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
james50975 ChuckP
Posted
Hello I have had the Rezume procedure done in June and now six weeks later feel it was a very good decision.
It was complicated maybe more than it should have been as I had already been to the hospital two months earlier with acute retention and was fitted with an IDC catheter. This kept blocking with blood clots so I suspect the hospital damaged something as they made many attempts to insert the IDC and finally did assisted with this huge wire thing.
I had the Rezume, instead of a new catheter they put in an SPC (superpubic catheter) so I could try voiding (doing a wee 😃) at any time. I had blood weeping out of the penis for weeks had to wear a lady's stick on pad inside the underware. Continual problems with blood clots blocking the SPC catheter and the penis at the same time causing trips to the hospital where they flushed the clots out and this is not pleasant.
Six weeks after the procedure the bleeding decided to stop, voiding like a firehose and very happy.
In hindsight it turns out the catheter was causing the blood in the bladder and not the procedure.
Removal of the catheter sorted the problem out.
The key thing on this procedure is to be very patient, understand what it is doing and wait for it to do its thing. Note on average it takes 2 to 3 months for it to fully work.
its better than a TURP although I have read there is a new ejaculation preservation procedure that can be done with laser or turp just have to find a good urologist willing to do it.
All they have to do is to avoid this little bump area called the Verumontanum or seminal colliculus area and not wipe it out. It is basically the valve and if they TURP everywhere except for there the results are nearly the same and no retrograde ejaculation.
raygar13 james50975
Posted
The biggest changes I noticed after week 6 where flow was good. ability to hold off urniation which was impossible before and I got leaking under control. was able to completely empty bladder. In other words i was in control again
raygar13
Posted
With all you went thru james, i'm very happy that you are doing better and should continue to improve for the next couple months.
Motto james50975
Posted
I'm three weeks and still not peeing normally at all. Very little comes out so I'm cathing 3-4 times a day. Before the procedure, I only cathed once a day, at night, right before bed so I could get some sleep.
I still have this weird thing too where when my bladder is full, I feel like I have to have a BM even though I don't. My rectum will try to push even when nothing is coming out. Then some pee will come out from the force. It's a symptom that happened a week before my procedure and was really painful. Cathing stops it so it seems like it's caused by a full bladder.
I'm just frustrated because nobody said anything about having to cath for three solid weeks after the procedure. Everything I read said you would need a Foley for a few days, maybe a week. I appreciate the advice to be patient.
Oh, and somebody asked how many injections I had. It was 9 or 10.
steven05114 Motto
Posted
Motto,
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My Rezum took me 4 weeks to open up which is not uncommon.
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About 17 months before my Rezum, I had a similar problem where I could not poop even if I wanted too. I ended up on seeing my primary care doctor about this and they found nothing but they never checked my bladder or took any x-rays.
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Five months later, x-rays found a badly distended bladder and they took 2 liters of pee out of me and put a Foley in which I had for 3 1/2 weeks. I suspect that the distended bladder was blocking my colon and rectum and effecting my pooping.
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Before your Rezum when you were self-cathing 1 time per day, what were your self-cath volumes?
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Before your Rezum, did you have a urodynamics test and what were the detrusor pressure results?
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Before your Rezum, did you have a cystoscopy and what did it show about your bladder's condition?
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After my Rezum, I had a Foley in for 2 weeks and had to self-cath for 2 more weeks before I opened up. It was not a big deal for me almost 10 months self-cathing before my Rezum.
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Steve
oldbuzzard Motto
Posted
Its not typical, but not unheard of. I didn't start dribbling pee until close to 3 weeks and wasn't better than when before the procedure for 6. And I only had 5 sprays and a small prostate (growing in unfortunately) .
Its not exact, but bigger prostates and more sprays tend to bring longer recoveries. I would try to pee before cathing and get as much as you can out without straining. It will be a jagged line that goes up over then next few weeks most likely. If your prostate is over 80 in size, it might take longer.
