Advance care planning is the process of deciding one's own future medical care. It helps to make sure that if you can't speak for yourself, your wishes can still be carried out. The plan is a series of legal documents that note a person's wishes. The documents vary by state.
Palliative care is a way to improve quality of life for a person who's being treated for a serious illness. It is a type of medical specialty. To palliate means to ease the symptoms of an illness.
Total cystectomy is surgery to remove the bladder. It is most often done to treat bladder cancer. After the bladder is removed, the surgeon must make a new way to drain urine from your body. This is called urinary diversion.
Total cystectomy is surgery to remove the bladder. After the bladder is removed, a new bladder (neobladder) or an internal pouch is made to collect urine. This is called a continent urinary diversion. Learn more about this procedure.
Continent urinary diversion is surgery to make a new way for urine to pass out of the body. During the surgery, either a new bladder (neobladder) or a pouch is created. This is done using a piece of your own intestine (bowel). Learn about the details of this procedure.
Ureterosigmoidostomy is surgery that creates a new way for urine to pass out of the body. This may be needed if the bladder has been removed due to problems, such as bladder cancer.
Partial cystectomy is surgery to remove part of the bladder. It is most often done to treat bladder cancer. If the cancer is found at an early stage, this surgery may help cure it. After the surgery, the bladder will still function.
Open kidney exploration is a type of surgery. In most cases it's done to treat injuries to the kidneys. But it is sometimes done to find the cause of a problem in the kidneys.
With ureteral reimplantation surgery, 1 or both ureters are moved so their connection to the bladder is stronger. Read on to learn details about this surgery.
Cancer has been found in the lower (distal) part of one of your ureters. To treat the cancer, distal ureterectomy is done. This surgery removes the lower part of the ureter and part of the bladder. Read on to learn more about this procedure and what to expect.