My husband had prostate cancer in 1999 and had the brachy therepy seed implant. After this time, he first had problems he could not pee and than after he had a procedure, scraping, done, he had incontinence. At this time, he has to catherize at least three times daily. He had the scraping done twice and is now scheduled to have it again on June 5. How long will this scraping last and for how long would he have to use the cather. My husband is 80 yrs but is in very good health and was very active until this has brought him down.
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Brachytherapy might cause side effects that include difficult urination. Your husband might have got this problem as a side effect to the brachytherapy which was given to him. Catheterization is a method to empty the bladder at regular intervals to avoid bladder outlet obstruction complications. He can try without the catheter for some time after he gets the scraping done June 5. Some people might have use the catheter for a long time because the bladder is not able to expel the urine by itself. It is understandable that this is a discomfort which is influencing his active daily life. It is difficult to predict for how long he might require to do regular catheterization to help empty the bladder. Please do not worry.