Overview
If you have surgery to remove the bladder (radical cystectomy), you will need another way to collect and store urine. This is known as a urinary diversion. It is a major change, and your treatment team will offer support to help you adjust.
Your surgeon will talk to you about the best type of urinary diversion for you. They will recommend one of the following options:
- urostomy – creates a new opening to your urinary system
- neobladder – creates a new bladder from your small bowel
- continent urinary diversion – creates a pouch from your small bowel to hold urine until you are ready to drain it.
I couldn’t control the number of urinary tract infections after my surgery, but once I started catheterising, it limited the infections.
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