Please post updates.
raygar13 oldbuzzard
Posted
background 150 prostate 15 injections 13 and 2 to medium lobe. cath for 4 days was able to go on my own immediately although not much volume. at 2 weeks volume picked up a little. prostates that are small and are blocking urination may be more compact compared to larger prostates. a smaller prostate has less injections and the possiblilty that rezum does clear the runway. I lost a lot of tissue with the 15 injections and clearly the blocking of the urethra was opened up. general thinking is more trauma more swelling with the added injections but some are overlapping. New clinical trials for 80 to 150 underway, I predict continued success with the procedure for these larger prostates. key is symptom relief which we all want
Motto steven05114
Posted
Thanks Steven. I appreciate the feedback -- 4 weeks is just another week at this point.
I did not have a urodynamics test. I did have a cytoscopy and it and the MRI showed the bladder had some trabuculation or whatever that word is.
My prostate is on the small side, only 50 cc. My bladder is stretched but the ultrasounds never showed more than 300-400 cc.
Before the procedure, my amounts cathing at night were 200-300, but seemed to be coming down slightly.
steven05114 Motto
Posted
Motto,
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Your self-cath volumes are OK. Your ultrasound volues suggests that you were not too stretched out.
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The MRI and trabeculation suggests some bladder damage. Was there any description of the amount of trabeculation? The urodynamics test would have told if the trabeculation was enough to cause damage that effected peeing.
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My trabeculation was moderate which is bad and I flunked my urodyamics test. While my Rezum was successful, my PVR's are still above 100 ml but have been slowly dropping to around 100 ml which suggests bladder recovery over time.
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I would give your Rezum another week and see what happens. Opening up at 4 weeks is fairly common in the literature on Rezum. The initial opening may just be dribbles but over 2 weeks the stream gets stronger.
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Steve
kenneth1955 james50975
Posted
Hey James
I am very happy that you are getting better, It does take time and you just have to relax.
Yes that is true about the EP Turps but you have to find a good doctor because it takes time to do that procedure and there is still a chance you can still lose it. You have to stay away from the Verumontanum and the seminal vessels. The bump is sometime called the mountain
Any time they cut out tissue of the prostate retro ejaculation is a given. Doctor main concern is to get you to pee better. Sex take a second place and the doctor do not feel that you need your ejaculation when we get older they do not feel it is a function.
That is not up to him to decide what you need. It is up to you. That is why you have to talk with your doctor and try to get any information you can before you have anything done. You have to take charge of your body.
All the best....Ken
james50975 Motto
Posted
I had this too it will eventually pass.
I think after the procedure you have some swelling and inflammation which makes voiding seem not as good as before the procedure. The swelling is partially blocking the passage (wasn't my problem as I was blocked anyway wearing a catheter sticking out of my tummy so I could test voiding everyday).
So as long as you don't go into retention you should see improvements maybe not until four weeks onwards but it should get better and better. Did you doctor give you anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories for the first week after the procedure?
While you are suffering the 3-5 days of the brochure should be ignored really, that is for ideal cases. But if you can stick it out for more than four - six weeks you should become very happy 😃
All the best
justinthyme ChuckP
Posted
I feel very fortunate to have found this group. I've learned a lot, and I feel that if I do have a procedure to deal with my BPH, it will almost certainly be Rezum.
Since I last posted, I've tried an alternate approach. I consulted with three different urologists, all of whom stated that I was a good candidate for Rezum. As of April, my prostatic volume measured an estimated 55cc and my LUTS gave me an IPSS score of about 20. The urologist with whom I felt most comfortable told me I could put off the procedure for a few months.
I did a bit of reading about Graminex rye pollen, also called Cernilton. Apparently, this is prescribed regularly in Europe for BPH. I read up on di-indolylmethane (also called DIM), which is an estrogen metabolizer. I also bought a medical prostate massager and a "sex toy" prostate massager.
The purpose of the Graminex is to improve prostatic blood flow while reducing inflammation.
The purpose of the DIM is to balance estrogen/testosterone levels and DHT formation which might contribute to prostate growth.
The purpose of the prostate massagers was also to stimulate prostatic blood circulation.
NOTE: Graminex can cause side effects such as stomach swelling (distention), heartburn, and nausea. I can attest to the occasional sensitive stomach. DIM has similar possible side effects, though I've never suffered from any. Overall, I feel fine consuming them. Most importantly, they do not affect sexual function in the short of long term.
