Okay so 4 weeks from the procedure I want to update you guys: As of last night I think I can definitely say my urine stream is better than pre-procedure. I only woke one time to pee last night and was actually surprised when I woke how long I had been asleep. I am still passing blood at the beginning of my urine stream. Its hard to say how much, maybe a teaspoon? It starts out as all red blood and turns to urine sorta quickly. I have less burning in my urethra today and yesterday than I did when my Foley was removed Thursday. Overall I was Foley cathed days 1-3, totally blocked night time of day 3 so back to a Foley days 4-9. On day 9 my stream was weak and dribbly, but I could pee... I began self-cathing on day 10 and that went well for 5 days until the catheters created a "false passage" (a hole in my prostate) which the catheter was hung up on, and I couldn't get into my bladder. Back to the Foley for 7 days longer. When the Foley was removed at 3 weeks and 3 days, my stream was decent, and its gotten better in the last 4.5 days. Still bloody ejaculations. Low volume ejaculation as well. I don't think I have retrograde... but I wont know what is going on until I am fully healed. I was going to update on the other thread, but its so long I cannot find my other posts. Ill try to maintain this one... Feelings as of 4 weeks out: Boston Scientific outright misleads with recovery time. Its not 2 weeks for most of us. Self cathing is way better than Foley. I hated the foley so badly, it was torture. Nobody prepared me for the blood that comes out of my penis, both urinating and ejaculating. Its a lot of blood, although it *seems* to be getting a bit better.
Good morning Kevin
Glad you are doing much better. Yes there is blood from every where after a prostate procedure. Give it more time to heal the blood will go away in time from your ejaculation. If your prostate is smaller you will have less of a volume. At least you still have it.
Good luck and try to rest when you can…Ken
Hi Kevin,
I think all the brochures and reps from these companies downplay the recovery time. It sounds like you are improving which is good. I have not had a Rezum but just as a point of reference when I saw one of my two new urologists (my doctor of 20 years retired and sold his practice to the local university so there are a plethora of doctors there) who does the Rezum he said ‘You will hate me for 6-8 weeks after the procedure’. So, it seems like you have some healing still yet to do but that you are trending in the right direction.
I’ve had only one procedure, a failed Urolift in 2015 (I have a median lobe and it was not approved to address that at that time), and I remember the doctor said that ‘this procedure is such a snap that you could play football a few days after it’. He was very, very wrong, I suffered for weeks.
Best,
Rob
Yes the brochures do underplay the procedure. In the one I have it tells you that you may see improvement in 2 weeks not that you will. It also does not mention anything about retro. A few of the nurses have mention that the reps have said the retro happen more then they say.
Anything that is said is to sell the procedure. It can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 month’s Some men are worse then what they were before the procedure. If you think the pain is worth it more power to you.
After a procedure what ever it is If you still have to take pills or do CIC. That is not a success to me.
Kevin Your doctor should have know if you had a median lobe the Urolift was not going to work. They do have a procedure that tell care of it now. Ir was approved about a 1.5 ago. It’s call the Medlift. My Urolift is going on 5 years…
Have a great day…Ken
So i see the doctor tomorrow for a follow up. I still have blood in my urine when I start to go. Also still have blood when i ejaculate- cannot tell if there is any semen at all. Worried I may have retro as the overall volume is very low… maybe it takes some time for the prostate to heal and make prostatic fluid again? … will talk to him about these issues to see what he says.
So I am a little freaked out today. While bearing down pooping this morning, my urine stream stopped and then a “pop” feeling shot through my penis. What came out was a white piece of tissue. Photo attached. It was about the size of a pencil eraser… The nurse said “its just tissue from the procedure,” but I am seeing the doctor this afternoon.
Has anyone seen anything like this at all? It was not bloody, but I continue to have blood at the beginning of my stream… after passing it, nothing is better or worse.
Kevin,
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I have a similar picture but it was from a piece of prostate tissue that clogged a catheter and I used a forceps handle for scale. I had several of these prostate tissue chunks and sometimes there were spots of blood too. There is nothing to be “freaked out” out. It is dead protate tissue from the Rezum procedure and you may see more of these. Think of it as your prostate is now that much smaller 
.
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Steve
PS: Correction - I fished this chunk out of my pee and it was not stuck in a catheter. These chunks will come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Most appeared to be flat and “pancake out” when put on a dry surface. The good news is they mean that your Rezum is working and your prostate is getting smaller
Hey Steve, thank you so much for posting that. I feel much better as I was unable to see my doctor today, he had an emergency surgery to perform. I’ll be seeing him on Monday.
What you say, is what I assumed it was, but it was still pretty freaky feeling it pop out the way that it did.
How far removed are you from your procedure date?
Kevin,
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My Rezum was on November 29, 2018 so in 2 weeks it will be 1 year. I was forewarned by my urologist that there would be blood and chunks so this never freaked me out. I actually got into the chunks pictures.
