Recovery Time

Thanks for the info but it would be much too far for me to attend. I hope if anyone on the board goes they will post and share whatever information they obtain. Everyone is so kind and helpful here I am sure if anyone attends they will do just that.
Has your wife decided on the ileal conduit or the pouch? I have read on many sites that the recovery time from the ileal conduit is less because the operation, although major is not as long as the operation for the pouch or neobladder.
Take good care. Jean

Dear Jean : Thank you for your response. It all helps. We wish the best to you. FYI there is a seminar next Sat,Sept 9 from 9:30AM to 1:00PM in in Linthicum Md. sponsored by the American Urology Asso with MD's from John Hopkins and other hospitals for patients and familes with bladder cancer. If you are interested go to their registration web site at www.urologyhealth.org.
Good luck
REB

I did not know much about bladder cancer until I was diagnosed a few weeks ago. Finding this board was a godsend. I am sure if you read some of the stories and read about the operation itself along with what to expect after surgery you might better understand why the docotor gave the 6 week recovery estimate. Since you wife is in such good health her age should not be a big factor according to what I read and hopefully she will recover sooner. My outlook has always been prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I still have not completely made my decision as to what procedure to have.....the Dakota pouch or the outside bag. I am healthy and very active but age will make a difference in my decision. As Lou already pointed out sometimes the pathology makes the decision for you but as she and others have pointed out on this board we cannot control what happens to us in life but we can control how we handle it and ultimately we all make the necessary adjustments in our life.
I wish your wife a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.
Jean

It may not take her six weeks to recover, as each person is completely different.  Doctors would rather err by suggesting a longer recovery time than saying she could recover in three or four weeks because if she didn't recover that quickly then it's the other end of the question. Doctors would rather give you a possible answer to your question more than a probable answer to it.  I hope that makes some sense, because when I reread it I'm not so sure about it.  I think if the two of you were to read some of the different stories in the storyboard section, you will find patients with many different variations in their recovery time.
There's another woman on this site and she's 72 (her name is Jean) and about to have cystectomy and is also working at deciding which diversion she would feel most comfortable with.  Of course it all depends on what they find when they get in there, it's possible they might have to alter plans according to pathology.
Best of luck to both of you, and keep rereading from this site, you can learn a great deal here.  My prayers are with you both during your time of decision making and preparations for surgery.

Lou

In three weeks my wife will undergo bladder removal due to transitional cell carcinona. They also plan to perform a hysterectomy and create an ostomy, Complete testing including bone and pet scans have been performed. Annie is 74 but the health and body of a much younger person who has devoted her life in the care of others most recently with hospice patients. She is an expert in nutrition. Her question is why will it take six weeks to recover ? She has a problem sitting around !

Thanks

PS Any other advise would be helpful