If a patient has an ostomy, a special bag to collect urine will need to be worn. This special bag, which sticks to the skin around the stoma with a special glue, can be thrown away after it is used. The bag does not show under clothing and most people take care of these bags themselves. Newer methods use a part of the small intestine to make a new storage pouch that is connected to the remaining part of the urethra if it has not been removed. Urine then passes out of the body through the urethra, and a stoma is not necessary.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put in the body through a needle inserted into a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells outside the bladder. If a doctor removes all the cancer that can be seen at the time of the operation, a patient may be given chemotherapy after surgery to kill any cancer cells that are left. Chemotherapy given after an operation to a person who has no cancer cells that can be seen is called adjuvant chemotherapy. For bladder cancer, chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery to try to improve results or to preserve the bladder.