Bladder cancer treatment can undoubtedly help you get rid of the life-threatening situation, but it can leave a significant impact on the patient’s life.

In this article, we will talk about some common complications that might arise after bladder cancer treatment.

Emotional impact

The impact of bladder cancer treatment is somewhat like that of a rollercoaster. When you receive a diagnosis, you may feel down. You may be delighted after having cancer removed. And then down again when it comes to adapting to life with the impact of surgery.

The emotional impact of bladder cancer treatment, if left untreated, can lead to chronic depression. Signs of depression include a continuous feeling of sadness and a lack of interest in anything that you used to enjoy.

Urinary diversion

In most cases of bladder cancer, the surgeon will choose to remove the bladder, making it necessary for the patient to have a urinary diversion. There are different types of urinary diversion. What your doctor chooses for you depends on your condition and preferences.

The most common urinary diversion is the urostomy. Surgery for the creation of a urostomy involves resection of a piece of the small bowel. The surgeon connects the ureters to one end of that piece and pulls the other end through an incision in the belly to create a stoma. After surgery, you will pass out urine through the stoma. Because there are no sphincters in the stoma, you will not be able to control when to evacuate urine. You will need to wear an ostomy pouch on your belly to manage evacuations.

A continent urostomy diversion is much like a urostomy, except for an internal pouch that eliminates the need of wearing an external pouch. The internal pouch, made of bowel tissues, collects urine. When it is full, you need to insert a catheter into it through an opening in the belly. It will draw all the urine out. This urinary diversion helps you get more in control of your urine evacuations.

In some cases, your surgeon may want to reconstruct the bladder. This reconstructed bladder is known as the neobladder. After removing the bladder, the surgeon will take pieces of the small and large intestine to build a bladder that will connect to the ureter. The surgeon will choose to give you a neobladder if the tissues surrounding the bladder have remained unaffected by cancer. With a neobladder, you will be able to evacuate urine the way you did before surgery. You may have to train your new bladder, though.

Sexual problems

A radical cystectomy may lead to the loss of the ability to obtain or maintain an erection. The good news is that this condition can be treated with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5). These medicines increase the blood supply to penile veins.

You may need to use a vacuum pump along with PDE5s. A cylinder connects to this pump. This cylinder fits over the penis, and the pump removes the air, creating a vacuum that causes the blood to flow into the penis. With the help of this pump, you can maintain an erection for 30 minutes.

You may want to discuss all these complications with your doctor to mitigate their impact.