Bladder dysfunction

[Tkwham]

in 2014, diagnosed Gleason 9, had Prostate surgery, cancer metastasized to pelvic region, did ADT, followed by 72 Proton blasts ( 37 to cavity-35 to pelvic) Two years ago, stricture surgery ( 80% urethra blockage- all good), had stricture surgery 3 weeks ago ( 25% blockage), but bladder stopped operating, 2 ER visits 2 catheters, now self cath because bladder won’t work on its own. Doctors claim they did nothing wrong, maybe the bladder is traumatized and will eventually recover. Has anyone had any issue like this?

[Mike1971]

Tkwham,

No similarity with what you are going through; but I had part of my bladder removed before starting radiation and when they removed the catheter two weeks after surgery, my bladder didn’t work. They put the catheter back in, and I tried again after two more weeks, but I still couldn’t pee at all.

My doctor wanted to give me a indwelling (supra-pubic) catheter through my lower abdomen, but I asked to do Self (clean intermittent) Catheterization instead, thinking I would be able to “re-train” my bladder that way.

My doctors were nervous about this during my radiation treatment, thinking swelling due to the radiation could suddenly make it impossible to put in the catheter - but this never happened (was close a few times though).

I did self-catheterization six times per day for about six months to a year (I don’t remember exactly), and slowly my bladder started working fine again. I now pee without catheter and have no problems with my bladder.

So my bladder stopped working due to trauma but recovered - perhaps yours will too.

[Tkwham in reply to Mike1971]

Thanks, that’s more encouragement than I received from the docs. Time will tell, eh?

[Tkwham in reply to Mike1971]

I have a follow up question. When I had stomach surgery they taught me the Keagle method of tensing your stomach muscle (pregnant women do this exercise as well), so I would strain and some urine would come out ( maybe 2-3 oz), but then I’d have to self cath. Did you try that? Would you push a little everyday? How did it just start flowing? Were you drinking a lot of water to promote bladder activity? Any advice helps.

[Mike1971]

I was told not to try to "push" urine out, but to simply relax when peeing and let the bladder do the actual work. My urologist told me it isn't that great to "help" the bladder by pushing, because that will make the bladder weaker after a while.

I drink fairly much water normally. I was not told to start drinking more.

I was told:

- Don't pee too often.

- Don't pee too seldom - you should pee about 3-4 dl (10-14 oz).

- Having more than 5 dl (17 oz) urine in the bladder is not good, as it stretches the bladder making it weaker.

At the start I couldn't pee one drip without a catheter. After some times (months) I could pee a little by myself. Each time I needed to pee I tried to pee as much as possible without a catheter, and then I used a catheter to empty the bladder afterwards.

After a few months further, I could almost empty my bladder by myself and started to use a catheter only a few times per day (to empty the bladder fully, not to catch a urinary tract infection). When I noticed I could empty my bladder completely, I stopped using the catheters.

I hope this is of help.