Bladder Cancer Comic: Hydrated

By Lucius Wisniewski

1 min read

Bladder cancer can make you hyper-aware of your body and your habits. You might decide to start drinking more water – only to then worry about your more frequent urination! The comic below shows a similar scene to one you may have experienced.

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emilych Member
Lucius, like you, I prefer to see the humor in having a urostomy. I was in an airport yesterday, and the screening process got to be a bit humorous. The lady screener said I needed a pat down. I turned around to view the x-ray screen, and saw this big ‘golden balloon’ spread across my abdomen on the x-ray. I did need to empty my ostomy bag, but not that badly! I was grateful the external nephrostomy catheters and their attached leg bags were removed a month earlier, or I am quite certain they would have called in the drug dogs to make sure I was not smuggling contraband, with 2 legs bags and an ostomy bag! If none of you have experienced that, I can only describe it as feeling like a sugar maple tree that has multiple sap buckets tapped into it. I was a bit concerned on the rare occasions I went grocery shopping that someone would notice the slight protrusions on my thighs and think I was stealing food and stuffing it in my hidden ‘saddlebags’. But back to the sweet lady doing the airport pat down. She was trying so hard to be discreet, and barely whispering what the procedure would entail. I am hard of hearing, wear hearing aids, but the chemo caused additional hearing loss, and with the mask covering her mouth muffling her words, and my being unable to see the movement of her lips, it was an exercise in futility unless she blared it to everyone what she needed to do. I am trying to tell her, “Honey, just do what you have to do.” After having radical surgery, and multiple procedures done that involve feeling like my naked body is lying out exposed on an autopsy table, her having to pat down my fully clothed body is not going to bother me. I have always been a modest person, but after several medical issues, I decided to give that up in certain situations. Actually, I find it quite nice having an ostomy bag when on 2-3 hour flights, as I have no bladder urgency. And I really enjoy getting a full night’s sleep, with no getting up to go to the bathroom. I rigidly adhere to drinking lots of water, essential to warding off potential urinary infections. For all of us living with bladder cancer, it is important for us to laugh, to find the blessings in each day, and realize that cancer does not define us. Everyone around us is dealing with something, whether physically, mentally, or relationally, ourselves or someone we love. Ours just happens to be cancer. Blessings.
Crystal Hartranft Member
Hey <inline-mention user-id="2072507" username="Lucius Wisniewski"/> thanks for sharing a comic that so many people can relate to! Its a great reminder that we all worry about whether something is a normal body function or if its a symptom.