The long wait to have surgery is over. On February 9th, 2009 my husband had his surgery for bladder cancer at University of Chicago Hospitals. He was able to go home on the 15th. He was in surgery about 3 hours and in recovery about 2 hours. They removed his bladder, prostate glands and lymph glands in the area. All of this was sent to pathology to be analyzed to find out what kind of cancer cells and if it may have spread to other areas and also to determine if he will need further treatments. We'll find out the results when he goes back for his first visit at the doctors office. While in the hospital he was given a pain pump with Dilaudid which he was able to administer to himself when the pain was a bit too much. He had and still has a Jackson Pratt drainage bulb coming from the side of his abdomen to drain any fluid that might be collecting in the abdominal area. His incision was closed with staples which they will take out in the doctors office. We are doing pretty well changing the stoma bag. He is disappointed that he's still weak, tired and moving slowly but his home health nurse reminded him that he had major surgery and it'll take a while to build up energy. Most of his day is spent watching TV and taking naps while in his PJ's. His attitude is good so that's important. We really appreciate all of the information that was sent to us from other bladder cancer patients. Thank you, thank you. I hope this information which I'm sending will help some of you who may be facing this situation.
Barb