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
kevin881 ChuckP
Posted
I had the Rezum procedure done October 14th, I am 13 days out now. I am 50 years old.
5mg Valium (not enough)
Urethral numbing
Transrectal lidocaine injection to the prostate
6 Rezum blasts (3 on each side of the prostate)
I was one of the people who went into this thinking it was going to be a walk in the park. I was wrong. Catheter was removed after 3 days. I had an incredibly weak stream but I figured that I could make it work and went home... That night I ended up in the ER because I could not pee. Had the catheter replaced and wore it another 5 days. Took it out and same problem, totally blocked at night time.
Doc gave me disposable catheters and showed me how to self cath. I have been doing that for 4 days now.
I have had chunks of blood clots come out when p*****g, as well as when cathing. As of today the blood clots are changing to lighter colored blood in my urine. No change in weakness of stream, its really bad and I struggle to get it flowing... when it does I can count on passing about 150ml of urine, which relieves me but my bladder is still somewhat full... I have to catheterize the rest out.
When I wake up in the morning, if I have had a night-time erection, I have whole blood all over my underwear and thighs. I have not ejaculated yet since the Rezum and I am sure its going to be a bloody mess when I try.
Honestly I was NOT prepared for this. I did my research and I thought I was in for a 2 week recovery at most. Even my doc seemed to think so. Im super depressed that I got myself into this situation- I would have opted for a Green-Light or Button Turp or something else if I had known Id be worse off for 2 weeks+ Some of you are saying Ill be worse than pre-procedure for 3-4 weeks, and that is upsetting to me.
I will try to update as I see fit. As of now, I would NOT recommend this to anyone. If I get great results in the future, then maybe, but people need to be prepared for what the recovery is actually like. I wasn't and I feel deceived by the Rezum people who make it sound like a trip to the barber.
Going to see the doc tomorrow for a cystoscope so he can look and see what my prostate looks like....
steven05114 kevin881
Posted
Kevin,
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Two weeks out is not that long and it is the time when you will experience the most blood, blood clots, and tissue shedding (which may be confused with blood clots). All BPH treatments will be bloody, with some like old mono TURP being more bloody than others. Note that some clots may clog your catheter. They did for me.
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At the end of November 2018, I had a very successful Rezum (10 injections - 4 per lateral lobe and 2 median lobe). I had a Foley for the 1st 2 weeks and self-cathed after that. I started to open up at 4 weeks with a significant improvement by 6 weeks and I was well opened by 8 weeks. I had some blood for the 1st 4 weeks.
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After my Rezum, I went from total retention and 10 months of catheters to being able to pee normally again like I had not done in years. My IPSS went from a 28 or 29 to an 8 or 9. You just need to let the Rezum procedure run its course which will take about 3 months, maybe longer for larger prostates.
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Steve
kevin881 steven05114
Posted
Steve, thank you so much. Everyone here has been very helpful to me. It’s been a bit disheartening to have been sold a recovery time of two weeks, and then to realize that it’s going to take more like three or four months. If I had been prepared for reality, I may still have done the same procedure, but without the anxiety and panic that came with my feeling that "things were not right," beacuse i am not fully healed yet....
steven05114 kevin881
Posted
Kevin,
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Where did you get the information on 2 weeks from, your doctor or the Rezum website? When I researched Rezum, and I did a lot of research (I am a retired scientist), what I found at 2 weeks, is that a small number of men start to open up.
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At 2 weeks, I had my Foley removed, I still could not pee, I still have blood in my pee, and I still was shedding chunks of prostate tissue. This is more the norm than then exception. Things started to turn around at 4 weeks and continued after that.
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Most BPH procedures are bloody as the prostate is damaged in the process of removing tissue to reduce the size of the prostate so that you can pee again. As Rezum is less invasive (read that less damaging) then other BPH procedures, it is less bloody and takes less time to heal.
