I've been told that my major urinary problem is BPH. I have never had the scope up the urethra done; wasn't even offered to me but they had me scheduled for pre-op for G.L. The last time I went to my Uro's office I requested & scheduled an appointment in Jan. to have it done. I've been doing CIC for about 5 months and that is going as well as can be expected. Actually I'm pretty happy about it. 3-5 CICs a day and I don't have to worry.
I just dont want to do anything that will cause my insides more trauma. I don't intend to have surgery until they come up with something that can shrink the prostate without trauma. I may be waiting until my end; but then so-be-it. So I guess having the cystoscopy is really kind of unnecessary. I just read a lot on here about "oh, my prostate is 65 grams" or "I have mainly a medium lobe enlargement" etc. and I just kind of wonder what is going on with me. The glove inspection with the finger up the anus was done twice. The last time the doc said will its definitely enlarged but it feels smooth. He seemed to think that is good; but thats about all I know about it. He seemed to have decided on GL laser surgery just from that but I didn't allow things to go that course. Hate to keep cancelling appointments; I give them plenty of notice ahead of time though. Anybody have bad experiences with the cystoscope? I understand the the newer flexible ones are preferable.
Having a caring, competent urologist determines a good outcome, no matter what's done.
A non-caring, incompetent urologist can cripple you for life.
I've had several cystoscopies over the last decade and never had a bad experience during or after any of them.
A little soreness perhaps on one or two occasions but nothing more than that.
Go for it and allow the urologist to properly assess what lies within and with that knowledge he and you will be in a far better position to decide on the way ahead.
In my case the median lobe was so enlarged it was causing a nasty kink in the prostate which no amount of medication would resolve and led to my having a very successful HoLEP procedure and a life of bliss rather than a life full of urinary infections, bladder stones, severe retention and multiple night time visits to the loo.
A cystoscope is a ok to have they do it in the doctors office. With a numing jel It is smaller then a regular catheter. If you are doing CIC and your fine with it. Leave it alone. Don't let him talk you into a GL. Take care Ken
A flexible cystoscopy procedure is just placing a catheter (cic) with a camera on the end of it.
Very few complications are possible
Keith I forgot to tell you that I have a stricture just before the prostate and my urologist checks it every so offen. It will not hurt it will just feel funny when he get it in. Just relax and let him tell you what he sees. Ken
I had a cystoscopy about 6 months ago, before I started self catheterization. It is not that much different than having a catheter inserted. They do insert some Lidocaine in your urethra to desensitize it. I did end up with a UTI, that cipro cleared up quickly. My cystoscopy disclosed that I have a distended bladder and was retaining urine. I later had urodynamics testing. I have been self cathing about as long as you. I do it 4 times per day.
A cystoscopy is probably much less dangerous than self cathing. I've hadfour they only take few minutes and will give you a lot of information about your prostate and the state of your bladder.
Be sure to ask in advance of the cystoscope what sort viewing arrangement they have so the patient can see what the doctor is seeing. My first urologist who I went to nearly two years ago had an archaic arrangement. They rolled in a CRT screen on a cart, only about 14" or so, that was positioned at the same level as the table I was on, and it was a foot or more above my head, so I had to half sit up and crane my neck over 90 degrees to try to see it. The doctor when in and out with the scope so fast I couldn't really absorb what little I could see. The image was very poor, with the raster display. It was literally 50 year old technology, best I could tell. The scoping was no painless either.
After the surgical disaster (GL laser) I had at the hands of my first urologist, I transferred to a new doctor in Winston Salem. His office has a very large flat screen display positioned so that the patient can see it from where he (she) is lying on his/her back without even moving the head. I felt absolutely nothing while the flexible scope was in the urethra. The experience between the two urologists was night and day different.
Flexible is preferable and they can be done with only a numbing agent, so in addition to less trauma than a rigid, there is no risk from the anesthesia. It's a pretty straightforward and generally painless procedure, and if you've been doing CIC, you probably don't even need the numbing agent. That said, not sure you really need it if you've decided to wait. But if you do have one, only suggestion is to ask for an antibiotic to be taken prophylactically at the time of the procedure. I believe most uro's will give you one anyway, but always a good idea to ask/request in advance.
