Urinary Retention

Wendy,

My spouse is in his "own world". He doesn't wish to get on the internet and examine any of the information.....I could read some of it to him, and I'm betting he will cut me off mid sentence or walk away as that is his style when it comes to subjects he doesn't want to discuss. But I will continue to try. And he has indicated over and over that he doesn't want the details. I think he is terrified but of course being a guy, won't admit to that.

Also his mom (age 87) is presently struggling to keep her kidneys functioning properly....the doctors go in on 7/5 to determine what else they can do or if they must remove the kidney. It's not looking good for her but of course no one in that family is admitting that we might lose her....so you can see that is the way my spouse has learned to handle medical problems....what you don't know, won't hurt you. Of course, I am the exact opposite so this invites conflict. I believe what I don't know will harm me and I believe we have to face these issues head on. Two gals on this site have even offered to have their husbands talk to mine but he won't call them, so I'm at a loss as to what else I can do. Thanks for your kind note. Melodie

Hi Melodie,

well, dear, my first thought albeit humorous....If it's good for the gander..LMAO anyhoo

In the past I have been given scripts to treat something different than what I had heard it was for. Not sure how they find these things to be true. When I take one "of those" scripts to pharmacy I usually ask them to check it is used for my problem. And it usually is acceptable treatment.

Glad you are sure of the decision to get rid of bad parts. After the TUR and prior to RC I had big time probs with residual urine. It felt near psychotic to keep trying to go but produce little all the time. I am here if ya need me,
Holly

Hi Melodie,

I looked up Flomax and found this: "Blockade of these adrenoceptors can cause smooth muscles in the bladder neck and prostate to relax, resulting in an improvement in urine flow rate and a reduction in symptoms of BPH."
www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/tamsul_cp.htm

I hope it helps, but if you have been having this retention for a long time with no other ill effects maybe it's not needed, unless some kind of symptoms are present that need treating . I'm not 100% sure about the risks involved with urinary retention, I do know that some people have it chronically and live quite well, while others get chronic infections....reflux into the kidneys would be a bad thing, I think.

I was upset on your behalf to read that your husband is not supportive of your treatment path. It's extremely difficult for a person to come to the point where any kind of cancer surgery is acceptable, and bladder removal is a big surgery. You will remain the same person afterwards, but it will take some months.

I certainly see your logic about being a cancer-friendly environment and wanting the organ removed. Chemo alone is not considered an adequate bladder-sparing treatment but an adjunct to the surgery which is the main treatment. I'm really sorry to hear that your husband doesn't understand this.

Maybe you should have him read our "memorials" to those who didn't survive their bladder cancer diagnoses....and you could remind him that women's prognoses are not as good as men's when it comes to invasive bladder cancer, and timely treatment is paramount to long term survival.

Take care,
Wendy

OK.....I started a poll on this subject but either not smart enough or too exhausted to locate it and see if I have any results....someone help me out here....just call me Chemo Brain....and now this week I have had four shots to boost cell count and feel like I have the worst case of flu....didn't realize that growing new cells had to be so painful.

Anyway.....am wanting to know more about urine retention because since my cancer journey began, I have learned that apparently I am always retaining urine....usually about 150 - 200 cc's or so I have been told. Anyway, the last urologist who talked with me said that if I were not having the bladder removed, he would recommend that I learn how to self cath but since I am doing chemo, he did not recommend it at this time due to possible infection.

My oncologist prescribed "Flomax" for me....but I haven't taken any of the pills only because after being cath'd, I was able to urinate and I don't like taking pills unless I feel it absolutely necessary. Also, I thought this was a pill for guys for prostrate issues after having seen commercials on TV.

When I went into the University hospital this week, I asked one doctor...new graduate and he said he thought it would be fine for me to take them.....then later on my surgeon walked in and I told him about the prescription and he said he didn't understand why anyone would prescribe that to me as it's for prostrate problems....but then he added, "but I don't know everything."

I was wondering if anyone here has any comment on this subject. My spouse is not happy about my decision to have my bladder removed....he says he if he were in this position that he would just take his chances. I think that even if the chemo removes the cancer and I "look" clean, that I will always have problems with this bladder of mine. I don't have much discomfort but have to urinate every two hours, day or night but I don't always empty much out. I would think that if the bladder never completely empties, that this is something to be concerned about and why not get rid of the old one that doesn't function as it should and get a new one that I can cath every 4 or 6 hours. Also, 20 years back I was diagnosed with dysplasia....bordering on cervical cancer, and every time the doctors went in and removed the bad tissue, it always came back and so finally I grew tired of the worry and had a hysto. done since I wasn't planning on having more children. This makes me think that perhaps my system is more prone to cancer returning.

Well, thanks for listening. Comments are welcomed. Melodie