Dr. Zane Basrawala, MD

I have had an enlarged prostate for many years. My PSA had for a long time been on the high side and I had a biopsy back... in the late 80’s and it was benign. While we lived in Uruguay, I was seeing a urologist in the Hospital Americano in Montevideo, Uruguay. I had been seeing this doctor regularly and there had been no issues other than an enlarged prostate and a high PSA my doctor was vigilant and kept track on my PSA and condition of my prostate and he was always confident that my prostate, although very large, was nonmalignant.
Then in 2007 we returned to North Carolina and went to Dr. Zane Basrawala on the advice of my regular doctor, Dr. Murray Craven. I met with Dr. Basrawala and he performed the usual tests. After having had a biopsy at CMC Pineville done by Dr. Basrawala, I got an infection which landed me in the Pineville Hospital in sepsis with a very high fever and almost didn’t make it.. I should have had better judgment and looked for another doctor because the infection was most likely due to unsansitized equipment or medical error.
However, I kept seeing Dr. Basrawala. The PSA numbers were consistently high and I was having numerous prostate infections which prompted him to highly recommend that I have a simple prostatectomy. Since there was no prostate cancer present, the operation was going to be robotic and only a partial prostatectomy which did not require a radical removal of the prostate.
My wife is 30 years younger than me, and I was very worried since I had heard from acquaintances, that patients that had prostate surgery often lost their ability to have proper erections for sex. I had always had a high sex drive, sex is a very important part of my life, and I did to not want be able to satisfy my wife and myself.
Dr. Basrawala assured me that in cases of simple prostatectomy the nerves would not be impaired and after a short period of recuperation I could resume having sex.
Needless to say there were complications from the very start of the surgery:
• Dr. Basrawala knew that the prostate was extremely large, but he did not anticipate that it was even larger than thought initially. The surgery was done with the DaVinci robot, and took over five hours instead of the estimated three. After the surgery I was taken to ICU where I had severe complications due to the catheter getting stuck with blood clots. The ICU nurses had to keep pumping it – an extremely painful procedure – but it kept getting stuck.
• There were several clots which required immediate treatment an in one case the clot was so severe that I had to be taken in an emergency back to surgery and cut into my bladder to remove the clot. Apparently, the bleeding was so heavy and he had to cauterize so much that the nerves were damaged.
• I had trouble coming out of the anesthesia since I had had at that time two major surgeries (5 hours and 3 hours) in only 48 hours.

• Recuperation was horrendous and had several clots which were handled at the doctors office.
• After they took the catheter out, I had a blockage and had to be taken to the clinic in excruciating pain. I almost passed out several times. Once I got to the clinic they placed the catheter back in me and almost had 2 liters of fluid that was removed.
• Errors:
o 1. He did not do an MRI before operating.
o I have talked to many doctors who said that considering the known size of my prostate, a traditional surgery would have been a much better option, since that way they would be in a position to better see where he was cutting.
o I addition, it was thought that he was being too aggressive in trying to take of more of the prostate than he should have.

• Tree plus years later, I still have to see an erection and for all intent and purposes due to the doctors negligence I am remanded to remain impotent and my wife has not had sex for three plus years and she has just had her 47th birthday and deprived from a healthy sex life in our marriage.
• I was given 2 choices: Injections into the penis wit Tri-Mix or penis implant. The Tri-Mix never worked and I did not think that I could stand another operation.
• What is my wife to do? She does not have many choices and I would not blame her if she had surrogate sex or affairs…
• Needless to say I have been in incredible mental state not having sex and wondering if my wife would be better of divorcing me.
• When I followed Dr. Basrawala’s recommendation and let him operate me, I was under the assumption that he would take the necessary precautions, and would do his homework in order to take good care of me. It seems clear he did not take the time to study my situation, look at the options and take a better treatment path… needless to say I am a ruined man!!!

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