Questions about urethral stricture.

[millz]

Hell out there.

I'm a 29 year old male who has just visited the urologist for the first time. I've had trouble with emptying my bladder completely and my stream. I was scheduled for a retrograde urethrogram and was told that I've most likely got a stricture in my urethra due to trauma from kidney stones I had at age 22. I was told that I'm barely emptying my bladder in spite of feeling like I have.

I don't want to sound like a wuss here, but I'm freaking out about this. After doing a bit of reading on the condition and treatment options I'm in total shock. The prospect of a cytoscopy under only a local anesthetic is nauseating, and open surgery sounds even worse. I've had this problem for many years, and from what I am reading I really need to have it dealt with before it leads to serious problems with my kidneys. I'm reaching out here in hopes of someone shedding some light on this stuff for me.

For starters, my first question is a retrograde urethrogram typically a painful procedure? Secondly, may I request to be put under general if my doctor recommends a cytoscopy?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[cyclejimnj]

I know how you feel, but it's all manageable with the right doc.  Most importantly, if you've got  strictures, it will be a chronic condition you'll need to manage for life and that means getting the best info you can right now as a baseline. There's no easy way for the doc to examine the extent of the strictures, but it's absolutely essential.  You need to know where they are, how long, etc. in order to determine the way to get them treated.  The cystoscopy can be an office procedure and is most painful when it gets to the stricture.  The more detailed look may require a same-day hospital procedure, but your doc may recommend that it be combined with a urethrotomy at the same time.  Get several opinions, read the stuff on the web. This link will show you a number of articles: http://www.urotoday.com/index.php?searchword=urethral+stricture+disease&searchphrase=exact&option=com_search&Itemid=5  Best of luck.