In office cysto. Scared/finally doing it

[massagedoula]

If anyone had read any of my other posts, they will know that I have been scheduled twice now for in-office cystos by 2 different uros. Both times they cancelled them on me because they were afraid of making me worse. This brough a huge fear upon me, and I am terrified of getting one. (This is just the cysto, not the hydro/cysto).

But I am scared sometimes deep in the night, "what if I have a tumor? Cancer?" and I would never know if I didn't get some doctor to look inside my bladder...So I scheduled it at a big hospital in Seattle, where I went once and the doctors did not give me the time of day. But I feel that the fact that they are a big hospital will mean that they are very experienced at doing cystos and also will know how to interpret the results. I LOVE my urogyno, but she has told me that she has little experience with IC, so even though I wish I would get the cysto from her, I am going to this big faceless hospital and hoping for the best. This is on Thursday. I just called today...it was very quick. I guess they just crank them out.

OK, I am very scared....

[vm]

Good luck! :) Make sure you remind us as the date approaches so we can all send good vibes your way.

[Portia17]

massagedoula:

I always read your posts and now this one. Now you are saying WHAT IF? WHAT IF?.
You can't go through life thinking like this as it is not healthy. I am sure you don't have tumors or stuff. You are never going to feel at ease and know what you have until you have your cysto done.

I am not trying to be mean but I am trying to help you. Please go and get it down and I am sure it is not anything that you are thinking of. This will put you mind at ease

Hugs

[massagedoula]

I have reservations against anyone tinkering with my urinary tractfor the following reasons:

-I am getting some good days recently, the constant pain dims down to a dull roar, maybe because of the natural things I am doing...and I am so scared to counteract that and go back up to the super pain level I was in for 2 months straight.

-The in-office cysto will most likely not show anything of interest. It seems like something they do to everyone, just as a precaution.

HOWEVER:

-What if I don't take that precaution and there was something horrible wrong with my bladder after all....

So I waffle back and forth on it. I know most people just go get the tests all done, but this is a big thing for me. I have always been gentle with my body and treated myself holistically. This scares me a lot.

I am getting it on Thursday. I made the appt. for so soon so I would not back out on it. I was supposed to get the urodynamics and cysto in the same day, but I thought that was WAY too much to handle...too long wth catheters in me...also, I am not sure what the urodynamics woud show that would be helpful. I already know I have PFD and have been going to physical therapy for 2 months. Also, I definetly don't have urine leakage...What else would it show that would make it important to get done?

[Sarojini]

Urodynamics measures your bladder capacity, and whether you are able to fully empty your bladder. It also measures whether you are actually using your bladder muscle to urinate, or if you are using abdominal and pelvic muscles to do so -- some patients do this without realizing it! It can tell if your bladder muscle is contracting properly, or if it spasms during urination as well.

Some uros believe it's very important, and others feel it has no role in IC diagnosis. It's one of those things uros seem very divided on -- my very first uro wanted to do this to me, but it was cancelled the day of the procedure. Since that was the third time in one month an appt. was cancelled on me, I went to another uro hoping not to be cancelled on anymore, and he said, "Urodynamics???? You don't need urodynamics. You need a cysto/hydro!!" and he scheduled the operation for 3 days later! Soooo... as you can see it's very personal with these doctors and urodynamics.

[massagedoula]

The thing that I wonder, if any of those things you talked about showed up on the urodynamics test, wouldn't they just tell me I had PFD and refer me to physical therapy? I am already going to physical therapy for PFD, so I didn't want to go through that whole 1-2 hours of invasive tesing for me to be told to do something I already do....the cysto was another story all together, I wondered if I should do it for awhile and now just want to get it over with, to hear them say that nothing looks wrong....but I still also don't know if that is worth the pain.

[Sheri Brown]

I Had Both Done. The Urodynamics Really Sucked. Ihad That Done In The Drs. Office By The Nurse. It Is True That It Checks For Bladder Capacity, Whether You Leak And How You Empty Your Bladder. I Just Hate Catheters! I Wish They Would Give You Some Kind Of Sedative Before Sticking The Catheter In. The Cysto/hydro Was Outpatient Surgery. The Sooner The Tests Get Done The Sooner You Can Learn More About How To Relieve Your Discomforts. It Is Something That I Am Still Working On Since My Diagnosis Was April 19th. Good Luck And God Bless!

[Sheri Brown]

I have had both procedures done. The Urodynamics for me proved how full my bladder was before I would leak when I cough. I am getting what they call a sling/lifting my bladder so I don't leak all the time.My Uro. is going to do that procedure the same time I get a Hystorectomy. Being that I am only 36yrs. old I hope with everything I am getting done something will give me relief.

[MeganAnne]

I am totally in the same boat as you right now, massagedoula! My uro told me I should have the cytoscopy/hyrdo in June and I am really really nervous... almost to the point of not having it done. I am afraid that he will just say I don't have IC and that my symptoms will also get worse. It's awful. I also am tyring to handle things holisitically so it is difficult to think of such an invasive procedure.

My thoughts go out to you!!!