Today's medical tip

[resonant]

If you sometimes have blood in your urine, even just a bit, even just now and then, and you test negative for a urinary tract infection, ask your doctor if you need to see a urologist. If it happens twice (especially if you smoke), TELL your doctor you need to see a urologist.

I've just had my follow-up appointment from having a small cancerous growth removed from my bladder. I'm fine! I feel fine! My prognosis is fine! But I'm glad we caught it early and wish I had gone to a specialist even earlier.

The doctor compared this procedure to removing a malignant mole from your arm or a polyp they find during a colonoscopy, so as procedures go this was a pretty simple one.

I now have to have a cytoscopy to watch for regrowth, and after four years the frequency will go down but I'll have to have them annually for the rest of my life, just another annual thing like a Pap or a mammogram.

I would have pursued more healthcare if I hadn't been scared. So if you're scared the way I was, I'll put some details below the cut; if you're squeamish, maybe don't click that arrow.




I had a cytoscopy first to see what might be causing the bleeding. They threaded a camera in through my urethra and looked around. The doctor was very eager for me to look through the scope, so I've seen both my ureters at work.

He was also very eager for me to see the growth itself, which I wish he hadn't: we were zoomed way in, and it looked bigger than my actual pelvis, floating there in the saline like a cross between a sea anemone and a pile of lace. [shudder] In fact it was about an inch across.

Pain from cytoscopy: None.
Squeamishness: pretty bad.

Post cytoscopy, I had the worst UTI I've ever had in my life, so be aware that's a possibility. I wish I'd demanded antibiotics the microsecond I saw blood in the urine, but after having the scope, blood in the urine seemed like a reasonable thing to happen, you know?

Pain from UTI: Pretty bad.
Squeamishness: well, it's a UTI. You know how it is.

The removal was a week later -- not emergency, but certainly not taking a leisurely approach. It was done in the local hospital under general anesthesia and took less than an hour.

Pain from growth removal: none except for the IV, which was in my outer wrist and left a big shallow bruise.
Squeamishness: not bad.

Afterwards, they wanted to let my bladder rest, so they set me up with a catheter and a bag strapped to my leg, which stayed on there for 6 days.

Pain from recovery: Nothing was outright painful. The catheter was uncomfortable every waking minute. The bag was strapped around the top of my thigh with an elastic strap, which got pretty uncomfortable after six days. Also, IF YOU DO THIS, START TAKING A LAXATIVE THE DAY BEFORE: the general anesthesia constipation was very uncomfortable.
Squeamishness: Well, you're walking around with a bag of your own piss strapped to your leg, and you have to empty it, so, you know.

The doctor removed the catheter while I stood in his office, just deflated the balloon and went "floop" and pulled it out.

Pain from removal: None.
Squeamishness: It was so quick that it was easy not to think about it.

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

Thank you for the PSA. It's a good reminder to self-advocate in medical settings (which I am terrible at).

I'm glad it was caught early enough that the treatment was relatively simple and that yore doing okay.

[minoanmiss]

Ow my friend! I send you all healing!

Also in this sentence "If you sometimes have urine in your blood, even just a bit, even just now and then" I think you mean "if you sometimes have blood in your urine..."

[resonant]

LOL oh no, you're right! Going to fix it now.

[panisdead]

I very much appreciate this kind of information! Glad you're doing fine.

[dine]

that's a good tip! glad you caught things early, and you're all set now

[princessofgeeks]

So glad you got it handled! Go you!

[ride_4ever]

TYK for the info.

*sends you ongoing good-health vibes*

[fox]

!!!

All good tips and thank you for sharing them. I'm glad you're okay!

. . . Is it easy to tell the difference between blood in one's urine and - just - spotting?

[the_shoshanna]

Eep, so glad everything went smoothly and you're okay!

[sage]

So glad you're okay!

I wish you hadn't found out the hard way

[jesse_the_k]

...and I appreciate the tip!

[wychwood]

Ahhhhh! That sounds scary; I'm glad it seems to have worked out OK. Hope you recover quickly (from the stress if not the procedures!) and it doesn't come back.

[adafrog]

{{{hugs}}}

[resonant]

I'm past menopause, so it didn't come up for me, but at one point a doctor said, "Is there blood on your underwear?" and I said no, and she said, "Probably urinary, then."

Also sometimes you get the icky but diagnostically helpful tiny clots in the toilet bowl.

[amalthia]

Yikes, that does sound scary. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll now know what to do if I experience similar symptoms.

[minnaway]

Glad they caught it and you're doing fine! Best of luck for drama-free cytoscopies from here on out.

[laurenthemself]

I'm glad you were cautious and so it was caught.

I couldn't have stood a catheter for six days, good on you for persevering. I had one when I had my hyserectomy and barely lasted the few hours from when I woke up to when they cleared me to go home.

[mific]

That sounds unpleasant! Very glad it was fairly easy to resolve and that you're through the worst. *hugs*

[spikedluv]

Thanks for the PSA! I'm glad you caught things early and are doing well.

[grey853]

Sometimes fear is our friend. Otherwise people let things go that they shouldn't. I'm glad you're okay.

[lessonsinescapology]

That sounds alarming. Glad to hear you're okay now!

[lobelia321]

Take care and heal well! I also had urine some years ago but it turned out to be a chronic lichen sclerosus; the blood was actually not in my urine but from broken capillaries on the vulva. The specialists found this out so yes, thank you, hospital

[resonant]

I behaved the way my cat does when you put a harness on her: goes floomph on the floor and refuses to move until That Object is Removed From Her Person. (Well, I went floomph very cautiously and slowly onto the couch, and then moved as little as I could manage.)

[resonant]

Huh, that's a new one for me. Glad you got a diagnosis and hope it's not too painful.

[azurelunatic]

How exciting! (Picture the mildly appalled fascination of someone watching a Super Interesting Biological Process, but knowing that it's also going to be a Problem to clean up later)

[resonant]

Admittedly it was interesting when the scope hovered over the input from each ureter to watch liquid puff out of them. There was an undersea feel to the whole thing.

Hey, there's a good belief system for scifi worldbuilding: the universe exists inside the bladder of a god.

[azurelunatic]

Three Parts Dead.
The Mote in God's Eye.
The Growth in God's Bladder.
Leukemia of the Universe.

Ray has stopped reading titles from Fraser's bookshelf and has started to wax sarcastic.

[anelith]

I'm glad you'll be OK! And thanks for putting this information out there.

[sef1029]

I'm so sorry you had to go through this. Cancer seems everywhere these days, and the treatments are getting better but...the long shadow lasts for years. i hope you can escape much of that. Thumb your nose at it, as it were. I'm glad you're doing well.

[mad_martha]

I'm so glad they caught it early for you, and I'm touching all of the wooden things that this is it and it doesn't come back.

Full disclosure: I had something similar over ten years ago, so I feel you on the cystoscopies, UTIs and catheters. Early diagnosis is so important!

Wishing all the best for you :-)