Recently had rezum procedure

Howard,

I’ve been following this blog for about 7 months and have heard a lot about cathing, drugs, and the various BPH procedures including PAE, Rezum, Urolift, TURP, Green Light Laser and HoLEP.  The following summarizes what I’ve read as best I can.

 

Bottom line:  drugs may work for a while (for me it was about 3 years), but they are not a long term solution and can also result in damage the bladder from constantly being over extended/full.  Some procedures seem to work for some but not all.  Worse yet, many have reported total incontinence after their surgical procedures.  It’s hard to tell if it was a botched job or not.

 

The real answer imho is surgery, specifically HoLEP.  I did the research on all the procedures (except PAE….had not heard of it), and chose HoLEP.  It is the best surgical procedure because; 1) less time in the hospital and a on catheter (less than 24 hours), 2) less bleeding, 3) very small chance of needing a repeat procedure, and 4) they remove prostate tissue (instead of burning or otherwise destroying it), so they can biopsy it for cancer.  I have heard no reports of anyone having HoLEP and needing a second procedure or experiencing incontinence or needing to continue cathing.  I’ve heard way too many horror stories on this blog about TURP & GL.  My uro explained that they both burn the tissue out, and therefore leave scar tissue.  That tends to shrink over time, and hence the need for a repeat procedure. With HoLEP, they cut the tissue away, grind it up with a ‘morcellator’, push it into the bladder, and then wash it out.

 

Yes, you the have retro ejac, but sex drive returns, and since I don’t plan to have any more children (age 68), it’s not a problem for me.  I was retaining close to 800ml, and my prostate was 85 grams, PSA 3.8.  After it was 46 grams, PSA 0.2.  I had my surgery in January, and after two to three months had no problems at all.  I did have leakage for 3 or 4 weeks.  Some in the UK report they were told to do Kegel exercises for a few months before surgery to avoid this.

 

Lastly, the experience & ability of the doc is critical, and often difficult to determine.  Hospital ratings for various specialties can be found in the US News & World Report evaluations.  Bios for docs may or may not be available.  For example, the Mayo Clinic was rated best in the nation, and they have the education and publications of their docs listed…… very helpful. Best of luck!

Call your urologist and ask if you are allowed to take Phenazopyridine (Uristat).

Prescription strength is 200mg, but 100mg can be purchased over the counter.

Definitely takes care of burning and spasms

I had trouble after Rezum too. It was close to 3 weeks before I could pee and twice that before it stopped being a problem. I had some moderate to severe buying that went away after about a month. Peridium will help symptomatically, but it sounds as though you have a urinary tract infection. Do a pee test at your urologist and find out. Most of the benefits happen in weeks 6 - 12. It will get better - also Myrbetriq may help short term

Slow down ....If you can't void easily get a Foley back in..or self cath..

DO NOT tough it out in pain...!

The size (gms) of your prostate is a big factor in determining  the approach that should be explored.

Get relatively comfortable, even if the is foley back in .. 'then you will

have time to research your options.

Good Luck !!

I would recommend learning to self-cath. immediately as it is much, much better than the foley (and more healthy).  It also gives you a chance to pee naturally in between catheterizations to see where you are.  It seems daunting at first but quckly becomes much easier.  Speedicath male compact works best for me.

You must do thorough research before you rush into anything. There are many procedures both old and new that are are not for everyone.

Ask your urologist what procedure he would choose if he had to personally undergo such an operation. If you cannot get a straight answer, seek help elswhere.

Well I'll just put the obvious out there since I went through some unnecessary suffering post pae. You should be taking a NSAID pain reliever/anti inflammatory regularly first few days after.

Thanks for all your replies. My first post I failed to mention that tha cath was put back in the day after my second fill and pull. It was kind of a relief because it was friday and if I had problem over the weekend that meant an ER visit. A  question to anybody that had REZUM. Right after a bowel movement I get bright red blood leakage from the head. My Dr. says it's norrmal. The ony thing is I did not specify the color of the blood. Red as opposed to old brown looking blood. Anyone have that?

A little update to me rezum. Still cathed into my third week. Got up early this morning and my bag was full. When I turned on bathroom light I noticed it was full of blood. Tried to drain bag, but it was clotted up. Did not want chance not drain, I went to ER. There they determined I was draining. I did not need to be flushed. My white blood counts were up and they put me on CEFDINIR. My next followup is for the 5th. I have to see if I can get in there before that. In the mean time I am drinking a lot of water to flush the system.

Your healing and thats good.! Glad your not trying to

tough it out. After your cath is removed do not be afraid to

use self cath at home rather then going back to the ER.

Its not that hard ....I realize you know this ...just reminding.

Take your time and do not allow yourself to strain to void

and thing will gradually improve. Your Uro as well as

others on this site should be able to gauge your progress having

had this surgery.

Good Luck & Take it one day at a time