Personally, I've had two cystoscopies. One was a rigid, without being put to sleep, and perhaps a numbing agent, prior to self cathing. The only way to describe that experience is that the urologist was a sadist. The second was a flexible with a numbing agent and I hardly noticed it.
Jim
God, how long ago was the rigid one? I had a rigid one in 1983 any since are the flexible ones.
I'm guessing 10-15 years ago. Ever hear the expression "hitting the ceiling". Well, that's exactly what I felt like was happening I was in so much pain. The urologist happened to be very well known but he was in his 60's at the time so definitely old school trained.
Jim
Thats as much (maybe more) than I wanted to know. Thanks Gentlemens. Probably should have had it done first thing but like Jim says, since I've decided not to have the operation any time soon, it seems almost unnecessary. My Urologist PA seemed quite OK with me cathing. They even had Coloplast send me 30 samples. They knew I used Speedicath. I took one in with me because I thought they might need a urine sample. The nurse came in and wanted to see it and then went out to the work area and was showing some people. I was actually in there to have my prescription raised to 150 a month from 120. So thats probably why they were checking it out. But the point is that; they ordered me 30 speedicath. It wasn't until I used 3 of them before I reallized they were coude tip. They look just like the others if you don't look close and my eyes aren't too good up close. One of them sort of cut me, or made my urethra more sensitive and I thought "I wonder..." and sure enough they were curved tip. I'm glad I have a habit of sort of turning even the straight tip so it lines up with my navel and my thumb routinely. But not that carefully as I would if I knew. Anyway, I don't think the Urologist of Idaho knew the difference.
Keith,
The orientation of the coude tip is very important. Note the guide bump on the plastic funnel. If you're cathing standing up, and if you gently pull your penis toward the ceiling, the guide bump should be facing your stomach. I will send you a private message with a diagram in a few minutes.
As to frequency of CIC, the rule of thumb is to try and keep total bladder volume around 400ml or under. That would be the volume of what comes out of the catheter plus the natural void just preceding it, assuming you have a natural void.
Jim
The rigid one I had I 1983 they knocked me out for fortunately. She was old school and she was retiring that day. And her name Miss Waterfall. She was going off to India do charitable work.
"Miss Waterfall". Love the name! Apparently this is still a place for the rigid with certain procedures as they can fit more tools through it. But you definitely want to be knocked out!
Jim
I had a flexible cystoscopy done and for me it was not much different than doing a self cath. It was quick and watching on the monitor was interesting.
I found urodynamic testing to be much more informative, it takes a lot longer (an hour or more) and can be mildly uncomfortable at times during the procedure when the bladder is filled to near capacity, but I got a lot of good information from mine and it helped me come to terms with the fact that I will likely be doing CIC for the rest of my life...
It might be something you should consider doing in addition to the cystoscopy..
So pluff mud did you find out you had BPH and the details surrounding that after the cystoscope? Did you start cathing right after that? Have you had surgery? I remember reading something you shared on another thread but refresh my memory if you don't mind.
I have had BPH for 10 years. It has been getting progressively worse. I would get a physical each year, and the doctor would check my prostate with his finger. A little over a year ago, my doctor prescribed Flowmax (Tamsulosin). The Flowmax helped for awhile, but it was getting to the point that I would get up 2 or 3 times during the night. In the morning, it was not uncommon for me to go 3 times in an hour. Bending over often triggered the urge to urinate. If I got the urge to urinate, I could not hold it back for long. My primary care doctor referred me to a urologist. This was the first time that I was referred to a urologist. The urologist performed an ultrasound and said I was retaining 1.5 liters of urine. When I did void, it wasn't any more than a urine sample bottle.
The cystoscopy showed my bladder was distended. I was also prescribed Finasteride. A few weeks later I had urodynamics testing. My prostate is enlarged and my bladder is distended. My bladder muscle does not generate enough pressure to empty the bladder. I started self cathing after the urodynamics. My PSA numbers are low. No one is recommending surgery at this point. We are waiting to see if the body will heal itself. Cathing allows me to keep the fluid in my bladder at normal volumes, with fewer trips to the bathroom than before.
My first uro and cystoscopy was just about the same experience. The video screen I was supposed to watch didnt even work. He asked his assistant how it was broken she said a few weeks. I can't believe he didn't know. He told me I needed to have TURP and walked out of the room. Needless to say I didn't go back to him.