Got to see The Stones this morning!

I had daVinci in April 2011 and SRT in Spring 2012 following recurrence. For much of the past year, I have had fairly regular discomfort during urination, ranging from mild to painful. Also have had periodic passing of blood and clots. We had chalked it up to radiation trauma like I had in the rectal area and saw on the recent colonoscopy. We have tried Detrol and Elmiron to alleviate it.

I was at the uro's office Tuesday for an appointment with his PA as a follow up to Alprostadil therapy I began I late June. I mentioned the continued urinary pain issue and also that I passed a number of large clots the day before. He got me scheduled for a cystoscopy with the uro this morning to check things up close and personal.

Well, the bladder lining looks great and there is no sign, whatsoever, of any radiation trauma in the bladder or urethra. However, I have two large bladder stones that are wedged into crevices--one toward the top and one low. The edges appear sharp and are likely causing the irritation and bleeding. They are large enough I will be having day surgery next Thursday to have them lasered and irrigated out.

The doc suggests this could completely take care of the bleeding, urgency and frequency issues I have been dealing with since there is no cystitis present. I sure hope so! Perhaps I can shed the pads and get a full night's sleep!

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I had the same issues and the 'scope job revealed a small bladder stone which was removed on the spot using an attachment on the 'scope..This was on a Friday afternoon.. By 2am Saturday, I was in full urinary retention requiring a trip to the ER to be catheterized..The cath was removed Monday with no further issues...Urination has been normal since then, about 14 months ago..

You got me on that one! So which one is Mick and which one is Keith? LOL. Good luck with the surgery. Hope you get satisfaction!
Jim

Update 8/16/13

Well, yesterday was day surgery and all went well with the cystoscopy and lasering of my two stones. My uro said the one stone was larger than originally estimated and both were wedged in the bladder neck but not blocking urine flow. He gave me a tube with a bunch of fragments as a sample and memento since I was taking a nice nap during the 50-minute operation. Also did a thorough scope of the bladder and no other problems including no radiation damage.

While I have just a little bit of urethral irritation from the surgery and taking some Pyridium to keep that at bay, it is an incredible relief not to have the stabbing penile pain referred from the bladder neck every time taking a pee. Was up at least once an hour overnight since I drank a lot of water last night to rehydrate but it was good to be able to get right back to sleep without any pain.

Interesting note...one of the scripts I got following surgery was for the Pyridium but I still had some pills left from when we had tried that before to resolve the urinary burning and pain when this all started. That prior script was from June 2012 and reminded me I have had this ongoing discomfort for over a year, beginning at the end of my SRT. While the thought all along was radiation cystitis, and that may have been a slight contributing factor at the time, it's entirely possible and likely that the stones got lodged back then and have grown since. Just a reminder to not make assumptions but to look at all possibilities before resigning yourself to living with chronic pain or ascribing certain side effects to a particular procedure when that may not be the case.

Will see how things are in about a week after the surgery trauma has had time to settle down. This has been a good first step.

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Guess what?  We got to see the Rolling Stones - well, not in person, but a major exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!  They were featured on the top two floors.  There is also a special feature on the Beatles and their albums. 

We had such a terrific time!!    If you get a chance - get to Cleveland!  There's so much to see and do in the area.

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll,

Aimzee