Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    I'm scheduled for one in a couple of hours.  I'll let you know.
    
    Although your case may have special needs, my urologist told me
    that in general women don't even need anaesthetic, and he does them
    in the office.  For men, I guess the plumbing is more complex; one
    needs either general anaesthesia or a spinal.  
    
    The prep I've had seemed to be far more concerned about making sure
    the anaesthesia didn't cause any problems than anything to do with
    the operation itself.  I've had three or four blood tests, an EKG,
    a couple of Xrays and a doctor's pre-operation physical.
    
    I'll have Bonnie type in something if by tonight I still can't type
    because of the anaesthetic after-effects.
    
    Regards,
    
    Donald Reinke

    I had one about 4 years ago.  I can only speak for myself, but I found
    the after effects to be very painful.  I was put to sleep for the
    cystoscopy, and when I woke up there was a lot of blood.  I don't want
    to scare you, but I was sore for about 2 weeks afterwards. 
    
    The Dr. said that my urethra was too small and needed to be stretched.
    And I guess that's what he did.  Now the good news:  I haven't had
    a UTI since then...I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

    I wish you luck.

    -Dotti.

    I've never had one myself (although I'll probably need one at some
    point in time - I, too, suffer from recurrent bladder/UTI's), but
    my mom had one within the past year.  Her experience was - that
    she worried a lot about it for nothing.  She said she felt some
    minor discomfort, but nothing that could really be called pain.
    
    I'm sure everyone's reaction is different depending on how they're
    built, but my mom's doctor told her the majority of women *don't*
    experience much pain with this procedure.
    
    Let us know how it goes!
    
                             ...Lisa V...

    Well ... Other than being VERY sleepy from the anaesthetic (I'm still a
    little woozy; I went with the general, after all), I hardly noticed a
    thing.  I can tell something went on down there, but I wouldn't even
    notice it if I hadn't known what had happened. 
    
    Hope all goes well with you.
    
    Donald Reinke

    I have had many (lost count at 14) cystoscopes/dilations.  Most
    of these were when I was a young girl and was hospitalized (not
    to scare or terrify me) for, the most recent one I had was a little
    over a year ago, and it was done in the office.  I was given a local
    in the vagina and the procedure was done.  During this test, the
    doctor tested the capacity of my bladder and he couldn't believe
    that I could hold almost a gallon without major discomfort.  The
    only discomfort I felt was urinating afterwards, major burning
    occurred.  The trick to making this less painful is to pour warm
    water on yourself as you urinate to dilute it so it won't burn.
    If you still have burning, and this may sound gross, urinate in
    a bathtub full of warm water, I then take a shower to wash off.
    The one major precaution of this procedure is if you have Mitro
    Valve Prolapse (very common heart "flutter" in women) make sure
    you tell this to your doctor before the procedure.  I take 4 penicillin
    pills before the procedure and 2 afterwards to prevent infection
    that can go to your heart.

    I used to work in a urologist clinic in the army.  I also had one
    done.  the only anesthesia ever required was a local jelly.  it
    was applied with a cotton swab in the uretha(not the vagina)
    it didn't hurt. it was uncomfortable.
    in the couple hundred that I assisted in, no one needed to be put
    out.  we did have laughing gas type stuff that helped the more tense..
    the patients I am talking about above were all women.  men needed
    an iv of valium to help them.  it is more painful for them.
    
    for myself the only discomfort is burning afterwards, last about
    a day.  drink lots and lots of water.  this helps keep the uric
    acid low.  the discomfort lasted about 24 hours.  

    From yesterday's Boston Herald.
    
    You can get a free copy of the booklet "Understanding Urinary Tract
    Infections" by sending a self addressed business sized envelope
    with 50 postage to
    
    National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse
    UTI, Box NKUDIC
    Bethesda, MD 20892
    
    These infections affect more than 5 million Amercian Women a year.
    
    Bonnie