Female Cystoscopy ~ DON'T worry!!!!!

I know exactly how you feel, I would have cancelled my cystoscopy appointment if I hadnt found this forum. I also had blood in my urine although it was microscopic. It is natural to fear the worst possible outcome and if that is unfortunately the case it has been caught early. There are lots of reasons for blood in your urine and thats why you need the cystoscopy. My urologist told me that lots of ladies of a certain age (over 60) have blood in their urine and its nothing to worry about.

The test is uncomfortable but NOT painful, it stings when you pass urine afterwards but soon settles - I took a couple of Paracetamol.

Keep in touch, and PLEASE dont cancel the cystoscopy, tell the nurse/doctor how anxious you are and I am sure they will look after you.

ear rmak52,

Of course you can do something positive about it; that is why you came to this forum yet again, isn't it? And yes, we're still active! So, lets run over the facts to refresh your good memories and bring them up to date.

First and foremost I am not a doctor but describe my own experience. Yes, I am a man, but I was born of woman and I refuse to minimize this fact. It so happens that this time of year is very personal to me. 90 years ago, tomorrow June 1st, at 7:45 PM(EST) I communicated by whatever means, "O.K. Ma, I'm ready when you are.", and so I was born. Pain? Probably, but we all have different sensitivities. Cystoscope sheaths -- the part that slides into you -- are now days about 16 French, or 4.7 mm in diameter. I know this because, as of some four years ago I have been self-catheterizing myself three times a day to control urinary retention.

All went well until a couple of months ago when I had to undergo a bladder irrigation. The attending nurse, anticipating blood clots in the urine stream, used a fairly large catheter, 22 French, or 7.4 mm. Since there was a chance that this situation might occur again in the future I ordered catheters scaling up to 26 Fr, or 8.7 mm to begin stretching my urethra to better match this larger size. This was accomplished successfully.

When self-catheterizing one uses numbing agents sparingly or none at all. In all the above cases I chose the latter, i.e. no numbing agent. So, what is my secret for managing pain? Whenever you feel an urgency to void as the cystoscopy progresses, go right ahead and do so with gusto! If staff have forgotten to place a tray under you, or some such oversight, then it is entirely their responsibility; just don't tell them that I was the one who suggested this tip!

Let's just hope that your tests for cancer all come out negative. In any event please feel free to get back to me if you have questions. I wish you the very best. alan86734

Thank you so much for your reply. I know I mustn't cancel the test, and as you quite rightly say it is natural to fear the worst possible outcome, especially as three of my immediate family have died from various cancers.

I can manage uncomfortable, so will tell myself that from now until Wednesday! I will tell the nurse or doctor how downright scared I am and hope they will be sympathetic rather than irritated. As alan867334 says we all have different sensitivities and unfortunately mine seem to be over sensitive in the extreme!

I will let you know how I get on after Wednesday hopefully no pain and good news!

Thank you Alan for your response; your situation sounds absolutely horrendous to me - I don't know how you cope! I have always felt pain far more strongly than most, and am not very good at managing it. However, the comments on this forum have made me feel far more confident, so I am hoping that next Wednesday will not be too traumatic for me! I will let you know how I get on and meanwhile I wish you a happy birthday for tomorrow.

Rmak52

I understand how you are feeling. Let me just offer a little bit of advise. Check with your doctor to see if they are using a flexible scope and not a ridge one before the procedure and also insist on numbing gel at least 10 minutes or so before they insert the scope.

If it is being done at the hospital they may even be putting you out or in twilight sleep, which in that case you will not feel/remember anything.

Good luck and don't chicken out, not knowing is some much worse.

Debbie

HI! Please dont cancel your appointment. Youll regret it if you do. I had to go back in again a few weeks ago for exactly the same reasons as you. Blood in your urine doesnt necessarily mean Cancer. There are lots of reasons for it. This time mine was due to Chronic Cystitis, the last time I had it done, nothing showed up. Trust me, youll be fine. I reassured Lynn a few weeks ago when she had to go in for hers. Ive reassured a lot of people on here, and they ALL came back with a positive Cystoscopy experience, just like i told them they would. Read my first post, i give a very detailed description of the procedure. Please keep us posted. Dont lose any sleep over it, its simply not worth it. Jackie

This time next week you will be able to post a review to help someone else who is facing the same procedure.

Take care,

Lovely reassuring post Alan. And wishing you a very happy birthday for tomorrow! Hope you have a nice day. Jackie

EXACTLY Lynn!

