Leaflet on bladder cancer

Hi . Macmillan have produced booklets on bladder cancer which you can find by clicking HERE . You can download them to keep or view online. They are for non muscle invasive (which I believe applies to you, and muscle invasive.

As regards diet, there have been many so called superfoods talked about on here, non with much backing, but the general advice is a well balanced diet, preferably Mediterranean type . Best wishes

Thankyou  I got it x

Hi Fab7 the only significant change I have made since diagnosis is to drink loads and loads and loads of water and squash (Robinson's Lime and Mint does it for me). I try to ensure I drink 2 litres in addition to tea and coffee. x

I was told to avoid caffeine, alcohol and fizzy drinks. I took someone's advice previously and can recommend Robinson's Lemon Barley Water. It is drink, drink and drink again - but ease off from late afternoon otherwise it's several trips to the loo in the night. I'm now able to gaily trip to the loo two/three times a night and get back to sleep again pretty quickly. I have taken to sleeping separately from Mrs G while having BCG as I don't then disturb her and I don't have to tip toe around. Should return to the marital bed at the end of next week!!

I lost the marital bed when I got shielded. She's using BCG as an excuse not to let me back in again.

Drinks wise, I drink cranberry squash because its not supposed to irritate the bladder. 

I had Interstital Cystitis (I.C) for over 30 years and was told at first to drink cranberry juice.I was in so much pain after I drunk it and discovered it was much too acidic for I.C bladders.I found pear juice or peach juice the most soothing.Since my bladder has been removed it’s been good to be able to eat and drink a wider variety of things.I was very restricted when I had I.C as so many foods made the pain far worse,especially tomatoes and onions.Love Jane xx

I'm not drinking juice but squash, so it can be diluted quite a bit. I just can't drink plain water, I need some sort of flavour.

My wife advised cranberry as that was what they were advised to use for residents in her care home who had UTI as it is less irritating than lemon or orange. 

Hi,Your wife is right,cranberries are good for uti’s.Apparently they help to prevent bacteria sticking to the bladder wall,especially e-coli  type.I’m able to drink cranberry again now I no longer have a bladder.I had pre-cancerous changes from the I.C that eventually turned into cancer last year after 14 yrs.I do drink water but I prefer some flavour.Love Jane xx

I'll find out on the 19the October whether cranberry is good for me when I have my first BCG

Do be careful, cranberry drinks tend to be heavy on sugar or sweetener because it is so tart. I used to take cranberry tablets after RC, but I'm not prone to infections anyway, so hard to know if they made any difference. No problems since I stopped taking them.

As an aside, while I was waiting a tediously long time to log in, I noticed in the web address https://macmillanuk.b2clogin.com/macmillanuk.onmicrosoft.com/     which I though summed the situation up nicely...