Cystoscopy

Exactly a month ago I wrote about seeing a urologist and his ordering/recommending a cystoscopy. After sending the documents to my health fund in order to get the funding, I then sent them to the hospital, who fixed me a date that then was only about a week and a half in the future, i.e. today. I haven't been worrying about this procedure; although it sounds unpleasant, I'm not the only person who undergoes it and I'm sure that the hospital tries to make it as least unpleasant as possible. Anyway, there's no point worrying about something that is not under my control.

Today was the big day. It took more than the usual time to get to the hospital because parts of Jerusalem are being dug up for roadworks and/or trams, so it's just as well that we left early. As we entered the hospital, by chance we bumped into the surgeon who treated my wife a few years ago, so he invited us to come and see him after my appointment. Although the urology department is on the same floor that we were, it was at the other end of the hospital, concealed in a maze, so it took quite some time to get there.

Once booked in, I was called to a nurse who measured blood pressure, temperature and oxygen saturation, before going over various pieces of information and informing me more or less what was to happen. I was then told to keep my shirt and shoes on but remove my trousers and pants, and to put on a smock. I was then called to a doctor who went over some of the same information and checked that I was the correct person (as if I was going to ask someone to impersonate me! But they never checked my identity card so I could have been a ringer). 

After a bit more waiting, I was called into 'the room', where a lady doctor proceeded to wash my genitals (slightly unpleasant because of cold water being splashed on me without warning, and even ticklish) and to numb my penis (not pleasant because the lidocaine has to enter the urethra, not stay outside as I naively assumed). After a few minutes the previous doctor came in, checked that I was still the same person then began the procedure. This was, shall I say, unpleasant - not painful, but not something that I would care to repeat. Mainly it was having the feeling that I wanted to urinate: presumably the internal nerves were being stimulated and this is what my brain understood. After about two minutes, during which time all three of us were talking (they asked me whether I wanted to see the inside of my bladder and I said that I wasn't in the correct mood to appreciate it), the doctor wielding the cystoscope said that we had finished. Thank God for that! He also said that he could see nothing wrong, which was the whole point of the exercise.

I was warned to drink a lot today, and that passing water might sting/burn. The first few times that I did so in the hospital hurt so much so that I considered (only for a moment) bottling the urine. But by the time I got home, there was no pain whatsoever.

I can now chalk this procedure up to experience, and wait for the CT which will be in other two weeks. If this shows nothing wrong, then the microhaematuria might be written off.