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After 36 hours of mild HBOT for 2 hrs/day my bladder stopped (almost) bleeding and the blood clots were greatly reduced. I'm now at 50 hours, about 19 lbs/sq in, breathing 90% oxygen in the chamber. The blood clots used to be very long, up to a foot and looked like skinny red worms. Now I get very few, less than 2 in long. There is still some blood and clots from the urethra (the bladder discharge is collected by the Suprapubic Catheter + bag).
This is the second time I've been off of the Pain Management Program and this time I should be able to stay off as the leaks sting but no lasting pain.
I thought that my bladder was a goner as the blood & clots were a daily part of the urine in the collection bag. The doc said that the bladder would be bypassed if I chose the uro-ostomy as she though it would fail soon.
A small thing, Monday I was diagnosed with Gynecomastia which is a hardening of the tissue just beneath the nipple tissue. The doc thinks that it is a result of low testosterone, which has never recovered from one year of ADT ending April 08. A minor pain compared to the past few months.
Finally, two steps forward and I'm not looking back.
Mentally things are much improved. I realize now that for the past 3 years I've not had much passion for life. I am working on that.
Re: Good News - Bladder Bleeding Slowed to Stopped
That's great news Joe. It's hardly surprising that your pssion for life has been somewhat distracted these last few years. Surely from now on it will be onward and upward!!
Re: Good News - Bladder Bleeding Slowed to Stopped
Aloha Pat,
You are so right, over did it yesterday, always farm work, bladder bleeding, clot blocked catheter, not good sleep. Today I'm resting.
Thanks,
Joe
Re: Good News - Bladder Bleeding Slowed to Stopped
I know this is hard to believe but I had some bleeding trouble a year ago and traced it to over eating watermelon,I just love a cold watermelon on a hot day.I stopped eating it,the bleeding stopped,I found some references to watermelons on some other web sites.It has a chemical in it that works as a muscle relaxent.David
Re: Good News - Bladder Bleeding Slowed to Stopped
David,
A friend of mine in Sweden had some bleeding (nothing on the scale that Joe suffered) which developed some years after his radiation therapy.
Since he is Internet inept I did a search of how other people had dealt with this and a surprising number of the bits of information I found linked this kind of bloody urine to red wine. Since he enjoyed his red wine most evenings, I suggested he suspend that and sure enough the condition cleared up. He hasn't entirely given up the wine, but is careful to limit consumption.
Re: Good News - Bladder Bleeding Slowed to Stopped
Terry et al,
I think we should be a tad careful about blood in urine. I experienced this, not on a grand scale but enough to seek medical advice and I had the uplifting experienced of a camera being shoved up my uretha to discover what was going on. All fears of bladder cancer (a possible side effect of radiotherapy on the prostate area such as I had)were banished in my case, but I learned that radiotherapy may have caused some collateral damage to my prostate, I presume a thinning of the urethra walls ,which allowed for some bleeding prompted by the friction of urine through the thing.
If it is bladder bleeding (and you need an endoscopy to find this out) and not prostate bleeding such as I have described, that is a more serious situation. My late brother had bladder bleeding caused by bladder cancer caused I believe by his radiation therapy for PCa, so I take it seriously. I can't comment on the red wine issue, except that I drink half a bottle a day for the anti-oxidants as well as the taste! But I really don't think the two things are connected. At any rate, it doesn't seem a good deal to cut out the wine in order (perhaps) to stop the (trivial) and (so I am advised) commonplace, in ones sixties, bleeding.
I suppose I would have to stop drinking red wine for six months to see if Terry's friend's theory worked in my case. But, hey, what about quality of life issues? For all of us it is important to enjoy every day as it flashes by.
