Symptoms and Complications
The symptoms of bladder cancer are easily confused with those of a bladder
or urinary tract infection, kidney stones, or prostate problems. They are:
- blood in the urine
- pain or burning sensation while urinating
- a feeling of urgency or needing to urinate immediately
- the feeling of not having emptied the bladder completely after urinating
If any of these symptoms are present, it's important to get them checked
by your doctor to rule out the possibility of bladder cancer.
It is important to catch bladder cancer early. This increases the chance that treatment will be successful. Complications from bladder cancer occur more from the treatment (such as surgery) rather than
the cancer itself. However, if the cancer is left untreated and allowed
to grow, it will eventually cause even greater complications.
Complications from surgery depend on the type of surgery. If a partial cystectomy
(removal of part of the bladder) takes place, the bladder can still collect
urine, but will be quite a bit smaller. This means the person will have to urinate
much more often. As well, cancer can return; frequent check-ups are necessary
so that any cancerous cells can be found as early as possible.
After a full cystectomy (removal of the entire bladder), there's no
bladder to hold the urine, so another way to hold and eliminate urine must be
made. In some cases, a new bladder can be created by using a small section of
bowel tissue. This new bladder has to be regularly emptied manually, usually
by using a tube or a catheter (a thin, flexible tube inserted into the
body that permits the introduction or withdrawal of fluids). Or, a urostomy
may be necessary, in which a surgeon connects the ureters (tubes
that drain the urine from the kidneys to the bladder) to the abdominal wall
to create a stoma (opening). A plastic bag is externally attached to
the stoma; it collects the urine, thus acting like a bladder. The bag must be
emptied regularly.
Other complications from bladder cancer surgery may include infertility for
women (if the uterus is removed), menopause (if the ovaries are removed), and,
possibly, some sexual dysfunction, if the vagina has been made smaller or shorter.
Men can also experience sexual dysfunction and infertility due to the removal
of the prostate and the seminal vesicles (the glands that make semen).