Don't worry, I had a flexible cystoscopy with numbing gell and a rigid cystocopy with general anesthetic. There were no problems with either, only slight discomfort. The flexible only takes a few minutes then its over. Mild pain killer tablets will ease any discomfort.

Dear rmak52,

CLARIFICATIONS! This is an updated version of my post sent to you two days ago. Changes are in italics.

......I have been self-catheterizing myself three times a day to control urinary retention using the same size 16 French catheters.

.......i.e. no numbing agent. However, in your case you are not doing it by yourself so you can, and should ask for oodles of numbing agent to be injected into your urethra. This does feel a little strange, as in unusual and cold but not painful, then insist on waiting for at least 10 minutes for it to take effect.

.......I was the one who suggested this tip! Another trick, do ask for a direct view of the procedure, in addition to the view on the monitor, to be provided if possible. Watching the scope going in can reduce pain as demonstrated by two tests published about a year ago. Strange but true, and I can vouch for that!

......Thank you for the birthday wishes! My urological experiences may sound awful to you because you are still collecting happy memories. Mine started when I suffered a bout of kidney stone at age 17 and I underwent a bladder investigation with a rigid cystoscope – the flexible ones hadn’t been invented yet – and I am a complete sucker for things medical. My problem is that when I mention that I actually enjoy these events I promptly get referred for psychiatric treatment!

Hi, Alan here again! For some quaint reason the italics did not come out but you do have a string of '......' where the paste begins. Hope you can find your way from these. alan86734.

Thank you for the advice - they are using a flexible scope, and I will be sure to insist on waiting the 10 minutes!

It is being done at the hospital, but no sedatives were mentioned in the paperwork I have received - just the local anaesthetic.

I agree the not knowing would be worse and even though I still feel quite nauseous at the thought of this afternoon, I definitely will not chicken out.

Ruth

Hi Jackie

No I will not cancel my appointment even though I am still so apprehensive! I am just a complete worm when it comes to pain.

I had blood in my urine in June last year, but it was due to an infection - it took three different lots of anti-biotics to clear and a couple of months, so when I saw the blood this time I automatically assumed it was another infection.

When my doctor phoned me to tell me there was no infection and went straight to 'you need a cystoscopy asap to check for bladder cancer' it was a bit of a shock to the system!

I have read your first post, and am hoping my experience will be similar.

Many thanks again for being so reassuring - it's strange how so many people like to jump in with how horrific their experience was! I am sticking to this forum 😃.

I will post later when I get home to tell you how I got on.

Ruth

Thanks for the reassurance David. Taking pain killers with me just in case and crossing fingers all goes well.

Ruth

Hi again. I survived 😃. Armed with all the reassurances from you all, and those of the doctor and nurses in the hospital I felt prepared if still apprehensive.

The start of the procedure was slightly painful as they thought the urethra was too narrow for the camera and would need a dilator; then the doctor found that I had a prolapse which was the reason for the problem, and adjusted everything accordingly and the rest went smoothly!

As you all said, slight discomfort for a couple of minutes and all over. And the good news is bladder showed no signs of cancer. They followed up with a kidney ultrasound and both kidneys fine. The doctor thinks it may have been a burst blood vessel which caused the bleed, but other than that has no idea!

I took pain killers after, have a slight tummy ache but peeing is okay virtually no burning, so I feel very, very lucky, and grateful to have found this forum which helped so much.

You were all spot on with your descriptions.

Thank you so much again, all of you who took the trouble to reassure me, I will be working on cultivating more courage 😃.

Ruth

Pleased everything went alright for you and that your results show no sign of cancer. Take care.

Dear Ruth,

You made it !!! Good for you, well done!

I "hung on the clock" UK time, to give you top priority and willed myself to be there with you to hold your hand or whatever other comfort you needed.

What we all managed to demonstrate here was the importance and incredible power of teamwork! This was your victory, Ruth, and I think we all feel very honored to have been able to participate, even if in the smallest of ways. And it would seem obvious from some comments made that the attending hospital staff also gained mightily! And on top of that test results were all negative. Truly, a win-win situation all round and a great big hug to all concerned.

Ruth, enough of my rambling; you must be dog tired so go and get yourself some sleep.

Warm regards and best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

Alan.

Wonderful news! I told you that you would be fine! So glad you didnt cancel it. Now you can relax and rest!

Glad all went well for you.

ok so its more of a discomfort than pain is what im understanding?