Prostate and Bladder Issues: What to do?

Posted by ch665296f @ch665296f, Apr 19, 2016

I am a 68, nearly 69, year old man that has had bladder issues for years. I had green light prostate surgery 8 yrs. ago which helped for a while. Now, my prostate has had some regrowth and I have developed several bladder diverticulum. I have had just about every bladder test possible. I also have some incontinence issues, and manage by wearing diapers when necessary. I'm ok with that. My urologist had me on a combination of tamsulosin and finastride, but have not realized much of a difference. I'm a bit afraid of some of those drugs because I have read that they could mask the development of a more serious prostate cancer.

My urologist suggests that I may be a candidate for surgery, but what kind? Turp or total removal of the prostate? I have also read that turp sometimes needs to be repeated. Don't want that to happen either. What to do?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Men's Health Support Group.

@sender

I was diagnosed today with a large cancer in my bladder and will be scheduled for contrast dye CT scan for kidneys and a surgery to remove the tumor.

I'm new here and not sure where to begin on discussions.
It would be good to have you to communicate with.

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I'm sorry about your diagnosis, I can't imagine what and how this must affect you. I'm glad you're here. There are a lot of good people here and although I am not familiar with your diagnosis through personal experience (I have imagined it myself!), there are people, moderators, who will give you helpful suggestions and guidance to more areas within Mayo, this being one of them I believe, and there may be people here who are or have dealt with the same experience. Is your bladder diagnosis in any way connected with an enlarged prostate, retaining urine? Is the bladder cancer "secondary" to the primary problem that caused all of this in the first place? Perhaps your doctor didn't tell you? They have a habit of doing that.

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I've just turned 75, in the UK, and found out at the beginning of September this year ( when I had to go to A&E , you may call it ER, with faecal impaction ) that I had BPH and I was catheterised at that time with advice that I would be called to see a urologist asap. Being catheterised for the first time ever drove me to distraction, if not a tad of depression as well, and with our NHS ( National Health Service ) waiting lists for a resection of my prostate being up to a year, I committed money to have this done at a local private hospital. I opted for Aquablation, while far from cheap, gave me the assurance that it provided the best possible outcome of post operative problems, and I had the op on the 13th November. The next day I had the catheter removed and there was zero urine flow, just a few drops of bloody urine, and as a result I was discharged on my third day re-catheterised, and passing very bloody urine. From then on, it was one problem after another with my catheter becoming constantly blocked and serious urine retention resulting in me being emergency ambulanced to hospital where a bladder scan showed some 1100cc of urine and an Hb level that had dived from 136 to 80, all due to the post operative prostate bleed. I was fitted with a three way catheter and giving a bladder irrigation and kept in overnight with a a transfusion of 2 units of blood. To cut a long story short, on the 24th November I had my catheter removed by a specialist TWOC nurse and discharged home without a catheter. Freedom at last! Since then, urine flow has improved beyond recognition and clear ( no visible haematuria ) but the urgency to relieve myself is incredible and I often cannot reach the toilet in time. Also on urination, I get an ache similar the symptoms when I had prostatitis and although painful, is transient. My specialist nurse said that may well be due to the prostate continuing to heal and with time, possible two months, my urgency should be much reduced. In the meantime, I am hitting the Pelvic Floor Exercises and trying to ignore those urges to pee but everyone will know how hard that is. I am hopeful for the future but frustrated that I cannot as yet leave the house for any length of time.

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@delmar418

I'm sorry about your diagnosis, I can't imagine what and how this must affect you. I'm glad you're here. There are a lot of good people here and although I am not familiar with your diagnosis through personal experience (I have imagined it myself!), there are people, moderators, who will give you helpful suggestions and guidance to more areas within Mayo, this being one of them I believe, and there may be people here who are or have dealt with the same experience. Is your bladder diagnosis in any way connected with an enlarged prostate, retaining urine? Is the bladder cancer "secondary" to the primary problem that caused all of this in the first place? Perhaps your doctor didn't tell you? They have a habit of doing that.

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Thanks so much for your reply.
They will phone me on Monday with a surgery date.

Don't see enlarged prostate symptoms.
The only symptoms I've had is reoccurring UTI.

