Life after bladder surgery
This page tells you about life after bladder cancer surgery. There are sections about
Living with a urostomy or continent urinary diversion
It may take some time to get used to having a stoma. There are the practical things to learn. For example changing your urostomy bags or self catheterising and irrigating your stoma. But there is also the change in your body to come to terms with. If you find this particularly difficult, you could contact one of the bladder cancer organisations.
Job, sports and hobbies
Unless you do heavy manual work, your surgery should not make any difference to your job. Ask your stoma nurse if you are unsure. Your urostomy will not stop you enjoying your favourite pastimes. Exercise and swimming are possible. Once again, your stoma nurse can give you advice.
Your relationships
You are bound to worry about how the stoma will affect your relationships. These can be practical worries about the bag being noticeable or leaking. Or emotional worries about your friends or partner rejecting you. If you are able to talk openly with close friends and family about your surgery, you will probably find that these worries will disappear.
Living with bladder reconstruction
There are really very few things you can’t do. If you lift something really heavy, you may find that your bladder leaks. You will find out by trial and error which activities cause problems.
How you manage after surgery will depend to some extent on which type of surgery you had and whether it was for early bladder cancer or invasive bladder cancer.
If you have had a cystoscopy to remove early bladder cancer, then you should not notice any physical problems at all. You may worry that the cancer may come back and you may need further treatment. Knowing that you are going to have cystoscopies every few months may also worry you. But if everything goes well, the check ups will gradually become less frequent.
It may take some time to get used to having a stoma. There are the practical things to learn. For example
But there is also the change in your body to come to terms with. This can take quite a time to get over. Most people do get over it, with a little help from family and friends. If you find this particularly difficult, you may need some help from other people. There is information in CancerHelp UK's coping with cancer section about what counselling is and on how to find a counsellor near you. Or you could contact one of the cancer organisations for help and support.
You may worry about how your stoma will affect
With time you will probably find that there is very little that you can't do that you could do before your surgery. You will become more confident about having a stoma.
Unless your work involves heavy digging, or other types of manual work, your surgery should not make any difference to your job. If you are not sure about this, ask your stoma nurse for advice.
Whether with a partner, or with friends, you are bound to worry about how the stoma will affect your relationships. These can be practical worries about the bag being noticeable or leaking. Or emotional worries about your friends or partner rejecting you.
Stoma appliances are very well designed. They are not easily seen through your clothes and should not leak. If you have problems with your bag, talk to your nurse. A different type of bag may suit you better.
Your continent urinary diversion should not leak unless you let it get too full. If you are having this problem, it may help to empty it more often. You may also need to reduce the amount you drink after a certain time in the evening.
If you are able to talk openly to friends and family about your surgery, you will probably find that your fears of being rejected will disappear. Most people are very willing to try and understand and help if they can.
Your stoma shouldn't stop you enjoying your favourite pastimes. You can exercise and swim. If you have a urostomy, you can wear a smaller bag if you prefer. And if you have a continent urinary diversion, empty it before you start. You can wear a waterproof dressing for swimming if you want to. Your stoma nurse can advise you about this.
There is no reason why you shouldn't drink alcohol with either a urostomy or continent urinary diversion. But bear in mind that the more liquid you drink, the more urine you will pass and so may have to get up in the night to empty your bag or diversion. It probably isn't a good idea to drink large amounts of any liquid later on in the evening if you want to get a good night's sleep.
The advantage of having a new bladder made is that your outside appearance will not change. You will have to learn to pass urine by increasing your abdominal pressure. This should not affect your work or pastimes unless
- You have a very heavy manual job
- You do sports which involve tensing your abdomen such as weight lifting
If you are lifting something really heavy, you may find that your new bladder leaks. Your doctor will probably advise you that you can't really do this type of work or sport any more. But otherwise there really are very few things you can't do. You will find out by trial and error whether any activities cause problems with leaking. If your bladder is leaking slightly when you are not doing anything really strenuous, try emptying it more often. And arrange an appointment to talk to your surgeon or specialist nurse.
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