needed treatment.
His doctor proposed surgery, but Mr Allard was concerned about possible side effects on sexual performance and incontinence.
He approached Hashim Ahmed, a surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital, who was trialling the Rezum therapy, in which steam is injected into the prostate.
‘I was sedated and I felt no physical discomfort at all,’ he said. ‘The symptoms have dramatically reduced. I don’t need to go to the toilet as often… And that really helps with my sleep.’