My BIL Jim had a colostomy performed on March 2. Surgeon at MSKCC did not find any evidence of cancer in any of the lymph node-- only in the the tumor which chemo & rad had shrank and "encapsulated" very nicely unto itself. However, post-op care has been a problem for him as a result of being bedriden up until a week ago. He is just now starting to walk and doctors expect him to have good use of his right arm by the end of April when it is expected that he can finally be released from the rehabilitation hospital. Unfortunately, he has been on a catheter all this time and when it was removed last Wednesday, he was not able to successfully urinate by himself and after waiting for 3 days for things to return to normal, they re-inserted the catheter in order to drain the bladder. Can anyone address this issue. Thanks!

Sorry to hear that your BIL has had a rough time. Hopefully, now he will be on the road to recovery. Even though the digestive system and the urinary system are separate, trauma to one can affect the other. I do not know why your BIL has urinary problems but it may be that the bladder has been affected by the surgery and will take time to get back to normal. My husband had an enlarged prostate before his rectal surgery and had serious urinary problems following surgery. He had to have a catheter for nearly a year until he had prostate reduction surgery which was a complete success. With your BIL, this may well be a temporary set back but they would want to ensure the bladder is emptying properly because if it does not, this can lead to kidney problems. The great thing is that the bladder does seem to be able to get back to normal after being catheterized and work normally again.

I am pretty sure we will hear from Cancerdad on this one!

It seems the prognosis for your BIL is good with no lymph node involvement so the future looks good.

PcTech:
Alison is right on this one. I haven't been on the boards lately, but I happened to see this one. I am now 16months post op (32yo male) and still straight cath myself 5 or so times a day. Sometimes I find that it will come a little easier... other times I have to push like heck... urologist says all I'm doing is pushing abdomen against the bladder, forcing urine out. Then I cath and still have residual. This happens to some people, men especially. He will probably also find difficulty in the trouser department, if you know what I mean. Bottom line is they really disrupt the nerves down there, and you just don't know. Time will tell. As awful as that sounds. Tell him to get in touch directly if he wants to chat about it further. We're all anonymous here, yet a happy family nonetheless!! ;)

It's a great thing he was clean in his nodes though.

Regards,
CancerDad :angel:

Alison & CancerDad.. Thanks for the info, your well wishes and kind offers to help out with one-on-one advice. My BIL is not is not a fan of the www (old school type) but I will pass the word along to him that there are good people out there who do care and want to help in any way possible. I will keep you updated on the progress he is making at the rehab hospital.

On a sad note, please keep one of my colleages in your prayers because he will soon loose his life to this terrible disease. He has been battling it for over 5 years and it has now metastisized in the brain, after involving both the liver and lungs. Several surguries have not been able to stop its march. A few weeks ago John told me things did not look good but he bravely went about his daily tasks at the bank. He gladly offered me advice re placement of pumps because seatbelts can make you feel uncomfortable if the tube goes down your left chest.

Time for bed. A new day awaits us all tomorrow. Good luck to each of you as you address your challenges!!

PCTech:
I am very sorry to hear of your friend John. This is certainly a very rare place for spread, as I am told usually colorectal spreads first to the liver, pelvic cavity, and lungs, and rarely goes elsewhere. I guess it just goes to show you that unfortunately at times this terrible malady will do what it wishes and go where it wants... despite our prayers and best efforts. I will certainly add him to my prayer list.

Warm Regards,
CancerDad :angel: