Dave's Story

Tips and advice for any bladder or bowel side effects of treatment

It took quite a few weeks to be fully continent after the catheter was removed. Keeping on with the pelvic floor exercises helped a lot. I used the squeezy app. I still have the occasional leak which reminds me to do some exercises again. After about a year I started to find it difficult to pass water and in the end I had it investigated and had to have a minor procedure to cut a restriction at the bladder neck and also dilate a stricture which may have been caused by the catheter. I have not had problems since.

Tips and advice for any sexual side effects of treatment

Erectile disfunction seems to be something I have to live with. I noticed my penis was smaller after the operation but it seems to have returned to normal. I still orgasm but of course it is dry!

Tips and advice for any mental and emotional side effects of treatment

My operation was done during lockdown and I found being in hospital without my wife was quite difficult.

How this treatment impacted my life the most

The major effect has been on our sex life but we talked about it and knew that may be the case and had to accept that it wouldn't be the end of the world to us.

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose the same treatment?

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

I was lucky enough to have the cancer removed with a single operation and no other intervention. I feel that operation was much less traumatic than many of the other alternatives and that the recovery time was relatively quick. I didn't want to wait and see what happened either. I was glad to get the whole thing over with and have minimum possibility of it coming back.