This isn’t to draw sympathy but to relate my experience with bladder cancer so others can make their own decisions and judge their recovery. The good news is that I am cancer free and expect to live a long happy life.
Had RC 6/28/11 at IU Health, Indianapolis, sent home (Louisville) after three weeks with a catheter.
Two days later at midnight I’m in the local emergency room with constipation so severe I thought I was dying. After an x-ray they gave me contrast for a CT scan and a bottle of our beloved magnesium citrate. The combination of cherry and acidic lemon didn’t mix well and soon decorated my ER cubicle.
As I lay there in extreme abdominal pain and nausea, an unlucky doctor pried out the blockage from my anus. With the dam gone, I left a trail to the toilet and spent the rest of the night emptying my bowels while vomiting into a trash can.
Some time later a doctor tells me I had a UTI and a potassium crash from my ordeal. Oddly enough, following RC I hade a sodium crash from drinking too much water.
Two days later I’m sent home with scripts for antibiotics and stool softeners with recommendation to add fiber to diet and drink lots of water. I’m gun shy about water from the sodium crash but constipation seems to be under control.
Nine days later my uro at IU Health doesn’t seem too concerned about my ordeal and removes the catheter and gives me a schedule to increase the neobladder capacity. Little did I know I’d had my last night of dry sleep.
Bladder volume seemed to be progressing well and after three weeks was up to 250-300 ml after three hours. Daytime continence was good but at night time I would sleep through alarms and wake up soaked.
Also, the bowels seemed to be on a cycle between near constipation and diarrhea.
With my appetite improving, I decide to make my favorite soup and end up eating a left over carrot raw. Four hours later I’m back in the local ER with abdominal pain. After another night of x-rays, CT scans (thankfully, no mag citrate) a surgeon says I have a partial obstruction where the bowel was re-sectioned for the neobladder and scar tissue. However, contrast is getting past so he recommends waiting to see if the blockage will pass. It does and nine days later I’m sent home with more scripts and a low fiber diet with no raw vegetables.
One week later I’m back at the ER and the surgeon removes scar tissue and resections the bowel. Twelve days later I’m sent home.
Six weeks later I’m still alternating between constipation and diarrhea, bladder volume still about 250 to 300 ml after three hours. Daytime continence is pretty good and I’m considering condom catheters for nights.
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