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Radical Cystectomy Part 2:

On the sixth day my intestines were still sleeping and then the central line came into action as they decided to feed me using this method. They used a special liquid food that absorbs into the blood and systems. This method continued for several more days as my intestines decided to take a holiday also and refused to come on line. Of course I received all important nutrients and vitamins to sustain life. This however did not stop my body weight melting away.

It was the little things that meant so much to me giving me a sign of hope that I would be going home soon.

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Radical Cystectomy Part 1:

The operation was scheduled on September 14th and two days prior to this I was admitted for pre-op tests which included blood samples and a few x-rays of my chest. All of which were necessary to ensure I was in good health for this major surgery.

I was very luckily allocated a single room with shower and toilet facilities, a lottery I am told in Holland.

On the second day of admission I literally spent the whole day visiting the toilet as I had to cleanse my bowels prior to surgery the following morning. They gave me a lemon tasting drink and I had to drink three

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TURB:

Once admitted into the hospital later that day I was given directions to my Urology ward and I was allocated into a room with four other beds. It was not long before they called my name and said that it was time.

The procedure was done by local anaesthetic by inserting a needle in my back and after 15 minutes I had no feeling from the waist down. The procedure was very quick just 30 minutes and very similar to the cystoscopy only this time with tools to scrape the growth and burn the wound closed.

On the ceiling of the operating room hung a large reflective mirror and I could see all the

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Dear Forum Members,

My story started in the spring of 2007.

I am a 38 year old English guy living in the Netherlands.

Symptoms:

The initial symptoms that I noticed was that my need to urinate increased and the flow of my urine became intermittent instead of the usual constant flow. The last few drops of my urine were also pink in colour.

Doctors Appointments:

I assumed I had a urinary infection and made an appointment at my doctor. The doctor was not concerned by the changes in urination I had mentioned. I gave a sample of my urine for testing and it came back negative for infection and blood.

The

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Hello Everyone,

I rarely post on this site but I read many of the posts.  I'd like to share some good news.  My husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer in November 2005.  He's had many rounds of BCG and is now on maintenance BCG.  His scopes are every 3 months for 3 years.  His last scope was Oct. 25th and his bladder was clean.  It's been 2 years since his diagnosis and his bladder has been clean since the surgery (Dec. 2005).  I just wanted to share some positive and great news!

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1st November - "No Abnormalities Found"  Wonderful news.  I am on to a maintenance regime now but they are not sure what period that is to be as best practise is under review. 

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10/25/2007 Had my Post check up and the Doc said that all was good.  No Tumors, no blood in urine, everthing looks good. doc says he wants to keep to the 4 month schedule, so I will have my next Cysto at the end of

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Dad started his first 6 BCG treatments on Tuesday, so we will see what the next couple of months brings, they stated that they will monitor him closely & any sign that the treatment is not working, they will do R/c, I hope they know what they are doing.

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I had my operation (their words not mine) taking biopsies on Monday 1st October and got out yesterday (2nd).  The visual looks good and there is a pink patch which looks to the experts as if it is a reaction to the BCG and nothing sinister.

This is obviously great news and in three weeks time I will get the lab results and the next steps which I hope will be to go on to a maintenance regime of BCG and regular scopes under a local not a general.

I am continuing writing my blog which is coming up to one year old now.  Whilst it is perhaps getting a little mundane or even ordinary now it still

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It's been almost one year since I added to this post so I decided I would continue the story here.  First off, I have had several 3 scans since surgery and so far so good!

In other posts I talk about hypercontinence or the in-ability to urinate.  This is one of those issues that a few will encounter and of course... I had to be one.  Following surgery I was doing OK training myself to void and hold but I also experienced several UTI's (urinary tract infections).  These were horrible because you feel miserable for a few days and sweat with fever the whole time.  Finally my Uro asked me to cath

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