Frequent urge to urinate after Open LAR for rectal cancer

[sennaspeed]

Hi everyone,
I had LAR surgery about 4 weeks ago(August 25th) to remove a tumor in the lower third of my rectum. There have been a few bumps along the way, but the last few days seem to be much better. However, I have a strong urge to urinate and when I do very little comes out. I was wondering if anybody else had this problem post surgery and if they could shed some light on the possible causes and outcomes? I've ruled out a bladder infection(no fever, pain and urine colour is normal). My surgeon is located a few hours away and my next appoint isn't for another 5 weeks. I've got an appt in a few weeks with my GP, but I'm not sure she will know what to do. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[weisssoccermom]

Radiation can irritate the bladder and it isn't at all uncommon that this may be the problem/issue. Put a call into your doctor (GP is fine as well) and just ask. Hopefully he/she will be able to help.

[PGLGreg]

I had a mild version of that after my own open LAR for rectal cancer, but I don't know that there was any connection to cancer treatment. Could have been inflammation from radiation affecting my prostate, I suppose, but all I heard from my urologist was that it was BPH, which is pretty common for older men. You probably know about it, but BPH is short for benign prostate hyperplasia. Testosterone causes the prostate gland to grow until it compresses the ureter, and that makes urination difficult.

[Teddi]

I have had incomplete emptying and several bladder infections since resection. I think mine is complications from being catheterized during surgery and those days after.

Teddi

[stevieb]

I had the same issue after my LAR. It went away within a few months.

[Sams wife]

Oncologist is just telling us give it time after surgery in June. Kinda hard to heal if you are up every hour trying to pee. Radiation dr did give him flomax on his last visit to her. It helped. Oncologist gave us samples of something last week. We will see.

[ozziej]

I had frequent and incomplete urination for about a month after my ULAR. I didn't have any pre-op radiation so I think it was just related to handling during surgery and inflammation post-op. One suggestion I found helpful is to rock back and forth on the loo (sounds weird but it worked).
Hope it settles down soon.
Jan

[PGLGreg]

One suggestion I found helpful is to rock back and forth on the loo (sounds weird but it worked).

I find it useful to relax instead of pushing -- takes patience. I started that after my urologist explained to me that pushing leads to the bladder wall strengthening (since it has more work to do) and getting larger, as any muscle will. But this reduces the capacity of the bladder, and causes more frequent urination.

There is a folk remedy, saw palmetto, that may have worked for me. I've been having PSA blood tests for 9 years now -- PSA is a diagnostic for prostate cancer. The PSA scores might be connected somehow with inflammation, at least this was suggested by my oncologist when my PSA score shot up to over 7 shortly after radiation treatments, well over the safe level of 4. The PSA scores went back down to under 4 over a few months, but my oncologist wasn't satisfied that it was going down fast enough, so he sent me to a urologist. Subsequently, over a few years, the scores rose again, a little.

This started 9 years ago. I started taking a saw palmetto capsule every day over 2 years ago. I asked my urologist about it, and he was unenthusiastic, but said it wouldn't be harmful[*]. I use "Prostate Health Complex" from TruNature, which is sold at Costco and Amazon (and probably elsewhere). A few months ago, my PSA blood test scores started going down. They're under three now. My frequency of urination has stayed about the same -- slightly higher than normal.

([*]At one point, I understand, urologists recommended against saw palmetto because it might be lowering PSA scores despite the presence of prostate cancer, and masking the cancer, but further studies showed that this was not a problem.)

[Jachut]

Yes, I've had similar. It began about a year after radiation, was quite severe for about 12 months and then improved somewhat. I still have a very slow flow though - when I get up in the morning after an 8 hour sleep and have a very full bladder but can only push out a trickle, it can even be painful but its usually only when my bladder gets very full. It did get a lot better, its one of the less problematic souveneirs. I actually noticed it at first using public bathrooms - not that you listen to other people peeing on purpose but I found myself marvelling at the waterworks next door to me once or twice and then realised that mine was actually quite pathetic.

[Daisymae]

I had this and went to see a urologist. He said the majority of people who have LAR have nerve damage to bladder because bladder and rectum share same nerves. Mine only gets aggravated when I have surgery or procedures in the pelvic area and always eventually resolves itself. He recommended I do pelvic floor exercises such as kegals.

[Nik Colon]

I had issues also (uti recently) but prior had similar. Mine was frequency, unable to empty completely, and hard time starting. For the starting issue, I turned on the water in the sink and relaxed, it seemed to help empty it better also when relaxing. Sorry, wish I had better advice but I didn't have radiation, only chemo and colon/liver surgery. Best wishes

[SugarBubbie]

I had radiation treatments for my anal cancer and UTI problems came after. I have found that if I make sure my bladder is really empty it helps keep the bacteria level down that causes the UTI. This is gonna sound yucky but I do this by peeing in the shower every day in the morning. I make sure the water from the showerhead rains down on my forehead and it relaxes me enough to really make it go and go good. I also make sure I drink lemon with my water (just 1/2 of one squeezed in my glass of water). This has cut down on my UTI problems a lot.

[sennaspeed]

Thanks everyone for you replies! It was a great help. I spoke to my GP and she said it is very common after surgery and should resolve on its own over the next several weeks. As someone mentioned, I did find that the rocking motion does help with reducing the urgency. I've started doing Kegals as well as I heard it will help once my ileo is reversed.

Thanks again,