Hello everyone, I'm from Australia ... My bladder cancer was diagnosed going on 4 years ago coming this Christmas ... mine started as a urinary tract infection with a slight stinging when I had a pee ... it went on for a few days before I decided to go to the doctor as you always think it's something else like soap or shampoo etc and I'd never heard of a man with that sort of infection ... the doctor gave me antibiotics and said it should clear up in about 5 days ... on the fifth day I peed out a substantial amount of debris ... I was immediately sent for a CT scan and within an hour the results were back and I was heading to the hospital ... my tumor was in the wall of my bladder and about 50mm and as thick as my little finger ... the cystoscopy showed up how bad it was and the surgeon said you have maybe 4 months or a little longer without an immediate operation ... my surgeon was Dr Geoff Coughlin at the Wesley Hospital in Brisbane ... I live on the Gold Coast an hour away ... in my eyes Geoff is a genius ... To say it wasn't and easy recovery would be an understatement but here I am nearly 4 years later and going well ... like other posts I've been reading I can hold out for 4 hours or maybe 5 hours sometimes and you can forget to go but when it backs up into your kidneys there is pain so I try and stay to 3 to 3.5 hours before going to the toilet especially through the night ... I don't have to wear pads but make sure I go to the toilet at least twice before going to bed ... my main problem is definitely diarrhea attacks ... if only I knew what brings it on ... I can be good for 2 weeks and then it hits me and I can go up to 7 times every half hour ... If only I knew what triggers it ... I've tried not having garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, chilli and on it goes trying to find the answer what it is ... my surgeon prescribed QUESTRAN LIGHT ... a powder in a sachet and that stops it in a couple of hours ... he said take nothing else from the pharmacy ... I now take one sachet a week or maybe two within the week but too many can cause constipation ... after 4 year this has been the biggest drawback but a far cry from the beginning when I could go up to 20 times a day ... I think I spent more time on the toilet than in bed ... I can finally travel again but take precautions when staying in hotels etc ... Finally I'd love to hear if you have a similar problem and have you resolved it by not eating a particular food etc. cheers Ken
