It went well. I prepared my questions and took them with me. That helped.
I asked about the bone scan and he has given me a referral for one. He reassured me that given a clear chest and abdomen CT along with the small size (2.8cm) that the likelihood of it having spread was small, around 2%. In his 20 years as a Urologist he had not seen any that size that had spread, and he has only had 2 patients at T1a stage surgery where it recurred in the future, one after 3 years and one after 8 years. I'm considering the scan, I have a GP appointment next week so will discuss the risks with the GP as well (radiation from the FDG CT versus risk of spread) I mentioned my sore toe and he said it was incredibly unlikely to have spread to there, and the full body scan didn't actually cover feet!
I also confirmed the surveillance plan, ultrasound then CT alternating every 6 months, so only radiation once a year. My wife and I had two different understandings of the plan prior to that meeting so it was useful to confirm and write it down. It seems so obvious, but it really helped.
The not so good part was that he confirmed I needed a kidney stent installed as there was a urinoma in the kidney and he would prefer to be cautious and deal with it rather than hope it self resolved. That was scheduled for the next day, so I went back to hospital, had that inserted and had an overnight stay. I got out two days ago and have been very limited by the stent, just about any movement caused pain or discomfort in my kidney or bladder. The catheter for 24 hours was nothing short of agony. It's my second in two weeks and was incredibly uncomfortable.
I was told the first time I passed urine would be agony, but to be honest there was a bit of a burning sensation, but nowhere near as bad as even just trying to sit up with the catheter in! Any discomfort urinating soon passed. He said while doing the procedure that something they thought was blood in the scan was actually a larger pool of urine, so a stent was definitely required and it had been a good decision to do it straight away. None of these issues are cancer related, just fairly common complications of recovering from the surgery. I still have a fair amount of urine in my blood, which the surgeon said is normal. He expects I will be passing blood for up to two weeks. It's still a bit disconcerting, as it clearly isn't right, but at least I know what to expect. He said as long as there isn't tummy pain, a fever or feeling sick then it's normal. I don't have any of them, just producing cranberry juice or rose wine as opposed to a pale straw consistency.
My external wounds have healed well, my dressings are off and no complications there. The internal wounds are getting better, I'm definitely less sore. The stent is better today than it was yesterday, so onwards and upwards, but he did warn me it will limit activity, so I am being ultra cautious, just short walks regularly, no lifting anything, etc.
I have the FDG CT booked but will chat to the GP first then decide whether to cancel or go ahead. I feel a bit better now as I've had some time talking about it with the surgeon. This was also the first time my wife had seen him or spoken to him since the initial consultation so she is a lot happier as well.
All other body functions are working like clockwork and I don't feel sick, just some twinges from the catheter and the odd bit of pain from the stent. I have decent pain relief, so it isn't too bad.
If I had one wish for the human race, it would be that someone invents something that makes catheters comfortable and painless!