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My Rezum (10 shots - 4 per lateral lobe and 2 median lobe) recovery followed the standard progression. At 2 weeks, I was not open. At 4 weeks, I started to open and my bleeding stopped. Over the next 2 weeks, I opened a lot more which continued for 2 more months.
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Due to bladder damage, after the Rezum my PVR’s at 3 months were 150 ml. By 10 months, my PVR’s were below 100 ml. Hopefully, over time my bladder will continue to recover. That is the big unknown.
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Good luck to you!
.
Steve
OK so an update: Tomorrow I am 5 weeks out from the procedure. Today I had a lot less blood in my urine stream, which seems to continue to get stronger from last week. Urinating is still a bit uncomfortable. I wouldn’t call it burning, but it feels a little raw after I am done… hard to explain this.
Last week I was ejaculating blood, but today I ejaculated nothing at all. Concerned its RE, but with all the trauma my prostate has been through ill wait a while longer to see if things return to normal.
Seeing doc tomorrow for a follow up and Ill ask him about the lack of semen and see what he says.
Doc wants me to come back in 6 weeks. I am doing well, with very little blood in my urine… this pretty much turned on a dime on Sunday.
Today I was passing little pieces of tissue out, they looked various shades of pink to purple.
I am exhibiting symptoms of RE. Nothing comes out at all. Doc said up front that it was a risk, and when I told him yesterday he did say he wouldn’t be surprised if I have RE. He also said to give it a few months to see if semen comes back.
Peeing really well today.
Kevin,
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I did not get RE from my Rezum. The urologist’s Rezum notes say “The verumontanum, sphincter complex were spared.” which means that she avoided injecting at or near the part of the prostate that would result in RE. What do your urologist’s Rezum notes say? I rested my prostate for a while before checking to see if I had RE. I was just glad that I could pee on my own again after over 10 months of catheters.
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Steve
Hey Steve, I did not ask for my doctors post procedure. I will ask him in six weeks when I see him again, if i still have RE.
Kevin,
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Are you saying that your urologist did not provide you with any notes of your Rezum or at least a way to get them on-line or hard-copy? WOW!
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What country are you in? I am in the U.S. and I think that they are required to make that information available to you. I could be wrong though.
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Of the 3 urologist that I saw (1 did not count), 2 of them provided the notes to my visits, tests and procedures on-line for me to see and download.
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Steve
Yes, but I’m not sure that doing so would be very common up here. I’m in Chicago and I’m wondering if where you’re at there’s a state law regarding that? I’ve had multiple procedures done over the years and I’ve never been provided with any notes unless I request the records.
what is very common is a generic printout of your treatment protocol, and how to use any pharmaceuticals that have been dispensed. On GP visits I’ll get something that shows my blood pressure and other basic vitals…
Hi Everyone,
Here’s my summarized Rezume experience. I’m 51 and was annoyed with getting up to pee 2 or 3 times per night . Not annoyed enough to consider a procedure with any serious risks though. Then I read about rezume. My urologist in Chicago was one of the original developers of the procedure and a lead researcher in the study for FDA approval. He assured me there was very little risk of anything, including RE. And he said initial pain would be for about two weeks.
So i had the procedure done on Mar 29, 2019. Had a catheter in for 5 days. When the catheter was removed – OMG – the pain while urinating was almost unbearable. It was so bad i considered having a catheter put back in. The pain went on for about 10 days and subsided . There was blood in my urine for about 2 months.
I masturbated at the 3 month mark and it was completely normal – semen volume might have actually increased. 2 days later same result. Great. Then 2 weeks later (at about the 4 month mark) during sex with my partner, zero ejaculation. And shortly afterward when I went to pee, there was a LOT of blood in my urine. But no blood thereafter. But also no ejaculation.
So now I am at about the 8-month mark. Nighttime urination has decreased to maybe 1 time, and sometimes none – so that part worked. BUT, almost zero ejaculation. A very tiny bit of semen comes out. So it appears that I may have permanent RE . Which is very frustrating. I went to a different urologist (who also performs Rezum) and he said that they’re seeing this more often now and he felt like the RE incidence rate was closer to 30% – versus the 2% my original – highly experienced – urologist told me.
So, beware. There will be very significant pain for about 2 weeks afterward, and RE is a very real risk – despite what Boston Scientific or your urologist tells you.
In closing, if I could go back I would not have the procedure done due to RE . Good luck with your personal situation.
–Mark
However you still accept that the ten days of pain was part of the price to pay ?
Your results are pretty consistent with what I was told to expect by 6 or so Rezum urologists I visited. Chance of RE is less than many other procedures, like TURP and HoLEP, but still around 30 percent. They also told me recovery was often not fun. HoLEP has a quicker recovery with a high chance of RE.
You made a reasonable choice based on your RE adverse objective. There is more data and doctor support coming out now, about new procedures with better statistics, that wasn’t readily available earlier this year. For example, FDA only approved Aquablation this past May.
Next year, no doubt, there will be yet another new procedure. You can’t look at this stuff once you’ve made your choice. The technology is always improving.
RE is not the end of the world; you did your best trying to avoid it. May the flow be with you - it is a game changer!