Finally, A Good Night's Sleep
Innovative prostate treatment fixes problem that kept Warwick man awake, impacted his quality of life
About five years ago, George Boase noticed something was amiss with his health. Sleepless nights had become a way of life, largely the result of trips back and forth to the bathroom.
“I just wasn’t getting any sleep,” says Boase, 64, of Warwick, R.I., describing how severe fatigue caused him to nod off while at church and even kept him from enjoying activities like going to the movies. “It was a terrible problem. I never slept more than two hours at a time. I got to a point of desperation.”
It wasn’t until Boase was a patient at The Minimally Invasive Urology Institute at The Miriam Hospital that he was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The condition often causes difficulty urinating, frequent or urgent urination, or inability to empty the bladder.
When medication didn’t help, Boase was offered an innovative prostate treatment called UroLift – an outpatient procedure for BPH that involves no cutting, heating, or removal of prostate tissue. Urolift corrects the condition by lifting the prostatic lobes and holding them away from the urethra to allow urine to flow easily again.
“We’re happy to be among a few New England hospitals offering patients this minimally invasive option,” says Gyan Pareek, MD, FACS, director of The Kidney Stone Center at The Miriam Hospital and co-director of The Minimally Invasive Urology Institute at The Miriam Hospital. “Fifty percent of men age 50 are adversely impacted by BPH, making it difficult for them to enjoy routine daily activities and often causing distress.”
Boase is proof. “If you can’t sleep, you’ve got a real big problem,” he says.
Today, just three months after having UroLift surgery, Boase is back to sleeping soundly. “This has made a huge difference. It’s incredible – the difference is like day and night. I feel like a 20-year-old again sleeping through the night.”
It’s even inspired him to get healthier in other ways. He quit smoking and has dropped 10 pant sizes – going from 330 to 259 pounds in 10 months as a participant in The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program. He says he still has another 40 pounds to go.
Before his physical transformation, Boase wasn’t too confident about his health. “I wasn’t going to buy any more green bananas,” he says jokingly.