TCC & CIS of Bladder
Hello,
My 46 yr.old husband just came home from the hospital last night after having his Bladder,Prostate and urethra tubes removed. This is all new to me, but we have a gentleman and his wife in our area that have been a godsend to us. He had this same surgery 3 years ago. This all started just 4 long weeks ago. My husband (Bob) had blood in his urine. No pain, only blood with a few clots. Off to the doctor that same day. GP ordered IVP and then referred to a Urologist. They did the scope and yes it was cancer. I tried to listen at this time, but my mind was reeling. I was thinking of our 5 grown children and our grandchildren. I pulled it together enough to understand he had to go to the hospital for TUR surgery. This was done and it was more invasive then just to take out the tumor. Stage II cancer they said but also 2 kinds of fast high grade cancers. We had options but not really. The bladder had to go. We had every emotion known to man in the past 2 weeks. We cried, prayed talked with the kids. We enjoyed each others company. We were told that we wouldn’t be able to have sex in the same way. Or that things wouldn’t work the same. We got the results a few days after surgery that the cancer was contained in the bladder and the prostate and no lymph nodes were involved. WE shouted for joy I can tell you that. Everything else in comparison was easy to not having Bob at all. He is doing pretty good. Last night was alittle scary not having the nurses to lean on. He is in pain, but nothing meds can’t control. I don’t know what to expect from here on out really. If this is all the damaged the cancer can do, then we will be alright. Our marriage was strong before, but now its in the top ten. I have some questions lurking in my mind about our sex life in the future. The surgeon said he was not able to do as much nerve sparing as they would have liked. Not really sure what that means to us as a couple, but I’m sure time will tell. We have always enjoyed a healthy sex life before so I’m sure we will adapt no matter what doesn’t work. I feel its all in the mind anyway. I loved this man before and this will not change. WE will just have to be creative I guess. But, all of this cancer stuff is so new to both of us that we haven’t discussed sex too much. We spoke about it before the surgery but not since. Any advise anyone can give me on how to support my husband will be greatly appreciated. He still have JP tubes in his groin that will probably come out on Friday at a doctor visit. His scrotum is extremely large and is giving him a lot of pain. But, you know, through all of this I feel blessed. We have a strong faith and it certainly has seen us through thus far. We have a good support system with family and friends which has made us both feel loved. His parents are still living and I have my father as well. Excuse the fact that I really don’t speak the language yet, but its been only a short time since this monster attacked us. Thank you all!