34 year old newby in Seattle

Hi Lynn,

I've had three TURBs, and each time the catheter was left in for three days. I would rather it be in a few days than have to go the E.R. if there's a problem and have one put in. The first two times were fine. My last TURB was on a Thursday morning and I took the catheter out on Sunday morning. All day I kept drinking but could not urinate, until I was in severe discomfort and had be taken to the E.R. in the evening to be catheterized. But at the E.R. I ended up lying on a gurney in a hallway for two hours, watching accident victims being wheeled by while I was ignored. Then suddenly I felt like I could "go", got up, and did. So I told the E.R. nurse "never mind", went home, and I was fine. Plenty of water is advised, but maybe after taking the catheter out at home I drank too much water at once, I don't know.

Anyway, I never had any discomfort after any of my TURs, and hopefully you won't either. Please keep us posted.

Connie

Ive been reading here for about a week, and I think you are all very caring and sharing ,and kind.hey thats what were here 4,.no easy spell check so I think email short hand should be acceptable )have any of you had 2 different pathology reports from the same slides? is it true this happens 50% of the time ??? its scary at best :omy Fqather inlaw died of Bladder cancer Thanksgiving2007 and I was diagnosed Dec21st 2007 on my 26th wedding aniversary with invasive Bladder cancer , but have since had a possible glimmer of hope to have the inadvasive cancer wont know till after 28th of Jan and then what does one believe ::)hey thanks to all and good luck to everyone in this cafe,sodacat :-*

I had the catheter overnight, but I probably would have been better off with it for a few days. There was a lot of inflammation in my bladder and my urologist reamed it out real well. Maybe that's why I'm cancer-free. Anyway, by the middle of the night after my first day without the catheter I had to run to the ER because I couldn't urinate. I went home cathterized, but they told me to take it out the next morning. Then the same thing happened the next night and they left me catheterized for a few days.

Hmmm. I sent a response this afternoon, but it appears to have been lost in the ether. Anyway, you could write your response in your word processor, edit it, and spell check it. Then Highlight the text you want to send and copy it. Open the window to send your reponse and paste it. If you don't know the short cut keys for copy and paste, they're always available from the edit menu on top. Many spell checkers won't know the correct spelling of medical terms. Really, aside from being a great place to get information, this forum is a place to pour your heart out. None of us cares how you spell, but if you talk to us, we will care about you.

Lynn,

Good that you have a sense of humor, as it will come in handy in the months and years to come ;D

As for the catheter, my experience is that you will want to have it it so long as there is considerable blood in the urine. When the urine in the bag is yellow vs red or pink you should be able to remove the catheter. I have had three TURBT's and each time I took the catheter out around 10-12 hours after the procedure, since: (a)my urine had pretty much cleared up and (b) I couldn't stand to have the thing in there any longer. Learning to operate and remove the Foley catheter can be a bit daunting at first but once you've done it, no problem. What a beautiful learning experience

As far as the overnite stay, that varies by individual I would guess. I have always gotten out of there within a couple hours after completion of the procedure, but as Rosemary reports, some prefer the security of having trained staff around to help if need be.

Good luck on the journey you are beginning. Hope everything stays noninvasive, as that is a key factor in the scheme of things with blc.

DDoyle
dx 3/19/07
3 TURBT
TA, CIS, etc.

Lynn....i guess everyone has a different experience with TURBS and catheters...my first uro insisted on 3 days which drove me nuts and i had a neighbor who is a nurse come over and take it out the second day...at Memorial Sloan for my second TURB they immediately removed the cath after the surgery as there was no blood and clear urine and i was able to void immediately after....i left about 30 mins after waking up and hailed a cab!....Pat