Staying Active is Vital After Undergoing Bladder Cancer Surgery

For patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy (the surgical removal of the bladder), remaining active is crucial, Dr. Janet Kukreja explained in an interview with CURE.

“I generally recommend that patients recover from surgery at home, but staying active, and the best way to get ready for surgery is also the same, staying active,” said Kukreja. “So, I often have patients, even well into their 80s, doing long walks multiple times a day, making sure they're eating high protein [diets] and stuff like that so their body can recover [from surgery].”

Kukreja is the director of urologic oncology at the CU Cancer Center and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. She sat down with CURE for an interview about the patient experience of radical cystectomy.

Transcript

What should patients expect during and after Bbadder removal surgery?

From a patient's perspective, getting ready for the surgery, having the surgery, and then recovering from the surgery are the main parts. I generally recommend that patients recover from surgery at home but stay active, which is also the best way to get ready for surgery. I often have patients, even well into their 80s, do long walks multiple times a day and make sure they're eating high-protein diets and things like that so their bodies can recover.

I generally like to perform bladder removal surgery with laparoscopic robot assistance. This means we make small incisions in the abdominal wall, put ports through them, and then insert the instruments through the ports and dock the robot. This allows me to get deep into the pelvis and see everything. When you do the surgeries open, it's very hard to get both hands into the pelvis and perform very fine surgery, at least for me. So, we remove the bladder, and often we remove lymph nodes with it as well to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread. Then we create some sort of urinary diversion, [which is] some way to reroute the urine to leave the body.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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