Can you believe it was 3 months ago this week that I had my operation?
I know it was because I was back at Charing Cross hospital yesterday and today for my first set of follow up scans.
I then had a consultation this afternoon with my lead surgeon to discuss how things are going.
Results of CT and Ultrasound are good. Definitely no recurrences and I could see images of my kidneys, ureters and Neo Bladder all passing the injected contrast dye to the next in line, just as they should. Kidneys to Ureters to Neo. Nice.
There is a small cyst (definitely NOT cancerous) in my left kidney which the team will decide upon a course of action. Perhaps syringe it away, maybe leave it.
I mention it because it shows how carefully I am being monitored; which can only be a good thing for me.
As for me and wife, we are so pleased with how things have turned out. The Neo has surpassed my expectations of what it would do. Daytime it is pretty much like the old bladder, I just use a different technique to void which is neither here nor there. Night times are a little bit more challenging but my catheter only came out a month and a half ago and already things are improving. I was told it can take a year or so for things to settle and improve, but at this rate I’ll be back to normal by Christmas.
One final reminder that this blog may help others (I have had it found and liked), so my final entry is a timeline.
Thanks everyone.
4th April 2020 – Spotted blood in wee for first time.
11th April – 2nd sight of blood in wee.
14th April – called GP
21st April – CT scan
23rd April – Flexible Cystoscopy
30th April – Rigid Cystoscopy (removed tumours)
12th May – surgeon confirmed S2 G3 Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
8th June – Rigid Cystoscopy to determine if Neo Bladder possible (it was)
15th June – Radical Cystectomy and Neo Bladder (2 months after first call to GP)
24th June – setback with Neo Bladder stitch
30th July – catheter removed (after 6 weeks) and started to use Neo Bladder
3rd August – resumed driving
17th August – back to work (2 months after operation)
30th August – played a round of golf (11 weeks after operation)
17th September – 3 monthly scan and results (all good).
