Hello all Ronnie here. 6 weeks ago i had a radical cystectomy and know i want to know when i can drive. Anyone on here had the same and and can point me in the right direction. Cheers and a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. From Ronnie
A very happy New Year to You Ronnie and to Sylvia as well as all your loved ones. May 2023 bring you health and happiness and a complete recovery after everything you've been through at the end of the year. It's really nice to see you are back and posting on the forum and that you are already looking forward to driving again!
I had a look for you to try and find out more about when you might be able to drive and found this page on the cystectomy from the Macmillan website and it mentions at the end of the page that "your doctor will tell you how soon you can get back to doing things such as work, driving, shopping, gardening or playing sport. This will depend on the operation you had and your recovery."
So it might be worth giving your doctor or your medical team a call in the next few days and they will be able to tell you more based on how your recovery is going and how the surgery went.
Hopefully you will hear from others here who have had a radical cystectomy before and they will be able to tell you how long it took them to get back to driving.
I hope you will soon be behind the wheel in your car, exploring fun places :cool:
Hello Lucie and a very happy new year to you and yours. I have spoken to my doctor or should i say my wife has and he said yes ok i can drive but only a short distance and only if i feel confidant to stop in an emergency. Car insurance etc. He probably says that to all who have had an op but i wouldn't think he would know very much about a radical cystectomy You say when i have seen or spoken to the medical people. Well i had my op on the 17/11 and since leaving hospital the only people that have spoken to me has been the stoma nurses.I have had no communication from my surgeon at all. I had a telephone call from him booked for the 3/1 and it's just been canceled till the 24/1. So the surgeon doesn't seem to be at all concerned about me. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad. I would have thought that the first date off him would have been to have a look at his handy work so to speak. The stoma nurses wont commit any info on what happens after the op. Probably watching there own backs. So that is why i came back to this sight for advice which you can't give me ether. I remember when my wife bless her had her hysterectomy the day after she came home the local doctor was bobbing in the next day to check up. Times have changed a lot since then. Any way the car wont start as i haven't been in it since the 16/11 so i wont be going anywhere soon. I have a stoma nurse appointment on the 3/1 at my local hospital so i will pick there brains a bit but i didn't want to wait till the 24/1 to be told when i can just go get a news paper. Thank you for your support. With regards
Oh no Ronnie what a shame your car won't start! The car was waiting for you to come back I think and the car fell asleep but hopefully it can start again soon. Sorry I couldn't be any more specific or help you with your question. You did well to ask your doctor but I think it's a good idea to ask the stoma nurse on the 3rd of January and pick their brains or get the nurse to ask someone who would definitely know the answer. The surgeon would have been a good person to contact as they know best your specific case and how the operation went - I wonder whether you might be able to get in touch with the surgeon's secretary at the hospital and if someone could just pass on the question about driving or the secretary may have been asked this question before and know the answer. Sometimes you can leave a message in the answering machine and they should get back to you. Fingers crossed you manage to speak to someone I can imagine it's very frustrating for you!
I hope your recovery is going well Ronnie and you're feeling ok. I thought I would also add that you could perhaps ring our cancer nurses on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm though closed tomorrow as it's a bank holiday Monday but you could try and call them on Tuesday the 3rd of January if you still feel you are not having any luck finding out. The nurses might not have the exact answer to your question but may be able to point you in the right direction. Worth a try and they are really lovely too so feel free to ask them anything really.
I think you will enjoy that first drive out when you know it's safe to get out and about and get that newspaper!!
Hi Ronnie went to see the stoma nurse yesterday and he has a couple of granules at the side of his stoma so the nurse burnt the ends and said they should drop off. He has to go again next week. If they don't drop off he has to go see a dermatologist consultant and get them nipped off. Also the blood test came back and it said his iron has gone up a touch but needs to go for another blood test in 2 weeks.
