Has anyone had a cystoscopy?

[nkjzmom]

I am preparing to donate a kidney to kidney to my brother, so I've been having test after test to make sure my kidneys are in good working order and that I am in generally good health.

One of the tests was a 24 hour urine collection. No problem....except that during that time I started my period. Now, to give some background, this was my first period in months and months...I had stopped nursing not long before, so this period was very heavy. Needless to say there was quite a bit of blood in the urine they collected.

Now the urologist that will be performing the operation wants me to have a cystoscopy (sp?) done to check for lesions in my bladder that would indicate cancer. The coordinator (Gwen) has gone back and forth trying to explain the fact that I was having my period...but so far he hasn't changed his mind.

Can anyone tell me what this test is like? Gwen explained it to me but I'd like some real life experience. I don't mind having the test done....if I need to. But now I'm going down to FL for a week (yea Disney!) but I will be worried the whole time wondering if I really may have renal cancer. Please someone cheer me up.....

 

[babar]

Why doesn't he just do the urine test over, first? I had a urine test about 2 days after my period ended. There was microsopic blood in the urine, and my doctor made me retake the test 3 times!!! Talk about being nervous. But it all turned out alright in the end.

Anyways, my friend had a cystoscopy, so when I get home, I'll call her and ask her, and let you know.

 

[cinlee3]

DH has a cystoscopy done after surgery for hernia repair. The DR. punctured his bladder so he had to go to the urologist after about 3 weeks to see if his bladder was healing.

I don't know if it would be as painful for a woman, but for a man it was not pleasant. It was done in the office. I would definitely tell the urologist you want to repeat the urine collection before you go through the cystoscopy.

 

[nkjzmom]

I had a friend at a urologist's office tell me the same thing...Have the urine collection done again. I will bring that up with the transplant coordinator during our next phone call. That sounds like the most logical thing to do for a person....why put them through the procedure when you could more easily collect urine again. THEN if there's still blood, do the cystoscopy.

Thank you both for your replies....you've helped calm my nerves. Babar, I look forward to what your friend says!

Thanks,
Amy in AL

 

[RNMOM]

Just for the record, cystoscopy for a woman is much easier than a man. The urethra is much shorter and there is much less irritation.

I have had two done. If you don't have a bladder infection, hence pain in the area anyway, it is not very uncomfortable at all. These days they use very small, fiberoptic scopes that are flexible and much less bothersome. In the old days they used long metal scopes that tended to scrape the tissue as they went in. So don't agonize over it too much.

After the proceedure you will feel some mild irritation and when you first try to urinate it will burn a little. The trick is to drink LOTS of water and once you start to pee, keep going. Don't stop and start. The first time is the worst. After that you might not even have any discomfort. They will probably give you some pyridium, a pill that turns your urine orange and can stain clothing. This is like a topical anesthetic. Once you urinate, it coats things and makes it feel better. You will feel fine in a couple hours after the scope. Promise.

 

[CyranoJones]

I've had a cystoscopy several times and found it to be an unremarkable and simple procedure. My husband has it done more than that and it doesn't bother him either.

 

[nkjzmom]

Wow...you all are great!

RNMOM...that's exactly what the nurse at my local urologist said!! The pyridium and all!

I'm not so nervous now about the procedure as I am the chance that I may actually have some sort of cancer. Like I wrote earlier, I was having a very heavy period and it obviously was in the urine collection....how much chance is it that the blood they detected would be an indication of renal cancer instead of menstrual blood? The probabilities are stacked in my favor with the heavy flow, but I'm still worried.

I've always said that the worst things that could come from all these tests was that A) I wouldn't match up well enough, and B) That something would be really wrong with my health.