Monday, October 10, 2011

cystoscopy

Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Urologist to have a cystoscopy.  If you are not familiar with this procedure it is defined as an endoscopy of the urinary bladder via the urethra. It is carried out with a cystoscope.  Basically a small camera is inserted into your urethra and pushed up into the bladder.  The entire procedure is quite painless, due to the numbing gel, and takes only a couple of minutes.

For the last couple of months I have been having one Urinary Tract Infection after another.  I have had some pretty constant bladder pain for about two months.  I have learned from the Urologist that chemotherapy can irritate the bladder and cause this condition.  I had a Pelvis CAT scan to rule out kidney stones or other internal problems and the cystoscope did not reveal any damage.

Therefore, the Urologist has concluded that it is nothing more than irritation and infection resulting from all the chemotherapy.  He has put me on a three day anti-biotic regimen followed by an additional six months of a lighter anti-biotic to ensure that no bacteria is able to take hold and develop further infection.

If  you are undergoing chemotherapy please keep in mind that it can take a toll on your body in many, many ways.  I am feeling a bit disappointed that my complaints of bladder pain and concerns about all of the urinary tract infections were not handled more pro-actively.  I wish that I had known that this bladder irritation could be a result of chemotherapy.  I think that I would have been more aggressive in my advocating for myself.  I think I would have saved myself some pain and suffering.

Susan

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, "cystoscopy"! Been there, done that just a couple of months ago just prior to bladder reconstruction surgery. (oops, I hadn't posted that publicly before...but maybe others need to know about this too). Amazing little tool...I was actually able to see the video screen as the camera took pictures inside my bladder! Very interesting! Glad to know you do not have a serious problem, and that antibiotics will take care of you. Yes, it would have been nice to have been told that earlier...sometimes I think Doctors just get too busy to remember to tell us the simple answers that could save us so much pain and discomfort and worry. Thanks for sharing this with us. It's valuable info!