REZUM--HAVE YOU HAD THIS DONE???????
Posted , 385 users are following.
I had a nice conversation today with the President of the "Urology Times". He was telling me that there is a "New Procedure" that has been approved called the "REZUM SYSTEM". The company that makes the system is called "NXThera, Inc". You can google them up and lots of stuff comes up. I called them for a referral and they gave me a Doctor in Minnepolis that has done it over 50 times now. I called his nurse and she said he would call me back and answer my questions on monday. As you guys probably know Doctors are not very good at returning calls but we'll see what happens. Iam not very good at explaining how the procedure works but basically they take the device and put it up the uretha and vaporize the prostate cells which kills them. It works with high pressure "steam" that at a certain degree will kill the prostate tissue. My question for you guys is there anybody out there that has had it done to them and how are you getting along and are there "side effects", etc etc?????
35 likes, 5645 replies
michael18519 ChuckP
Edited
well I'm into week 8, things are getting better. urgency is still there, and I can go on my own without a catheter sloth I carry one in my bag in the vehicle. as a school bus driver, sometimes you gotta stop. each day is better than the last. my kidney's don't ache anymore and I can go on my own. big plus. Is anyone else on doxysosin , it's a smothe muscle medication , it's also for high blood pressure. it works well in helping to pass liquids. One side effect is it may keep you semi / to erect. so much for the blue pill. as a driver as soon as I'm off it, I'll only need a dot physicall every 2 years. that's a big plus. excited to get to month end 3. thanks. it helps to see how others are progressing. you're not alone.
raygar13 michael18519
Posted
Progress often seems slow, but as the body absorbs the dead cells it gets better. now til month 3 or 4 is optimal healing time. At 8 months leaking and urgency which were 90 percent improved took and extra step in healing and went to 100 percent fixed. Hope your results are the same. good luck
singares michael18519
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It was always so helpful to read others progress when mine was not so good, so here is my summary. Rezum done in June 2019 in the UK. 4+4+2 median lobe. 3 months of urgency and frequency to the point that it was worrying. But bang on 3 months with no medication things improved drastically. Now excellent in all aspects. Good for all those suffering with urgency and frequency to know that in my case it was resolved and hopefully for anyone else once the healing is done the body rights itself. Keep in there if you are still in the healing stage, it does get much better.
russ_777 michael18519
Posted
I've been taking doxazosin for 4+years. Started out at 1 mg at bedtime and increased to 2 mg about a year and a half ago. I've tolerated it very well. Most importantly it does not give me RE like flomax did. I think it does make it more difficult to get a rock hard erection but with patience and plenty of time I eventually get there.
john60821 ChuckP
Edited
Rezum did NOT work for my BPH or Nocturia problem. My urologist went in almost 11 months later and used a laser on what he though were bladder stones, but definitely crystals in my urine.
Still no help and I have to get up 4 to 5 times each night to urinate. I now keep a Male urinal at my bedside just for this function. It's very annoying.
davidaami john60821
Edited
You might want to switch to a different urologist - one with much more extensive experience with REZUM.
Also, you might consider learning how to self catheterize so as to completely void prior to sleeping. It's been discussed here by multiple people. And there's threads on here that explain how to do it, and the things to consider when doing it.
patrick45945 davidaami
Edited
+1 on the self-cathing! I have been using CIC for several months exclusively in an effort to rehab my distended bladder and hopefully avoid the intrusive procedures you are considering. I have become habituated to doing it, much like flossing my teeth, and have never had a problem with it.
Like you, prior to beginning CIC, I was getting up several times each night...now I get up once and sleep soundly every night.
Also, learning to self-cath can help during your recovery from REZUM or any other procedure you may choose, and avoid the inconvenience of wearing a Foley post-procedure.
Good luck!
Patrick
patrick45945
Edited
FYI, here's a link to an extensive thread about self-catheterization, or Clean Intermittent Catheterization (CIC). I read all 2,000+ replies before starting CIC myself, which helped immensely!
Patrick
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/self-catherization-an-alternative-to-turp-greenlight-holep--336874
justinthyme ChuckP
Edited
Hello, all.
I'm considering doing Rezum with a urologist named Dr. Christopher Hollowell, who practices in Southeast Florida (Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale, Coral Springs). Has anyone here had any experience with him? He seems to have plenty of experience with the procedure and has trained other urologists in it. He's about 53 and has been in the biz about 27 years. Probably a couple hundred Rezum procedures under his belt. Thing is, some of his ratings on online websites are not exactly complimentary, though he does have some very positive detailed reviews. I'm guessing those sites aren't exactly the most reliable for evaluating a practitioner's skill or technical reliability.
I'm almost 60, my prostate is around 56g. I sleep for about 4.5-5 hours at night uninterrupted, but can't get back to sleep. During the day, I have no problems emptying and I go about every couple of hours. I just started alfuzosin (an alpha blocker) again. It helps me only marginally. I'd really like to retain my ability to ejaculate.
Anyway, if anyone has heard of Dr. Chris Hollowell, or knows someone who has (probably in SE Florida), I'd be grateful for insights.
