Doctor, patient urge checkups during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

A simple outpatient procedure changed Russ Nietert's life for the better.

It's why - particularly during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month - the Naperville resident and his doctor are urging others to seek similar help.

While the thought of possibly being diagnosed with prostate cancer can be frightening, Nietert and his urologist, Dr. Craig Smith, said the potential benefit of being checked is more important. Smith said many issues are noncancerous and solved with outpatient treatments.

Nietert, a 67-year-old retired nuclear engineer, was diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia that caused him to have an urgency to urinate and have a weak stream. An enlarged prostate often led to leakage issues, even after he was prescribed medication.

"It's just part of getting old," Nietert said. "It became more difficult to urinate. The medicine might have helped a little bit, but it wasn't great.

"I went along like that for years, not knowing there was anything different I could do."

When Nietert visited Smith, he learned about an alternative to medication for a condition affecting 40% of men in their 50s and 80% of men in their 70s, according to studies. During an appointment for kidney stones, Smith talked to Nietert about BPH and performing a urethral lift procedure, known as UroLift, that utilizes permanent implants to relieve obstructions without surgery.

Smith, based in Lombard, Naperville and Winfield as part of the Duly Health and Care system, had reason to be confident in the procedure because he had it done himself.

"I had BPH, and I was having symptoms, too," said Smith, who underwent the UroLift procedure 3½ years ago. "I'd seen so many good outcomes and happy patients, I was looking forward to being a patient as well. I wanted to be the proof of how effective it was.

"A vast majority of patients that have urinary symptoms that are really bladder symptoms related to the prostate are all benign causes like this."

Nietert said he had zero discomfort after the procedure and no problems since having it done earlier this year. He's no longer on medications. And he's making fewer trips to the bathroom.

"I had never heard of the procedure, so I assume others may not know about it," Nietert said. "I just assumed I'd have to go through the rest of my life on medications. Now it's like I'm a younger man. It's totally different from it was before."