Smoking is the probable cause of this cancer.
When urologist checked it he had me look at the screen, it was ugly.
He said that's pretty big you must have had it a long time and that it was in the front of the bladder which he indicated as not good.

They want to cut it out immediately which scares me, no more time to think.

I just read about recovery from the surgery, it was comforting, not a long recovery.
But what's next, you never know what could happen next after they analyze the tumor.

I'll keep up here with info.
And thanks again for taking time to reply to me.

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@sender

Thanks so much for your reply.
They will phone me on Monday with a surgery date.

Don't see enlarged prostate symptoms.
The only symptoms I've had is reoccurring UTI.

Smoking is the probable cause of this cancer.
When urologist checked it he had me look at the screen, it was ugly.
He said that's pretty big you must have had it a long time and that it was in the front of the bladder which he indicated as not good.

They want to cut it out immediately which scares me, no more time to think.

I just read about recovery from the surgery, it was comforting, not a long recovery.
But what's next, you never know what could happen next after they analyze the tumor.

I'll keep up here with info.
And thanks again for taking time to reply to me.

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I have nightmares about surgery. I used to work in and out of ER rooms.
Smoking is a common cause of BC. I quit in 2016 using a 111 page book by Allen Carr called Easyway to quit smoking. It's free online to download in PDF if you look it up. That is if you haven't yet quit. I was skeptical, but it worked and I wasn't hostile, aggressive, depressed. The book actually de-programmed the brainwashing about how hard it is to quit-
It's quite possible that I may have some kind of cancer, I suspect it, the health system in Spain is very different and there's a lot they don't tell you- they don't even touch you here, just sit behind a desk and type shit into a computer . . .
No, you never know what could happen. You have now and today, and your presence here is crucial for you.

My best to you for today.

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@delmar418

I have nightmares about surgery. I used to work in and out of ER rooms.
Smoking is a common cause of BC. I quit in 2016 using a 111 page book by Allen Carr called Easyway to quit smoking. It's free online to download in PDF if you look it up. That is if you haven't yet quit. I was skeptical, but it worked and I wasn't hostile, aggressive, depressed. The book actually de-programmed the brainwashing about how hard it is to quit-
It's quite possible that I may have some kind of cancer, I suspect it, the health system in Spain is very different and there's a lot they don't tell you- they don't even touch you here, just sit behind a desk and type shit into a computer . . .
No, you never know what could happen. You have now and today, and your presence here is crucial for you.

My best to you for today.

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Thanks for sharing. I'll look for that book, sounds good.

You have a good day also.

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@sender

Thanks for sharing. I'll look for that book, sounds good.

You have a good day also.

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This EasyWay book has become quite the HOT TOPIC for quitting. I searched online for it and cannot find it. It works?!

I don't know if they have private messaging here, but I believe I archived it. So if you want it, I suppose you can pass it on or use the same principle for other "attachments?" shall we say?
The author smoked 600 cigarettes a day for 60 years and quit to write about it before he passed. If you, or someone needs it, I have a private email I can post here for you to send me yours and I'll send you the PDF. I think I have it on an external drive. You let me know how I can help.

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@delmar418

This EasyWay book has become quite the HOT TOPIC for quitting. I searched online for it and cannot find it. It works?!

I don't know if they have private messaging here, but I believe I archived it. So if you want it, I suppose you can pass it on or use the same principle for other "attachments?" shall we say?
The author smoked 600 cigarettes a day for 60 years and quit to write about it before he passed. If you, or someone needs it, I have a private email I can post here for you to send me yours and I'll send you the PDF. I think I have it on an external drive. You let me know how I can help.

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Good post it and ill get back to you with mine.

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@sender

Good post it and ill get back to you with mine.

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let me know you've sent it. I have to manually open the server, I don't get a notification when there's email.

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@sender

Good post it and ill get back to you with mine.

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Sent! It's a PDF. Enjoy and success! Oh, the book is known for typos, and poor grammar. I thought it was a joke until I either read something or saw a video about it's author. It's the message that counts.

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@delmar418

Sent! It's a PDF. Enjoy and success! Oh, the book is known for typos, and poor grammar. I thought it was a joke until I either read something or saw a video about it's author. It's the message that counts.

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Ill yry to get to it soon.
Right now more busy than ever.

Thanks for everything.

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