13 December - The Cystoscopy Experience

Today was the day for my cystoscopy.  For those of you who may never have had one, I'll give you the scoop, but it's only the scoop as it applies to the one I just had.  Everyone has a reason for this procedure.  We were at the hospital for 1:15.  We had to wait a while, but that's a good time to do the Kegel homework. When I was called by the nurse, she took my blood pressure (148/82) - this is high for me and she said "I can tell how happy you are to be here."  I don't take medication for high blood pressure and usually mine runs around 130/80.  In fact, the only medication I take is one Losec per day because of a gastric bleed back about fifteen years ago.  At that time, I was told I'd be on Losec for the rest of my days- not a big hardship.  I can't take aspirin.  She explained the cysto routine and I do remember having at least one before, maybe two.  I was told to remove all clothing except for shoes and socks and don a hospital gown and dressing gown.  Dr. Dwyer escorted me to the operating room and he had one nurse assisting.  He explained that because I was treated for urethral stricture before, it is something he should visit before the prostatectomy.  He injected some freezing "jelly" into the urethra and explained that he would check the opening- he said the problem is there, a stricture right near the opening.  Now I must add I have had no symptoms other than "aim issues", not always dependable that the stream will go where I intend.  So he inserted a couple of steel rods into the opening of the urethra to increase the path- this was not pleasant, but definitely bearable.  He said the first one is usually the worst and I agree.  Anyway, once that was over, the cystoscopy was fast and effortless.  Official description:  "You will be awake and aware of being touched, but any discomfort should be tolerable".  Plus you can watch the path on a screen and that's interesting- a guided tour, sort of.  He could show me the stricture rings along the urethra, and I could see when the cystoscope passed through the prostate and into the bladder.  In no time, he was finished and I was good to go.  Dr. Dwyer said that now that he has seen the situation, he can make an adjustment while I am sedated for the prostatectomy and once I have the catheter inserted, these other problems should be history.  That's my plan too.  Once this was over, I went across the hall to another room where I had to void the contents of my bladder.  This was okay, although there was some blood, and the nurse did an ultrasound to be sure the bladder was totally empty.  It was.  I had a cipro pill to offset any infection and we were ready to leave.  I'm warned that there may be burning during urination for the next day or so, and maybe some blood in the urine.  Drink plenty of water- that shouldn't be a problem.