Irradiated prostate and bladder bleeding: Dealing A0fib and cancer

I feel like I "me too" too many posts here (I was on a real medical rollercoaster for a couple of years 😐) but yes, I'm on blood thinners because of deep-vein thrombosis a couple of years ago when I was paraplegic, and I've experienced hematuria (blood in the urine) from radation damage to my bladder.

It's not pleasant, but my oncology urologist told me not to worry because we know the cause (confirmed via cystoscopy, which showed the damage, KUB ultrasound, which showed everything else is ok, and regular bloodwork, which shows normal kidney function).

I haven't noticed any for nearly a year now, but it's disconcerting when you go to the bathroom and it looks like you're peeing blood (bright red). Definitely ask them to run all the tests if this happens to you, just to confirm there's nothing else at work.

Thank you SO much for replying to my query. It is a continual rollercoaster, as you put it. Do you ever get clots coming from your bladder?

Yes, for a couple of months I'd see a ring of tiny clots form around the high-water mark in the toilet bowl (only rarely were the clots large enough to see individually). They did clear up eventually.

I made some temporary dietary changes (as advised by my doctor), like cutting down on caffeine, alcohol, and spicy food, and that helped reduce the irritation and bleeding (I can drink my regular amount of tea again now, a year later).

Hi "delcasa",
Besides my controlled PC, I have (mild) Afib as well. And blood thinners caused an allergic reaction. The Afib got to the point of having ablation to the atrium which has worked perfectly for almost a whole year. My cardiologist says if I have any more Afib we'll look at the "watchman" implant to the heart.
I don't know if either of those would work for you but always worth a chat with both doctor teams.
Bests of luck and keep up the good work.

Thank you so much. There is a lot to know, and one must be proactive for sure. It is definitely worth a chat.