Goin to have Rezum procedure
Posted , 9 users are following.
As I posted on here last week, I scheduled a Rezum for October 23rd, then found this website the same day and since then I’v had second thoughts about doing it, but today after walking around with a half full bladder, distended as if I’m pregnant and peeing constantly I’m probably going to go ahead and do it. I’m sure It’s not get any better which I hate to admit.
I’ve had BPH for years and it was tolerable until May of this year when I got persistent prostatitis. Since then my bladder does not empty, I’m peeing small amounts constantly and I’m not getting much sleep. It’s been miserable. I have median lobe involvement and a 79 cc prostate so the doc told me he would more than likely have to give me 10 injections
If you don’t mind I have some questions for those of you who have had the procedure or have knowledge of it. It will be done under general anesthesia, thank God, so I’m thinking about asking the doc to go ahead and put in foley cath in while i’m under ( he may do it with out asking) then when I get home I can at least get some sleep for several days and not worry about having to go to the ER to be cathed while I’m awake which scares me to death. Of course after they take the cath out I still might have problems peeing. I’m sure being cathed after the procedure and you are sore, while awake is probably is not fun. Tell me where I’m going wrong here.
Next I’m wondering about pain meds. Should I ask for something stronger than over the counter meds. And burning when I pee is there something he can give me for that. I guess what I want to find out is what should I ask him for before I leave the hospital so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with problems and wonder what to do. I would like to be as prepared as possible. I would love any advice you all can give me to make this at least a little more tolerable. Thanks in advance.
0 likes, 23 replies
ken19524 gary37907
Posted
Gary,
Congratulations on making a decision to move on with your life. I too had a prostate with about the same overall size, enlarged median lobe, and got 10 shots of steam. I also got the general anesthesia, which was great. The only difference is that I had been self catheterizing for several months because of retention. It sounds like you haven't been self catheterizing. That's too bad, because it provides some much needed relief from the discomfort of retaining too much urine in your bladder.
Self catheterizing also provided me a simple and easy recovery. There was no pain associated with the procedure, nor when I self-catheterized for the days afterwards. I did have some minor 'pain' after the procedure when I was urinating on my own but it was a very low pain, even hard to call it pain. More like discomfort. I didn't have any pain prescription after the procedure, and didn't really need it. I did take ibuprofen for the minor discomfort, and it also helped with the urgency, which was also not bad.
Of course we are all different, and you may not have such an easy time of it. Certainly this forum has allowed those with a more difficult recovery to recount their experience. But keep in mind that the majority of Rezum patients have relatively easy recovery, and so they don't take the time to tell their story here. Certainly Rezum has a much easier recovery than most mainline BPH procedures.
I didn't have a Foley catheter to deal with after the procedure, so I can't comment on that experience. But if you take a common sense approach to that, and keep in mind that it will get you through the first few days until some of the swelling of the prostate goes down, I'm sure that you will do fine with a Foley. For me there was a noticeable difference in about 5 days, although it seems that the average is more like a couple of weeks.
You'll get through the procedure, and you'll be glad that you made the decision. Hang in there.
gary37907 ken19524
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gary37907 ken19524
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ken19524 gary37907
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My procedure was done in January 2018. I stopped using catheters a couple of weeks or so after the procedure. I had been cathing 4 - 5 times per day before that. And that was with 2 tamsulosin per day. I also stopped taking tamsulosin about the same time that I stopped using catheters.
miriam65408 gary37907
Posted
Hi Gary,
Just beware of being offered/given Ciprofloxacin 'in case' of any infection pre or post the op. Please see the fluoroquinolone antibiotic discussions on this forum to see why I am saying this.
Good luck and I hope it all goes well.
gary37907 miriam65408
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tom6446 gary37907
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You need to self Cath to help with retention. I was walking around with a full bladder as well. I list a couple of pounds when I started self cathing and was also peeing constantly. I can now sleep through the night and waiting to figure out what procedure is right for me. The nurse practitioner showed me how to self Cath and it gave me my life back.
gary37907 tom6446
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john98818 gary37907
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gary37907 john98818
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hank1953 gary37907
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ken19524 hank1953
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Hank,
You are certainly welcome to cross Rezum off your list. That is a personal choice. But it sounds like you're using the input from people on this forum to choose a procedure. Yes, there have been some bad results reported by guys on this forum. But the number of bad results reported on this forum is a tiny fraction of all the Rezum procedures that have been done in the last several years.
