Finally it’s results day for my father in law and he’s headed off to hospital. He had bladder and prostate biopsies 4 weeks ago and has had to self catheterise ever since. He hasn’t been able to urinate once on his own. I’m not expecting good news as he’s already been told he needs a scan today-I’m presuming to measure against baseline scans he had last summer. He was supposed to have the scan last week but the hospital “forgot” to send out the appointment, and he didn’t ask what type of scan it would be today.
He kept cancelling the biopsy appointments for unnecessary reasons, so we are 6 months on from initial identification of a problem-not sure if he’s in denial or just doesn’t think it could be bad news today.
My partner is taking him and I’m hoping will be able to go into the appointment-another pair of ears is always useful as you can miss a lot of what is said. So, I may be back with questions for you all, or I may be checking out the prostate group!
Although I’ve had my bladder removed, I didn’t have bladder cancer-just cervical cancer spread across my bladder so I’m not so clued up about anything bladder related other than removal.
Sarah xx
I don’t think he will have any choice, Jane.
If he has the surgery it’s major, with a long recovery, and even chemo and radio will mean lots of hospital visits and all that goes along with that. He’s in the process of getting power of attorney sorted out so that’s a priority so we can get decisions made on what is best. He needs to get that finalised before treatment because we need to see what care can be organised for mum in law. It’s just Sod’s Law my gall bladder issues are causing problems at the same time. There’s only us to help, and I’m not a lot of use as I can’t even drive!
Sarah xx
Thanks so much Jane. It’s hard to navigate “the system” and get help, but I had a lovely chat this morning with a very kind lady on the support line. It’s so good we can get guidance on what to do and how to go about it. I just wish my gallbladder issue wasn’t coming into this just at this point-it’s an extra worry. The power of attorney will definitely help with things though and make things easier.
Sarah xx
Honestly Jane, the lady was so kind to me-I’m sure it must be such a difficult role to deal with all the calls they have to deal with but I knew I would be signposted in the right direction, which I was. Plus it was someone to listen, and that is sometimes such a hugely important thing. We have so many different aspects of all this to deal with, the bladder cancer being the most important thing at the moment. The consultant has made it very clear this is a very serious situation. Everything seems like it’s going to be extremely challenging for us as a family.
Sarah xx