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Two guys that I know who had GLEP, had more blood and took longer to heal than men and GLEP seals the wound. The 1 case that I know of old mono TURP, started hemorrhaging at 4 weeks while at that time, I had the last of my "pink pee".
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Personally, I think that a lot of urologist are lacking communications skills when discussing BPH procedures with their patients. I found that to be the case with 1 of the urologist that I saw and decided to move on to another who was much better.
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Good luck and keep us posted.
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Steve
kevin881 steven05114
Posted
Hey Steve. Yeah it was the Rezum website and literature, which makes you think that you are going to walk out of the procedure with no catheter and be better within 2 weeks.
Ironically, my doctor was adamant that I have the catheter in for 3 days minimum post-procedure, even though I wanted one day. He wouldn't do the procedure unless I consented to a 3 day.... obviously I needed more than that, but my urologist is actually more conservative was was trying to warn me that I was being too optimistic.
Thanks for the reply, ill stick it out for a few more weeks and not be so anxious that things are not happening more quickly. After all, I don't have many choices.
steven05114 kevin881
Posted
Kevin,
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As I recall, the Rezum website and literature says that "some" men see results in 2 weeks. That does not mean all men do. You were being overly optimistic.
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My urologist said to keep the Foley in for 2 weeks and I did not have a problem with that as 10 months before, I had a Foley in for a month after they took 2 liters of pee out of me. After that, I self-cathed for 2 weeks until I could pee on my own again.
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There are differing views on this forum for Foley vs. self-cath after your Rezum. I can see both points of view. Every guy who has a Rezum should know how to self-cath and to be prepared for chunks of prostate tissue totally clogging the catheter.
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Which is one of the reasons to know how to self-cath and not rely on a Foley.
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Steve
kevin881 steven05114
Posted
From the Rezum website:
The Rezūm procedure provides the following benefits to men suffering from BPH:
Alternative to BPH medications1
Studies support Rezūm relieves symptoms safely and effectively2
Noticeable symptom improvement within two weeks2
Simple in-office/out-patient therapy2
Does not require general anesthesia2
Preserves erectile and urinary functions2
Ability to return to regular activities within a few days2*
My doctor also has been seeing results starting at 2 weeks. He said I am definitely outside of the norm in terms of how I have responded to this....
oldbuzzard kevin881
Posted
Their own clinical trials didn't show meaningful improvement for 30 days. This is misleading and probably the work of the new owners of the company. 2 week improvement is definitely a rarity. Most men are functional after 2 weeks but not all. 6 is where almost everyone who didn't have a really big prostate are out of the woods and better than before.
I don't see any advantage to a Foley of self cathing, assuming you aren't too freaked out by the concept to do it. Foley's are painful, cause irritation, make it hard to live normally, especially if you're active and the all or nothing approach can mean men have to leave it in for much longer than probably necessary. i self cathed with Rezum and was peeing on my own before I could have passed the Foley test.
I insisted on the self cathing option, and given the time it took before I could pee, it was the smartest thing I could have done.
NBCP oldbuzzard
Posted
I had Rezum on 09/17. Size was 30cc. I had high bladder neck. I had 5 injections, 2 on each side ( for each lobe) and one in the midline of my bladder neck. I had foley for I week and it was a torture. After removing the foley I could void and the stream was slightly better than before procedure. Now it is even better but I still have to get up at night 2-3 time. I had blood for 5 weeks and there is still some pain but it is much better. Today it has been 6 weeks. I hope my bladder will realax and I get less nocturia. There is no RE so far and erection is better but you have to keep in mind that I was on Avodart for 1 year which messed up my ejaculation and made my erection not as good. I stopped Avodart one month before surgery. I cannot say I pee like a horse but I hope improvement continues. So my experince was good so far but sometimes you don't know how these things progress. But on 2 ocassion where i could not get to the bathroom right away and I was having bladder spasm and i dripped a few drops .
steven05114 kevin881
Posted
Yup, the new Rezum website says "Most patients see symptom improvement within two weeks". That is a bunch of BS! The old Rezum website, said "Some see symptom improvement within two weeks" or something to that effect.
