Two days ago I went into Harrogate Hospital to have my bladder tumour removed by a process abbreviated to TURBT - Trans Urethral Resection of Bladder Tumour. Had to get there by 7.30 am and I was the first of three on the list. All went well and I was able to leave the same day about 6.30 pm. I decided to opt for a general anaesthetic although a spinal one was an alternative. I was put under the anaesthetic and came back to consciousness about 10 am. At that point I still had a catheter fitted and had my bladder filled with mitomycin-C which is a chemotherapy drug which has to stay in for an hour. After this was drained out (it was a rather fetching shade of blue!) I was returned to the ward.
For a few hours my bladder was being washed through with weak saline solution but the fluid coming out was clear with no sign of blood from the start. Some other chaps on the ward who had seen other TURBT patients said this was not always the case. Later in the afternoon my catheter was taken out and I was told that I could go home after I had done three proper wees. The first was pitifully small and difficult but later ones came easier particularly after the nurse encouraged me to get up and walk around the ward. I walked up and down a long corridor several times which helped.
Once I achieved wee no 3 a nurse came to test the bladder with an ultrasound probe on my tummy. This is to measure the amount of fluid remaining in the bladder to make sure it is emptying properly. Mine was registering 416 ml remaining which is not good. I was told that I might not be going home and that the catheter might have to be put back in for a day or two. I was fairly sure that the reason for the retention of urine was because I had been drinking loads of water and there was too long a gap between my last wee and the ultrasound test. So I pushed for another test and made sure I had been just before this. The result was a measurement of 286 ml which was declared to be OK. So reasonably quickly I had my discharge letter and my wife had come to collect me. Home in time for the Archers!
So far, so good.
