Life after bladder surgery

How you manage after surgery will depend to some extent on which type of surgery you had and whether it was for early bladder cancer or invasive bladder cancer.

If you have had a cystoscopy to remove early bladder cancer, then you should not notice any physical problems at all. You may worry that the cancer may come back and you may need further treatment. Knowing that you are going to have cystoscopies every few months may also worry you. But if everything goes well, the check ups will gradually become less frequent.

It may take some time to get used to having a stoma. There are the practical things to learn. For example

• Changing your urostomy bags
• Self catheterising and irrigating your stoma

But there is also the change in your body to come to terms with. This can take quite a time to get over. Most people do get over it, with help from family and friends. If you find this particularly difficult, you may need some help from other people. There is information in the coping with cancer section about what counselling is and how to find a counsellor near you. Or you could contact our cancer information nurses for help and support. They will be happy to help.

You may worry about how your stoma will affect

• Your job
• Your relationships
• Your sex life
• Sports and hobbies

With time you will probably find that there is very little that you can't do that you could do before your surgery. You will become more confident about having a stoma.

Unless your work involves heavy digging, or other types of manual work, your surgery should not make any difference to your job. If you are not sure about this, ask your stoma nurse for advice.

Whether with a partner, or with friends, it is very likely that you will worry about how the stoma will affect your relationships. These can be practical worries about the bag being noticeable or leaking. Or emotional worries about how your friends or partner may react.

Stoma appliances are very well designed. They are not easily seen through your clothes and should not leak. If you have problems with your bag, talk to your nurse. A different type of bag may suit you better.

Your continent urinary diversion should not leak unless you let it get too full. If you are having this problem, it may help to empty it more often. You may also need to reduce the amount you drink after a certain time in the evening.

If you are able to talk openly to friends and family about your surgery, you will probably find that your fears will disappear. Most people are very willing to try and understand and help if they can.

After bladder surgery there can be some physical changes that may affect your sex life. There is more information about your sex life and bladder cancer in this section.

Your stoma shouldn't stop you enjoying your favourite pastimes. You can exercise and swim. If you have a urostomy, you can wear a smaller bag if you prefer. And if you have a continent urinary diversion, empty it before you start. You can wear a waterproof dressing for swimming if you want to. Your stoma nurse can advise you about this.

There is no reason why you shouldn't drink alcohol with either a urostomy or continent urinary diversion. But bear in mind that the more liquid you drink, the more urine you will pass. So you may have to get up in the night to empty your bag or diversion. To help you get a good night's sleep it can help to avoid drinking large amounts of any liquid later on in the evening. You can also attach a night drainage bag to your day bag so that it can hold more urine.

The advantage of having a new bladder made is that your outside appearance will not change. You should be able to do all the things that you could do before the surgery. You will need to learn to pass urine by increasing your tummy (abdominal) pressure and this may take a few weeks or months. 

If you are lifting something really heavy, you may find that your new bladder leaks. You will find out by trial and error whether any activities cause problems with leaking. If your bladder is leaking slightly when you are not doing anything really strenuous, try emptying it more often. Pelvic floor exercises can help. And you can arrange an appointment to talk to your surgeon or specialist nurse. They can help you find ways to stop the leaking.