Hi Flo,
Someone at another forum asked if I would respond to your discussion. Dr. Smith has been my urologic oncologist since about Jan 2008. I was diagnosed with high grade urothelial ca of the bladder in late December of the preceding year and met Dr. Smith shortly thereafter. I also sought consultation at MD Anderson, but because of the closer proximity of Nashville to my home as well as my personal preference for Dr. Smith I opted to be treated at Vanderbilt. First of all, I found Dr. Smith to be a caring, competent physician who was an excellent communicator. I had many questions as our relationship developed and he always had plenty of time to address them completely without my ever feeling rushed. I have never been to an appointment with Dr. Smith that I did not leave feeling more comfortable and more confident with our plans. In March of 2008, I had a radical cystoprostatectomy with extended lymph node dissection and orthotopic neobladder. My surgery lasted about 3 hours and I was walking within 12 hours of surgery. Now 2.5 years later all is well, thus far I am cancer free, and all of the new equipment is working perfectly. I have had no complications and fairly quickly resumed a physically active life style. I exercise vigorously regularly and we have traveled quite a bit in the time since surgery. I was 59 at the time of my surgery and in fairly good condition. Post surgery I lost about 12-15 pounds, but fairly quickly regained that weight. Post op I had a foley catheter, ureteral stents (one for each ureter), and a Jackson-Pratt drain. In addition, there was an IV for administration of fluids, antibiotics and pain meds. You remain on IV fluid as your intake until the GI tract reawakens. For most that is 4-6 days. Once that occurs, they begin with full liquids and fairly quickly, if tolerated, advance to a regular diet. I was in the hospital about 6 days and then my wife drove me the 2 1/4 hours home. We did make one stop to walk around a bit for blood clot prevention. When I went home, it was with a foley catheter in the neobladder to allow all the connections to heal without any pressure. I needed to irrigate the neobladder with sterile saline at least three times/day. About 3 weeks after discharge (4 weeks after surgery) I returned for my 1st post op visit to remove the foley and begin the neobladder rehabilitation. This was somewhat frustrating for me since I am fairly impatient, but over the next few months, I became fully continent during the day and not long after at night. Not sure if by continent reservoir you are talking about a neobladder or a catheterizable urinary diversion, but this is my story. Since I am new to this forum, I don't yet know how to share information privately, but would be glad to call you or receive a call from you, if I can help you in any way at any time during your journey. Best wishes,
jj