The majority of those who have had the Rezum procedure have had very good results. I no longer have problems urinating, and I have completely stopped using medications and catheters. The reason that I continue to read and contribute to this forum is because there seems to be a lot of opinions stated that are misleading to those who are trying to decide what to do.
A guy who has BPH should definitely educate himself about the pluses and minuses of all the different options. However, the information on a public forum such as this is the furthest thing from scientific or even statistical data. Yes, there is a lot of helpful information here, and we can learn from others and their experiences. But this information is only a part of the whole picture.
john98818 ken19524
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Guys, I'm almost 3 weeks out from my Rezum. I don't think I'm unusual and still hopeful that my result will be great. I'm very optimistic it will be. The problem is when I had my procedure I was pretty much done with the misery of medication and BPH symptoms. I guess I didn't really appreciate the fact that when you have this done the weeks after the procedure will be SIGNIFICANTLY worse than before. Without the use of catheters (which I didn't need before) I'd be going bonkers! So far it's been a tough few weeks. Just saying
hank1953 ken19524
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Ken, I appreciate that you are sharing your good result with us. Some people don't. I also appreciate the ones that shared bad results. From all we can make
more informed decision. Hank
john98818 ken19524
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Ken et at, can you chime in on maybe I screwed up my Rezum recovery by being intimate with my wife as soon as I got off my foley catheter (4 days after there procedure) and have been having regulate sex since then? My doc didn't give me any time constraint on sex, so I started back right away. Did I shoot myself in the foot?
ken19524 john98818
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John,
I really doubt that you caused any issues by having sex so soon after the Rezum procedure. The prostate is involved in manufacturing the semen that is then stored in the testicles. When you ejaculated, your body just shot out the stored semen in the testicles. Then the parts of the prostate that weren't steamed by the Rezum went on to manufacture more semen. I don't think that would have caused any more swelling of the prostate than what was caused by the Rezum procedure.
I'll qualify that above by saying that I am definitely not a doctor. But I've done enough research that I understand the basics of what goes on in this part of our bodies.
Oh, and by the way, I did the same thing you did....
I think that it's just that we're all different, and I may have just been luckier than you.
At my urologist's suggestion, I continued to take tamsulosin for around 2 or 3 weeks after the procedure too. Were you taking anything post-Rezum?
john98818 ken19524
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Thanks Ken. Yes I'm taking Uroxatral and Cialis. Those along with the Catheters are keeping me going. Thanks again
john98818 ken19524
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Ken, in regards to the bladder, should I try and hold my urine and only go a few times a day or should I go as often as I feel it's necessary when the urge presents? What's the best way to train the bladder?Thanks
ken19524 john98818
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John,
You've asked a good question there. I wish I could answer it but I really don't know which is better. I would think that the answer depends on how much liquid you're talking about. That is, how much are you voiding by yourself, and how much with the catheter (PVR = Post Void Residual). When I was using catheters, I tended to use them 4 to 5 times a day. The NV (Natural Void) was typically about 10% of total volume and 90% was post-void. That was before the Rezum procedure. Starting about a week after the procedure, the percentages gradually improved. My total urine volume for a day would be around 1.5 liter, if I remember correctly. If you're passing a lot more than that, I would think that you would need to urinate/cath more frequently.
I would also think that the frequency would depend on convenience too. If you're retired, as I am, you have some flexibility to go more often than if you are working full time.
I'm not sure if I've helped at all with your question. Again, I hate to sound like a broken record, but we're all different in so many ways, such as how much we eat and drink, how much exercise we get, how restricted our flow is, etc.
john98818 ken19524
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Thanks Ken. That's helpful
tom6446 john98818
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John,
From helpfull tips from Jim James on this forum, I have been trying to keep my bladder under 400ML. For me it' s cathing about every 5-6 hours, depending on how much liquid I am drinking. If I have coffee or a beer or two I will need to go sooner. So, from what I have been reading and been told by my URO, keep it under 400ML and it will hopefully shrink the bladder.