When to Call
Pick the situation you are in. Each one sorts common symptoms into three levels: usually expected, call your care team, and urgent. This is general guidance — your own discharge instructions always come first. Nothing you tap here is saved or sent anywhere.
What is my situation?
After a bladder tumor removal (TURBT)
Usually expected — comfort measures
- Pink to light-red urine that comes and goes
- Mild burning, urgency, or going more often
- A few small clots that still pass
Drink water to keep urine light yellow or clear; rest; avoid heavy lifting.
Call your care team
- Bleeding that is getting heavier, or more clots than before
- Burning or pain not helped by your usual measures
- Cloudy, foul-smelling urine, or just feeling unwell
Urgent — call now or seek emergency care
- You cannot urinate at all, with a full, painful lower belly
- Heavy bleeding or many clots you cannot keep up with
- Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or shaking chills
- Severe pain, dizziness, weakness, or a racing heart
More detail: After a bladder tumor removal.
After a check-up cystoscopy
Usually expected — comfort measures
- Mild burning for a day or so
- Going more often for a day
- A little pink tint to the urine
Drink extra water to flush the bladder; symptoms usually settle quickly.
Call your care team
- Burning or pain that worsens after the first day
- Cloudy, foul-smelling urine, or feeling unwell
- Bleeding that does not settle after a day
Urgent — call now or seek emergency care
- You cannot urinate at all
- Heavy bleeding or many blood clots
- Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or shaking chills
More detail: Living with surveillance.
During medicine placed in the bladder (BCG or chemo)
Usually expected — comfort measures
- Burning, urgency, and going often for a day or so after a treatment
- A small amount of blood in the urine
- A mild flu-like feeling for about a day (more with BCG)
Follow your post-void precautions; drink extra water after the holding time.
Call your care team
- Burning that lasts more than a day or two, or keeps getting worse
- Symptoms so strong you are unsure about your next treatment
- A new rash or joint aches
Do not skip or change a treatment on your own — call the office to sort out timing.
Urgent — call now or seek emergency care
- Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or shaking chills (rigors)
- You cannot urinate at all
- Heavy bleeding or many blood clots
- Severe pain, or feeling very unwell all over
With BCG, high fever or shaking chills needs prompt care.
More detail: Starting medicine placed in the bladder.
With a catheter
Usually expected — comfort measures
- Mild pink tint in the urine that clears with fluids
- Some leaking around the catheter now and then (often bladder spasms)
- A feeling of the tube or a mild urge to go
Call your care team
- Leaking with little draining into the bag, after checking for kinks
- Cloudy, foul-smelling urine, or feeling unwell
- Ongoing spasms or pain not eased by your usual measures
Urgent — call now or seek emergency care
- No urine draining after troubleshooting, with a full, painful belly
- The catheter falls out or is pulled out
- Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or shaking chills
- Heavy bleeding or many clots, especially if draining stops
Full how-to: Catheter Care Guide.
After bladder removal (cystectomy / urostomy)
Usually expected — comfort measures
- A stoma that looks pink/red, moist, and a little swollen early on
- Mucus strands in the urine (the diversion is made from intestine)
- Tiredness that slowly improves week to week
Call your care team
- Skin around the stoma that is red, sore, or breaking down
- Trouble getting the appliance to seal, or frequent leaks
- Less urine output than usual, or cloudy, foul-smelling urine
Urgent — call now or seek emergency care
- The stoma turns dark, dusky, or black
- Your urostomy stops draining
- Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or shaking chills
- Vomiting that will not stop, a swollen belly, or no gas/stool
- Calf pain or swelling, or sudden trouble breathing (possible clot)
- A wound that opens, drains, or smells bad
More detail: Removing the bladder and urinary diversion.
The bottom line
When you are not sure, it is always okay to call the office number on your discharge paperwork — your care team would rather hear from you. This guide does not replace the specific instructions they gave you.
For a medical emergency — trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting, heavy bleeding you cannot control — call 911.
MyUrologyCare — When to Call (Bladder Cancer)Read or reprint this guide at: myurologycare.org/bladder-cancer/when-to-call.html
Educational only — not medical advice and not a substitute for your care team. Follow your own discharge instructions. Call the office number on your discharge paperwork with questions. For an emergency, call 911.