For the past six weeks, I've been taking 500mg of Graminex 3 times a day and 300mg of DIM once a day, using the medical prostate massager upon waking up and going to bed every day, using the toy massager for about ten minutes midday every day, and externally massaging my perineum every morning. Despite the product descriptions of the massagers, I have not experienced erotic arousal or orgasms from the massagers. When using the medical massager, I am aggressive and make sure the prostate is well prodded with the vibrating tip so that the vibrations ripple throughout the organ.
As I mentioned earlier, in April, an abdominal ultrasound measurement of my urinary tract measured my prostatic volume as 55cc. Yesterday morning, I had a TRUS (trans-rectal ultrasound) that measured my prostatic volume as 38-40cc. My symptoms have improved, but I'm not p*****g like a racehorse yet. I do get up once a night, but I can sit through a movie and otherwise go without peeing for a few hours. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 7:00 and didn't have my morning pee until 10:00 because I thought the urologist would want a sample... the one time he didn't.
I'm going to continue this regimen and take have another TRUS in another three months. I hope to reach a prostate size smaller than 30cc, at which point I'll scale back my consumption of Graminex to 500mg once a day, use the medical prostate massager once a week, and stop using the toy massager altogether. BTW,
It is possible that this is just a fluke and that my first prostatic volume measurement was very inaccurate. So, Rezum might still be in my future.
davidaami justinthyme
Posted
Where do you buy Graminex rye pollen, DIM, and these massagers ?
eric78101 ChuckP
Posted
Wanted to update those following this. I will be five weeks out this coming Monday. Bleeding has almost stopped - what I mean by that is that when I would pee there would some some initial watered down blood then normal urine. Last Saturday it started to become a little less and sometimes intermittent. As of this morning I suspect it is almost gone. Last time I saw blood clots was mid-week last week. Haven't seen any for several days now.
Couple notes. My Doc has had me taking my Flomax/Tamulosin (sp?) during recovery and that has seemed to help keep me peeing better during this period of recovery time. For those who read about my second Foley catheter experience, I am now convinced that had they just done a straight catheter and had just drained me I would have been OK. I think so because when I removed that second catheter there was a blood clot smeared in the opening and I'm convinced that it was stuck in my urethra down around my perineum impeding my flow and when they inserted the catheter it pushed through the clot - that and the fact that pressing on my perineum would also allow some flow to pass intermittently.Anyway, here I am at almost five weeks, flow is really good, pain is now just some discomfort when I pee (and slowly decreasing in discomfort) and sexual function is as it should be although not as intense due to the prostate simply not being in super condition. Once it heals up more and firms up, the sensations should be back to normal - but there is no reverse ejaculation unlike TURP.
Would I do it again? Yes. Was it a real pain for two weeks, oh ya, but worth it.
davidaami eric78101
Posted
good to hear Eric. Glad you're improving.
Any way to know if and how much urine retention you have after voiding ?
raygar13 eric78101
Posted
great update, rezum jan. 31. saw some continued improvement between months 2 and 3 and marginal after that. The sensations during urniation will subside. Added better control of urination and leaking in the 2 to 3 month period. And although not perfect, turned back the clock about 20 years. I have mentioned before, went on finesteride 2 weeks prior to rezum, think it was a big factor in almost no bleeding at all. passed a little pink around the catheter day 2. got off flomax after week 2. Can see why it is a good idea to continue while healing. at 62 am completely medication free and back in control. results I was hoping for
eric78101 raygar13
Posted
Regarding retention, I would say zero. I have a very strong stream and don't feel like I'm leaving any behind. Unlike raygar13, I have not had any leakage - other than a little blood seeping out around the catheter during that period of time and then just a little post-catheter during week three. About mid-week three, I stopped using the depends as the seepage had stopped. Since then full control. I had a fair amount of urgency through week four, but this last week it has toned down a lot. Oh, and this morning I realized I had gone three days without my Flomax. May just not go back to it at this point as I think things are functioning well enough to just move forward without meds (I don't like them anyway).