Surgery
You usually go into hospital on the morning of your operation, or the day before. You need to stop eating and drinking for a several hours before your operation. You will have been given instructions to follow.
You might have some questions about your operation. The nurses can arrange for a member of the surgical team to come and talk to you. You sign a consent form for the operation if you didn't do it at the pre assessment clinic.
Your nurse will take some measurements. These include your , , oxygen levels, heart and breathing rate.
The nurse or doctor will put a small tube into your arm (cannula). You can have medicines and fluids directly into your bloodstream via the cannula. You might have a drip (intravenous infusion) before your surgery. This is to make sure you're not dehydrated before your operation.
Your nurse will go through a series of questions on a checklist to make sure you are ready for surgery. They ask you to:
tell them when you last had something to eat and drink
change into a hospital gown
put on a pair of anti embolism stockings - these help prevent blood clots
take off any jewellery - you may be able to keep a wedding ring on
remove contact lenses if you have them
wear a hospital identification band - this is normally on your wrist
If you have false teeth you can usually keep them in until you get to the anaesthetic room.
For some types of surgery, your nurse asks if they can remove the hair around the operation area. They usually do this with small battery powered clippers. They might remove the hair on the ward before you go for your operation. Or when you’re in the operating theatre.
Your nurse might give you a tablet or an injection to help you relax. This will be an hour or so before you go to the operating theatre. This makes your mouth feel dry. But you can rinse your mouth with water to keep it moist.
Your nurse and a porter take you to theatre on a trolley if you’ve had this medicine. You can walk down to the theatre if you haven't had any.
You have an anaesthetic so that you can’t feel anything during the operation. You have this in the anaesthetic room or the operating theatre.
All the doctors and nurses wear theatre gowns, hats and masks. This reduces your chance of getting an infection.
Your anaesthetist may put in a cannula, if you haven’t got one already. You’ll have fluids and medicines you need through the cannula including the general anaesthetic. This sends you into a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over.
The anaesthetist might also give you a spinal anaesthetic. This is a local anaesthetic that is injected into a small tube in the space around your spine (in your lower back). This makes you numb from the waist down it helps with pain control after your operation
Last reviewed: 20 Aug 2025
Next review due: 20 Aug 2028
You will have a few tubes in place when you wake up, such as a drip, wound drain and catheter. You will be in hospital for around 1 or 2 weeks.
Before your operation, you have tests to check your fitness and you meet members of your treatment team.
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Surgery is one of the main treatments. The surgeon usually removes all your bladder and makes a new way for you to pass urine.
Coping with bladder cancer can be difficult. There are things you can do to help, and people who can support you practically and emotionally.
Bladder cancer is cancer that starts in the lining of the bladder. The bladder is part of the urinary system, which filters waste products out of your blood and makes urine. Find out about the symptoms, how you are diagnosed, treatment, living with bladder cancer and follow up.
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