Caregivers may help manage:
- Fatigue from chemotherapy or immunotherapy
- Urinary frequency, urgency, or incontinence
- Post-surgical care (including a urine bag if surgery has been done to enable urine to bypass the bladder)
- Pain management
- Nutritional challenges
- Risk of infection
If a bladder removal (cystectomy) occurs, caregivers may assist with:
- Learning new urine bag care routines
- Monitoring the health of a stoma (an opening made in the abdominal wall to allow urine to bypass the bladder and leave the body)
- Adjusting to body image and intimacy changes
- Helping maintain independence and dignity
These tasks can feel overwhelming at first, especially while navigating VA systems or specialty referrals.