His oncologist in attendance at the press conference said they removed the bladder even after successful treatment because there was a 50%+ change it would return; so he and his medical team decided to remove the bladder.
Yep, that's one SOP when you remove one's entire bladder (radial cystectomy). With a "pseudo bladder," a new bladder (neobladder) is created with a piece of the small intestine. This "urinary diversion" allows urine produced by the kidneys to flow through a conduit into a new bladder, which is typically either:
1. connected to the urethra, which his allows for more natural urination.
2. flows into a bag that is on the stomach and needs to be emptied as urine collects.
Otherwise, you typically connect to a urostomy through a stoma on the abdomen and connect it to a urine bag externally. When urine is produced, it flows into the bag immediately and then you drain the bag when it gets full enough.