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
oldbuzzard ChuckP
Posted
Sounds like a lot of biopsies. 3T MRIs are more accurate and less invasive. But after a series of negative biopsies, its pretty clear that your high PSA number isn't due to cancer. I would not get another biopsy - wait a full 6 months after Rezum and have another PSA test.
But you've been tested and retested. 95% of all prostate cancers never cause any harm over a life time and all of the treatments (other than FLA) suck. I would leave well enough alone until you establish a post Rezum PSA baseline and then see if there is significant change from there.
drummer10 ChuckP
Posted
can anyone tell me what is FLA?
chuck68670 drummer10
Posted
...believe it is "Focal Laser Ablation" or sumpting similar. Basically "TURP" done with a Laser machine.
timothy81571 chuck68670
Posted
FLA is different than TURP because nothing inserted into the penis or urethra. The tissue is also coagulated be the laser and the body absorbs it, so its also different than other laser procedures.
raygar13 ChuckP
Posted
my updated progress after seeing urologist on friday. results at 100 days ipss from 22 to 8 with a score of 3 for times per night getting up. all in all she (urologist) was happy. We will do a final baseline psa at the 6 month mark, mentioned 3t mri and she was in agreement. Expect psa to settle down to under 15 (19.8 at 2 months) from a 29.8 baseline prior to rezum. I know that clinical rezum trial results for prostate 80 to 150 are coming. Richard Levin from Chesapeak Urology is already treating men with prostates up to 150. I convinced my urologist that I wanted this procedure and even if the results werent great we could always opt for a second procedure. As mentioned before, i recieved 15 steam injections and the results are good. No bleeding (started finesteride 14 days to rezum) and no pain at all from the procedure. Foley for 4 days. MRI will give us the actual prostate size and we will have a new psa baseline end of July. No biopsy in the future. Looking for a little more improvement, not ruling out a cleanup rezum procedure in the future, prostate not perfect but much improved. quality of life much better as a result. Have control, urgency is up to me. Leaking down 85 percent or more. Urge anyone with xl prostate to consider this treatment. Have medium lobe (2 injections) and the Dr. said she could clearly see the duct that caused ejacultation during the procedure and even though I had 15 injections she stayed away from this area. No retrograde for me. good luck guys
oldbuzzard raygar13
Posted
Most of the benefits normally occur in weeks 6-12, large prostates take longer. You may yet get noticeable improvement
raygar13 oldbuzzard
Posted
Had noticeable improvement from week 8 to present. Like the thought of getting a little more and as Ken said full improvement out to 6 months. Anticipate just a little more improvement and hope psa baseline at 6 months is arount 15. Love your nickname. thanks for the response...will update
oldbuzzard raygar13
Posted
My point was the standard time line is extended with big prostates. You should see significantly improved results for another month and won't max out til 7 or 8 months.
Keep us posted
raygar13 oldbuzzard
Posted
Wow, I originally thought peak results at 90 days. But it makes sense that with larger prostates it would take longer to absorb the ablated cells. I understand at 150 gr prostate that there arent too many procedures out there so I will keep everyone posted. month 2 to 3 were very good to me....fingers crossed
raygar13 ChuckP
Posted
quick reply, saw the urologist on friday ipss sympom score down from 22 to 8. in the last week totally able to control urgency, leaking down to almost never, good flow. wont go back for 3 months, establishing a new psa baseline at the 6 mont mark. mentioned 3T mri and she agreed, after 6 months....no biopsy for now. Only minor drawback, still getting up 3 times in the night, roughly every 2 hours, although have had some periods of sleep 2.5 to 3.5 hours which never used to happen. Any suggestions on sleep please reply
ken19524 raygar13
Posted
Here's a suggestion for the sleep issue: try taking a couple of ibuprofen. It won't work for everyone, but I get a solid 4 hours of sleep when I take them. I don't take them as a sleeping aid; just for the usual aches and pains from age, arthritis, etc. But for me, they work great. Good luck.
I'm about 16 months into my Rezum and everything is still working great.
raygar13 ken19524
Posted
Tried turning off the tv last night and got much better sleep. In the last week my ability to control urgency and leaking took a big step in the right direction. feel like I'm in control again. Although the long term results arent in for Rezum, the ablating of cells on the other side of the urethra is a sound idea. I would expect results to continue 5 plus years or better. We are the guinea pigs
Guest ChuckP
Posted
I had Rezum procedure about 3 weeks ago. I was not told what exactly a block anesthesia was, ie cotterization up the rectum and 2 shots of ? novacaine or whatever. If I had known I would have objected
due to fairly painful internal hemmoroids. I assume as Dave6583 did, that the office group wanter to
avoid the ambulatory costs and time of general anesthesia. So that inflamed my hemmoroids even before
the procedure started making the procedure worse by adding pain in same general area of body. I have low platelets so tend to bleed more. I am still barely getting any sleep. Whenever I'm prone the burning urge to urinate returns in 10-15 mins. Sleep comes eventually via exhaustion. It's a little better when I'm up and about. Still passing the same amount of blood as the first 5 days after procedure. May call dr. but
instructions pretty much say all of this can happen. Have appointment June 20th. Soaking in hot tub helps.
( Belize friend shared tea of smashed celery to stimulate good flow). Treating hemmoroids and Rezum recovery as separate issues, but the discomfort from the combination is joined at the hip
raygar13 Guest
Posted
I think its a lidocaine based nerve block. I had the same two shots via rectum and no other pain or anxiety pills. Was on flomax and continued until week 3. Started finesteride 2 weeks prior to procedure. Finesteride shrinks the prostate and improves urination like flomax but has the additional benefit of controlling or helping with bleeding. minor discomfort during procedure(jan 31) a little pink passed around the catherter(4 days) no bleeding post catheter. 15 rezum injections for xl prostate. The burning sensation is indicative of infection. antibiodics 3 days prior and 5 days after for me. with sensitive hemoroids in the rectum infection is entirely possible. Had a sensitive urethra for about 4 weeks as urine passed downward, not quite burning but I could feel it. This should improve. Hope everything improves for you and you get symptom relief that makes it worthwile. At 14 weeks I went from ipss 22 to around 8. The procedure is still fairly new for some urologist and the protocol is being developed.(what works) My urologist had some cases of excessive bleeding and I think she added finesteride as a result. I believe I benefitted from her experience. good luck
Guest
Posted
Thanks for info. I really think my Urologist is in a bit too much of a hurry and needs to solicit
more info that he may not be aware of before running each patient thru the same mill like they
are cookie cutter specimans. Like do you have hemmoroids? Do you have clotting problems?
If he does not do general anathesia or light anathesia in his ofc and doen't want to go to the amb-
ulatory outpatient facility, he should refer you to another Urologist who can do so if it is best for
you.