Dad's operation tomorrow

Good morning Starlightglimmer and welcome to the forum. You are naturally concerned for your Dad’s welfare and his operation tomorrow. The scan I think will be to help the surgeons and I also imagine that the procedure is TURBT. This procedure will aim to remove any cancer and take biopsy samples to establish the extent or otherwise of the problem. This information will inevitably take a few days to establish the extent of the cancer. So after the procedure you’ll have to wait for the results but then a plan to deal with the results will be made and trust me your Dad will be feeling much better . Most on here have had the same procedure and I’m waiting for a third in the new year. Best Wishes, John

Hi Starlightglimmer, we understand how worried you feel but truly it is brilliant that your dad's hospital is reacting so swiftly (following all the NICE guidelines) getting the scans to check and doing the TURBT to remove any cancer they find. In my experience it is at least 2 weeks before the biopsy results are ready and discussed by the medical team. In the pre-covid days you generally went to an appointment with the consultant to be told the grade and stage of any tumours. Now possibly it is by telephone. Depending on how well the urine is passing after the TURBT there is a good chance he will come home the same day but I had an overnight stay in our Urology ward since I live alone. Whatever happens by Christmas your dad should have no cancer in his bladder which is a marvellous feeling. Sending you cyber hugs. Keep the faith in our wonderful health workers. xxx

As others have mentioned, this is probably a TURBT. The initial intention of a TURBT is either to remove a small tumour, or to remove part of a larger tumour in order to check under a microscope the type & grade of the cancer. My cancer was too big to remove fully, others have had their cancer fully removed. Your dad will be told whether they removed just a part, or the whole tumour the same or next day after the operation. The tumour is then sent to pathology to be graded & this will mean a wait of about a week to hear the type of cancer & the treatment plan. The treatment plan is usually decided by a team of doctors, Urology, Oncology & Surgery. This team often only meet once a week, so it can be sometimes 10 days before you hear back. I suggest that your Dad creates a contact with either the Urology nurse or/% the oncology doctor. Don't sit back -keep pressing.

There are types of scan, CT scan, MRI scan & ultrascan. A CT scan would usually by the entire abdomin & chest. Are you sure it was just the kidneys?

I am sorry about your tears. My wife & I cry together every day.

Thank you for your reply. It's good to know what to expect with the procedure. Wishing you all the best. 

Thabk you very much fur your reply. Can I ask what is TURBT? 

They've checked his bowel and prostrate so think the last CT scan was just his kidney as he'd had an xray on his kidney the week before, which seemed OK. Thabk you for your insite. 

The posh name TURBT  trans urethral resection of bladder tumour, involves removing the material from in the bladder . 

Thank you.