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Lower down on the new Rezum website, it says "Clinical studies show that most men experience symptom relief as soon as 2 weeks after the treatment, and improvements continue for up to 3 months. Patient responses can and do vary."
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The wording here is a bit deceptive. The FAQ on the Boston Scientific (they bought NxThera who invented Rezum) website for Rezum says: "81% of urinary retention patients were able to void after an average of 28 days post-Rezūm."
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I was definitely in the (acute) urinary retention category and I stared to open up at 4 weeks (28 days) and within 2 weeks on that, I was easily able to pee on my own.
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I am with oldbuzzard, that the clinical trials did not show meaningful improvement for 30 days as I read the trial result studies. For most men, improvement at 2 week is rare. At 6 weeks, most men are peeing OK, except those with bigger prostates.
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It looks like Boston Scientific needs to clean up its' act on how they advertise Rezum.
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Steve
steven05114 oldbuzzard
Posted
oldbuzzard,
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After my Rezum, I never had any pain or irritation from a Foley. Earlier, when I had a Foley in for almost a month, I did have some pain and irritation from threading the tube through 2 pairs of long underwear when snowshoeing (I was not skiing with a Foley).
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The 2nd Foley had an option for a plug (primitive valve) instead of a bag which I recommend. After my Rezum and after the Foley was removed, I did have 2 episodes of swelling where I could not pass a soft flexible red latex catheter and I could only pass a stiffer catheter.
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Again, I can see both sides of Foley vs. self-cath, but I recommend that all guys who have a Rezum should know how to self-cath.
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Steve
oldbuzzard steven05114
Posted
I had a Foley after an episode of retention and was in agony. I also had one for an hour after Rezum (my Uro wanted to as a precaution because I drove myself home.) I was in agony from it the second time too. I don't see any real advantage to a Foley vs Self cathing - although to each their own. Having a tube up there for 45 seconds every 3 hours vs all the time for weeks - a no brainer for me.
steven05114 oldbuzzard
Posted
Oldbuzzard,
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The urologist who did my Rezum wanted me to have a Foley for 2 weeks so I followed her directions. It was definitely a better Foley than my 1st one. The tube was a softer latex material, it had a plug so I did not have to deal with a bag, and it was a larger diameter to deal with clots. I got her logic on it.
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I still had to self-cath after 2 weeks and I was surprised the 2 times that the swelling prevented the nice soft and gentle red latex catheters from passing. Luckily I also had some stiffer ones that got the job done. A few times, I had dead prostate tissue clog the catheters which is another reason to self-cath.
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Steve
oldbuzzard ChuckP
Posted
The truth is there is a lot of variability in the results. Some men are doing fine after 2 weeks. I couldn't even begin to pee after 2 weeks and wasn't really functional without self cathing for at least 4. Too bad they weren't up front about the recovery range. Bleeding is a part of the process, although I didn't have the problem at night that you're having.
You'll probably be out of the woods in a couple of weeks. Your recovery while worse than normal, is far from unique and the only problem is that you weren't properly prepared for it.
FWIW, some people need diapers for 2-4 weeks with Greenlight and some are incontinent for 1-3 months with Holep. Most don't, but most are functional 10 days after Rezum. So you didn't necessarily pick the option with the shortest recovery.
oldbuzzard
Posted
Meant to say longest recovery.
kevin881 oldbuzzard
Posted
Thank you for the reassuring words, OB. Thats really what i need to hear. knowing that this is a more "common" trajectory for recovery makes me feel so much better- and yes i agree the problem as of now might simply be the unrealistic expectations that Rezum advertising has set me up for...
Ill keep you guys updated.
kevin881
Posted
my doc decided not to do a cystoscope today- pushed it to thursday and gave me celebrex to address swelling until then.
he gave me permission to resume sex and so i went home and found out i leak whole blood during arousal and then ejaculate whole blood. ugly and scary... but somehow i feel slightly better after that...