Stricture. Should I "fix" it?

The cath was pulled December 22, 2015. (Surgery was 11/25/15). GREAT flow for a few days then it tailed off. There's been no change in flow since. I pee just fine. No real issues.

Visible blood in urine began March 16, '16. It was "more days than not" for about a month. Went in for cystoscopy. Camera would not go into bladder because of scar tissue. (Trust me, it wasn't for lack of effort). Doc says...."No good amigo. Must dilate!" :)

Well...The "proceedure" is scheduled for one week from tomorrow. But there's been no bleeding for the last week (the longest clear streak since March 16). I'm beginning to second guess my decision to let him "fix it". MY thinking is..."No real flow problems (yet, and maybe never), it's been over 4 mos. since the cath was pulled so it may not get worse, my bladder was checked for cancer in Nov. '14....no cancer, more procedures + more proceedures + more proceedures = now you've gotten yourself a REAL problem".

Doc's thinking..."Ah...no problem. A little dilating, cath ya for a bit...cured!! :) Oh...and I can't let ya stay this way. WAY to "dangerous". If you ever need to be cathed for whatever reason....it would then be an EMERGENCY!!! Plus...if you ask 100 urologists, 100 will tell ya what I'm tellin' ya...it needs to be done."

Well...I've seen that movie too.

Jack...Thinkin' out loud I guess. I know no one can really answer this one but me. I just don't believe the blood is bladder cancer. And my HW searches on this topic (stricture) isn't light reading.

He WANTED to do lipsotripsy on a non obstructing kidney stone while at it. I put the nix on that.

My PCP agrees"the stricture probably needs to be done but there's no hurry. The stone? No."

Too many "IF"s here.

But strictures, in my experience, eventually become 2am disaster trips to the ER for an inexperienced doc to practice forcing a catheter the size of the cystoscope into a hole the cystoscope would not pass through a few days before. Sound painful? If not, read again.

Let the uro deal with the stricture, and be prepared for repeat visits, as they don't seem to go away. Don't wait for a newbie ER guy to practice what he read in a book.

Mine have been calm for about 60 days, since I did a serious reaming followed by 60 days of hyperbaric oxygen. Bleeding and flow restriction calmed near the end, and today, about 60 days out, I'm seeing dilation in the near future, as flow is becoming a heavy drip again. But at least the rampant bleeding has stopped.

(Bleeding was due to radiation damage to bladder & urethra during ART in 2010).

Dilation is a stretching exercise. Or maybe better said "roto rooter". The uro takes a bag of small to large probes. He runs in the smallest appropriate, then steps up a size or two.

Yes, it is painful. He is running a blunted, offset rod up you, then doing it again. Hurts like Hades for a few hours, and you blow out a bit of debris when you pee.

Bleeding? Maybe. I've done it five (?) times. Sometimes there is blood, sometimes not.

The good news is that you pee like a racehorse afterward, so drink a lot of water, and enjoy that small pleasure.

For my late-breaking stricture, I just decided to self-cath. It is a logistical hassle but I carry my supplies, to work, etc. I can easily manage with a 14 Fr catheter. It works every time. My insurance pays for a new catheter each time. I am not in the mood for dilations and surgeries right now. I have enough health issues on my plate.
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IT, sorry to hear you are going through more crap like this. I hope it gets resolved with the procedure with no more complications. You don't deserve to have to deal with this ongoing nonsense.

I have no advice, I don't know much about strictures, but what everyone is saying makes logical sense, get it done. Push the Uro to get an anesthesiologist to put you out.