Wishing you all safety, good health, and healthy flows.
raygar13 justinthyme
Posted
first of all I dont know your urologist, live in south florida, pompano. Researched all BPH treatments and Rezum sounded the most practical. my female urologist Dawn Scarzella originally wanted to do TURP (retro). my prostate is XL 150. She said it was too large for Rezum, but I played her a Rezum intro from Richard Levin (Chesapeak Urology) who was involved in Rezum clinical trials. google him and listen. he had done a patient with 151 prostate and he was doing fine. She proceeded to ask the rezum representative and we got the procedure ok'd for me. Was on flomax, 2 weeks prior, added finesteride (for bleeding). Had local only (2 shots) jan 31 2019. foley 3.5 days. the urologist can see the ejaculatory duct in the procedure, if they stay away from injecting steam in this area, there shouldnt be retro. My urologist wasnt the most experienced at this procedure, there was a rezum rep helping her during my procedure. 13 plus 2 to the medium lobe . Procedure was 4 out of 10 for pain, none the next day and no bleeding except for a little pink around the catheter day 2. post foley was able to urinate on my own very slowly, this picked up little by little. off flomax 14 days. Still wake up every 2 hours at night but all other symptoms are gone. ipss 23 to 8. Am very much better at 14 months. others have said a urologist with at least 50, someone has to be 30, 42 etc. Make not having retro important to whoever ends up doing the procedure. if they inject the area that the ejaculatory duct passes thru it will kill the cells and cause retro. good luck
justinthyme raygar13
Posted
Thank you for your reply.
So, just to be clear, Was Dawn Scarzella the urologist who performed your Rezum?
Would you recommend her overall?
raygar13 justinthyme
Posted
yes, I like how thorough she is. She listens to my opinions and answers questions after I do internet research. With a high psa 29.8 prior to rezum we did all the mri, bone scans etc. to rule out prostate cancer. I told her I wanted to do rezum and we made it happen. totally happy with her and her staff and would highly recommend. her dad was a urologist and she is one of the few female urologists. first rate office too. My outcome is a total success. prior to rezum, I had urinary retention twice, leaking, urgency. after I am much better, leaking/urgency gone. We thought we might have to follow up because of the size of the prostate and the rezum trials for 80 to 150 prostates was ongoing. As of now 16 months later, all is good
raygar13
Posted
she had mentioned to me that a patient had a lot of bleeding during the rezum procedure. she started putting patients on finesteride prior to procedure. after 15 injections, I thought the are would be swollen and sore and expected bleeding. No pain day 2, no bleeding period. text book recovery
steven05114 raygar13
Posted
raygar13,
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You are giving justinthyme some great advise! This is what this forum is all about!
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The urologist who did my Rezum was recommended to me on this forum and was a woman too. I had to get passed the part about a woman urologist but now I would highly recommend her! She had been a urologist for over 25 years and doing Rezums for 2 years. She had very good communications skills which is important too.
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My Rezum that was done at the end of November 2018 went great! It was done under 1 Percocet and 1 Valium so I felt the pain but it was easily tolerated. I had 10 injections (4 per lateral lobe and 2 median lobe). I had a Foley in me for 2 weeks and after that, I had to self-cath for 2 more weeks until I started to open up at 4 weeks.
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I had blood in my pee for 4 weeks too. Over the next 2 weeks, I opened up a lot more and at 3 months, I was peeing normally, but due to bladder damage, my PVR's were about 140 ml. At 9 months, my PVR's dropped below 100 ml and now they are below 50 ml. Bladder damage takes a long time to recover. My IPSS went from 29 to 6.
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Finally, I had no RE. I highly recommend Rezum as a minimally invasive, first try procedure and also carefully selecting the urologist that you chose to do it.
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Steve
raygar13 steven05114
Edited
thank you, for most men this prostate BPH is very new. I didnt really understand anything except urination was getting difficult. I looked for every solution, reviews and protocol to help with problems associated with BPH. Before my procedure, I knew exactly what to expect and how it was done and understood why retro is a very small number with this procedure. my 150 prostate was measured 1 year later at 130. i am going to start finesteride for 6 months, to shrink the prostate. my thinking is the structure on the outside is intact, we ablated a lot of cells on the inside of the prostate. if we shrink the prostate it will condense inward at least in theory
steven05114 raygar13
Edited
Raygar,
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You are welcome!
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I was on finasteride for 9 months before my Rezum but it did not reduce the size of my prostate enough because of my enlarged median lobe. After my Rezum, I decided to stay on finasteride so that my prostate does not grow back. So far, I have had no adverse side effects, other than my bald spot filling in.
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Before my procedure, I researched all of the available procedure options with the help of the "family-member-MD". Having a doctor in the family helped a lot in making my decision. This forum helped in lot in choosing a urologist to do my Rezum. Knowing as you said "what to expect and how it was done", helped talking with the urologist.
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Steve
davidaami justinthyme
Posted
Why do you need to have this Rezum procedure done ?