Need info on blood in urine

[peanutbutter2]

Diagnosed with prostate cancer 4 1/2 years ago. Had prostate removed Sept. 2019 and had radiation winter 2020/2021 because PSA was going higher. Radiation is causing blood in my urine periodically. Now that I am older the blood in my urine seems to occur more often. I read on the internet that if I can urinate, don't worry about it. Now has been 5 days since it started, because I have been doing construction around the house. Does anyone else have this problem? Thanks

[Tall_Allen]

Yes, I still get it occassionally 14 years after SBRT. Scar tissue sloughs off - it's no big deal, unless it doesn't stop. I had a cystoscopy a few years ago that found nothing, and had some imaging done that also found nothing.

[peanutbutter2 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thank you very much for the information. Takes some of the scariness out of it.

[Ramp7 in reply to Tall_Allen]

I concur, sometimes if I am doing rigorous activities it can cause some pink urine with me. I always try to drink plenty of fluids and it goes away on its own.

[Istomin]

It happened to me too for the same reason--physical strain. A cystoscopy showed that I had radiation cystitis (3 on a scale of 1-10, according to the urologist; radiation was 6 yrs ago). To mitigate the problem I got 40 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen treatment, which is a well-known known and painless (but tedious) procedure that has a high degree of success. These sessions ended 2 months ago, and so far so good.

[Don_1213]

My Medical Oncologist put me on an annual scheduled cystoscopy - and found me the MD to do it, who doesn't knock me out, it's absolutely painless and rather interesting because I'm a curious kinda guy and ask questions about what's showing on the screens (multiple monitors).

The reason he made it annual - I had some hematuria (blood in the pee) for a period sometime after I had a green-laser treatment (think of it as a laser-turps - which the urologists and MO have described it as.) His concern was bladder cancer is not unknown as a secondary cancer caused by the radiation treatments received for PCa. I had high dose radiation (83Gy), so his concern is - bleeding is sometimes and indication of bladder cancer - and if it was going to show up, he wanted me to have a head-start on it.

I'm going next week (NYC, Columbia/Presbyterian) for what I hope will be my last cystoscopy - since the last 3 haven't shown any issues. Or I may move it back to every 2 years.

One thing - if like me - your local urban urologist tries to get you to do the private surgical facility with anesthesia - run away. Their buddy (or them) is a part owner of the surgical facility, and another buddy is the anesthesiologist . There is NO reason to be knocked out if you have a competent urologist doing the cystoscopy. Being knocked out makes it an all day procedure requiring you to obtain transportation to the facility, you suffering the risks involved in knocking you out (and there are risks, up to and including dementia and death) and then having someone to drive you home where you'll sit on the couch recovering from the effects of being knocked out.

There is NO NEED to be knocked out. The procedure takes about 5 minutes. A nurse preps you (cleaning up that area, sterile gown sort of thing), the MD comes in, probes you for a few minutes, takes a few photos and - you're done. In the ones I've had in NYC - I'm in and out of the office in about 30 minutes total, and I walk out and drive myself back to NJ.

Just because Medicare pays for you to be knocked out doesn't mean it's a good idea. Push back against the suggestion of it. If they don't agree it can be done as an office procedure, find a new urologist.