A Journey into Bladder Cancer

(First Published October 23rd 2019) If I’d been told 3 months ago that today I would be suffering withdrawal symptoms having just come off an opiate up to 100 times more potent than heroin I may have had a chuckle to myself.  The drug in question is Fentanyl, one of the major players in the tragic opioid crisis currently being felt in the USA.  In 2018 over 70,000 people died due to opioid overdose, more than lost their lives due to guns or road traffic accidents.  I would like to say that my 3 weeks on Fentanyl have been a wild and crazy time.  Sadly that is not the case.  I had the drug administered in patches that slowly released a small dose of Fentanyl over a period of 3 days. I’ve just finished a 3 week course which was to act as pain relief once I came off the post op ‘big boy’ drugs. Now it is out of my system I have felt slightly shivery, am struggling to sleep and I can feel my various scars and stitches. So it worked! My only pain medication now is go...

(First Published October 6th 2019) It’s now Saturday afternoon. I finally left hospital on Thursday afternoon after 42 days (it was actually only 11 days but I’ve done some in depth calculations and worked out that every hour spent in hospital  feels like about 4 hours, especially if you’re not sleeping well.) This time last week I wouldn’t have believed it possible that I would be now at home as I could barely make it out of bed without assistance.  This morning I got myself up, had a bit of marmite on bread, natural yoghurt and tea for breakfast and watched the first half of Englands’ World Cup rugby match against Argentina. I had a normal bowel movement, had my first proper shower and got myself dressed. Unremakable…….. no, absolutely extraordinary. This is how my 11 days in hospital panned out. I was admitted to Eastbourne Hospital on Monday 23rd September at 7.30am. My final ever wee was at 8.35 that morning. I spoke briefly with surgeons, admin people, anaesthetists and ...

(First Published September 19th 2019) I find it extraordinary that 6 weeks ago, as far as I was aware, I didn’t have cancer of the bladder, or cancer of anywhere else for that matter.  I’d just had a nasty bladder infection and, like many men of my age, was suffering with a slightly enlarged prostate gland. However, if all goes according to plan, this time next week I will be lying in a hospital bed, a couple of days into my recovery,  having had my bladder plus my prostate gland removed and my internal workings re-plumbed so my urine passes out through a stoma in the wall of my abdomen to be collected in a bag.  Extraordinary! I don’t think I’ve had this much excitement or range of emotions since watching England win the Cricket World Cup back in July (it’s been a hectic year!) Today brought my pre-operative appointments with medical professionals to a close.  I met with the Stoma nurse at the Royal County Hospital in Brighton at 8.30am. Brighton is a wonderful city...

(First Published September 6th 2019) I like the Princess Royal Hospital. Both our daughters were born there and it’s generally been our first stop for (fortunately infrequent) hospital stuff over the last 21 years. The main corridors have enormous glass panels which give an airy and spacious feel even if it does feel like an oven in the Summer. The original buildings, which date back to 1859, can be seen for miles around as they perch on top of a hill on the outskirts of Haywards Heath. It was originally founded as the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum which could explain why I have felt comfortable there during my recent visits. However, the next part of my adventure takes me further afield. When I returned home from work on Friday afternoon there was a letter inviting me for an appointment to meet the Urology team at Eastbourne District General Hospital on Monday morning. This is where I will be having my operation.  This was my first visit to the hospital as a customer. Unfortunately...

(First Published August 29th 2019) So today is the day.  I’m more nervous about today’s appointment than I was when I was given the initial diagnosis 3 weeks ago. That diagnosis was indeed a shock.  The idea of cancer had entered my head but I never thought for a second that major surgery would be involved, let alone that weeing as I currently know it would soon be a thing of the past. The diagnosis I had been given plus the suggested surgery was as a result of the Rigid Cystoscopy I’d had back in July i.e. a good look around the bladder with a camera plus a biopsy of the dodgy looking bits.  The C.T. Scan I had last week was looking in depth at all my major organs plus skeleton & circulatory system. With this potential wealth of new knowledge it is hardly surprising that I am a little jittery.  I didn’t sleep well last night. I was up the usual 3 times to have a wee, but the sleep in between seemed dreamless and dark. I am very fortunate that the Princess Royal ...

(First Published August 23rd 2019) We returned from our travels on Tuesday and, again, the liquid free diet got me successfully through the 5 ½ hour journey with minimal stops. There was a pile of cancer related mail waiting for me at home including an invitation for a CT scan on Friday 23rd August (today) plus an appointment to see the urology team and MacMillan nurses next Thursday. It’s all moving quite quickly! GOOD!!   There was also some literature from a bladder cancer charity. I had a good look through the leaflet and looked through their web site. As well as plenty of useful information there is also a private facebook page which I have joined and have been overwhelmed by the messages of support from the people on there. For such a resource for support and knowledge from those who are living with bladder cancer and really know their stuff to be available is a truly incredible thing.  Many pieces of advice have come my way and it is all appreciated. The main quest...

(First Published August 16th 2019) Wales was fabulous. The journey there could have been better.  A six hour slog in horrible driving conditions plus lots of stop & start on the M42 and M6 (have I learnt nothing from traffic reports on Radio 2 over the years!) It was at one such stop in the traffic on the M6 that the need to have a wee came over me. These days when I need to go I NEED to go. Too much delay and I start to feel quite ill. Any further delay… well that hasn’t happened yet but I imagine it wouldn’t end well! We were in the outside lane and the traffic was hardly moving. The nearest services were 12 miles away. At normal speed this could be do-able but at 2 miles per hour some serious action was needed. Fortunately the traffic started to move just enough for me to bully my way across the traffic into one of the yellow emergency stop zones on the hard shoulder. Also, fortunately there was a large bush at the side of the motorway. So equilibrium was restored, my dignit...

( First Published August 12th 2019) It is now 4 days since my diagnosis and “from that moment on, my life would never be the same” has obviously not come to pass. The Sun still rises every morning, albeit it from behind rain filled clouds thus far.  I eat breakfast, drink coffee, have a laugh and a joke with my family and wee more than I used to. Thursday afternoon was a bit of a whirlwind. As we sat in the car having left the hospital I did shed a small tear. Not for any other reason than I was sad that I had to tell my daughters that things were possibly worse than I had anticipated. We questioned for a moment whether to censor the complete truth until my eldest had picked up her GCSE results and enrolled at Lewes College. We quickly decided that this wasn’t the way forward and we would endeavour to be completely open with our nearest and dearest. When we arrived home my 14 year, Maggie, and her best friend were baking a cake in the kitchen. I took the two of them to one side (th...

( First Published August 9th 2019) Just after Christmas 2018, after a few months of symptoms I would describe as ‘Men’s downstairs problems’, ‘ iffy waterworks’, ‘I am 53 you know’ to name but a few, I sensibly decided to see the doctor (not straight away of course as I am a 53 year old male.) If you’re wondering what these symptoms are ‘Google’ enlarged prostate or ask a 53 year old male….there’s almost a 50:50 chance they can give you a similar list of symptoms. The Doctor took a sample of blood and a few days later I was told I didn’t have prostate cancer and should now book an appointment for a physical examination of the prostate gland. Obviously, I was far too busy and several weeks passed by. As Easter 2019 approached my symptoms got worse. Urinating was becoming more frequent and quite painful. My next visit to the Doctor was hastily brought on the morning I noticed a bit of blood in my urine. I was swiftly seen by the Doctor who gave me the physical examination I had been avoi...