REZUM--HAVE YOU HAD THIS DONE???????

This is Ken again.  Don't let them cut or take out your prostate that will just cause more problem....Please.....Ken

I think I've posted this a couple of times, but here goes:

The procedure was performed on March 16 and was painful and annoying but quick. Drove home in a lot of pain with a catheter that my doc said I could remove as long as there wasn't a lot of blood and self cath, which is what I did.

By the next day the pain from the procedure was pretty much gone, I self cathed for 2 weeks and didn't start to pee til then. I had a fair amount of blood once I started beeing able to pee and there was quite a bit of urgency and some burning too. Both subsided over the next month or so. Pee was manageable but worse than pre surgery til about week 7. From there it got progressively better.

I still have bladder problems that may or may not ever fully resolve - but when it first starts, my steram is good and strong, so the prostate is no longer the problem. I have trouble getting fully empty (I can literally pump it out with my hand at the end, but its not ideal). My bladder is obviously weak and how much it recovers with time is unknown. Bottom line is I pee much better than before, but its not perfect.  I never had retention issues so my bladder isn't distended and I can stop and start my steam easily - so the standard Kegal excercises probably won't help. If anyone knows of things that can be done for a weak bladder, please post them. I still get up 1-2 times/ night, although I've noticed that I can go longer in the last couple of weeks.

That's where I am at 5 1/2 months post surgery

Week 8 tomorrow post Rezum. I am great with very few symptoms. I won't go to urologist for another month. I continue to take Flomax at night. I had so much pain before I did the Rezum, doc told me to stay on it for a couple of months. I have no side effects. I can tell the volume I pee has doubled and get up once or maybe twice a night. Used to get up 5 or 6 times and just peed a small amount. Life is so much better. I forgot I have a prostate.

Today is the 4th day after I passed my Trial Void. I started peeing the 1st day and am peeing 5-6 times per since...I am Cathing 1-2 times per day after I pee and it seems I have Less than 100ml left in the bladder...I Cath'd just before I went to bed last night hoping I wouldn't have to get up during the night. ...I was very surprized by having to get up 3 times during the night to VOID. ..I pee'd again when I got up this morning and, then, I Cath'd afterwards to check Retention..Once again, it seems like I'm retaining Less Than 100ml....My Concerns - My URO DOC gave me ~ 12 catheters to start and stated I should only have to Cath for 3-4 days....The catheters I have left are "straight" , do not have a Blue Grip, and Do Not have Lubricant....My DOC provided a Script for Catheters to a Provider Company and they have contacted me to complete the order. ..Their minimum order is for 1 month and/or 90 catheters, the order is for 14 FR Coude,and my costs is ~ $114.00....-- I'm concerned that if I use the remaining catheters I may cause damage to the urethra, inflamation, and possibly infection UTI. ...Should I use them?....-- I'm in a Catch 22....--- I'm washing my hands throughout the Cathing Process per instructions...I held off in ordering new catheters because the Catheter Provider company stated they could send me 10 Sample 14 FR Coude's at No Charge and that they would be delivered on Monday...That would provide me 5 days supply......Should I place an Order for a month's supply? Please Advise....

If the $114 would be a hardship, get the samples on delivered Monday. If not, bite the bullet and know that you're covered indefinitely, perhaps forever. But if you are consistanly cathing less than 100 ml, there is no need to continue with it. Enjoy the fact that you can pee normally and start the process of putting this nightmare behind you. As for the middle of the night, getting up alot and rentention are seperate issues. It seems that retraining the bladder is part of cutting that down for many people. I didn't start getting up less until about 3-4 weeks ago and I've gone from 2-4 times/ night to 1-2 and I had Rezum done in March.

Bottom line - get some more caths one way or the other, but if you consistantly retain less than 100 ml, then check yourself every few days or so for the next 10 days or so and if nothing changes for the worst, enjoy living normally again and put the remaning catheters away where you can find them but otherwise would never even see them and be glad this whole thing is over.

FYI - you can get lube cheaply and at a drug store, or order it online - its like $5/tube.

You could use your current catheters by purchasing a non-petroleum based lubricant, but given your PVR is under 100, not sure you really need to cath at all and certainly no need to use a sub par catheter when you can wait for better ones. If you do decide to cath, and again not sure you even need to, my choice would be Coloplast Speedicath FR14. If your prostate is obstructing the Coude tip option should work better. Coloplast will send you samples if you have an Rx. 

As to getting up during the night even after cathing, this is normal. Cathing just empties your bladder completely but there can be several other factors at play causing you to get up at night including fluid intake and excessive night time urination (nocturnia) which is not uncommon as we get older. That said, as time goes by you might find you will get up less. 

Personally I have gotten up several times during the night after self cathing at bedtime, but this week I've been sleeping through the night or only getting up once without self cathing. The prostate and urinary system is a complicated thing and sometimes it's a mystery what it brings!

Jim

Do you mean from cathing? Well, as Dr's JimJames and OldBuzzard have said, you probably don't really need to self cath at all But "yes", there is a higher incidence of UTI's when you self cath. I had a couple in the beginning and maybe one or two every year since but some here haven't had any. Urethral damage such as "false passage" is possible but not common and less likely with a hydrophillic catheter which is very slippery. 

I think if it were me, I'd just stop self cathing and schedule appointments for now every couple of months to check your PVR in his office with a bladder scanner. Just try and time it so you don't have to drink extra fluids before the scan. 

I also see no harm ordering some speedicath's to have on hand, especially since you now know how to use them. You *could* use the Speedicath's to check your PVR periodically at home, but the less invasive way would be to have the bladder scan at your docs. 

Jim

Yes, I am concerned about causing infection with the catheters I have now. I'll just wait for the new one's I receive Monday and, then, order a month's supply just in case I need them and to check retention maybe once per week...