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I have had superficial bladder cancer for 4 years, with one recurrence 18 months after diagnosis.  Now I have multiple areas of suspect and will undergo another turbt and mitomycin instillation.  I am not a candidate for bcg due to a suppressed immune system. 

 It appears to me that this will be an on going effort to control cancer through the quarterly Poke and Peeks, and then episodic resections and more mitomycin.  I don't think I understood this initially. 

My cancer was found early via a urine sample for something else.  Red cells were seen without any other symptoms.  So I was referred

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I heaven't posted here in awhile so I decided to update my story.  In October of 2007 I found out that I was pregnant for the fourth time (oops)!  One of the first phone calls I made was to the urologist.  I was due for a scope in Dec but he felt we should wait until I was well into my second trimester.  I just had a cysto last week.  The procedure was uncomfortable as always.  Everything looked good Thank God!  I did experience a lot of cramping after the procedure.  He asked my obstetrician to do a UA at each appointment and decided not to scope me again unless there is hematuria for the

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To read the most complete version of my story, please read Part 1 as well as this part, Part II.

Here, I am writing a continuation after CT scan has shown more lesions, growth in
at least one liver lesion, and a possible lesion in a new location (with follow-up
testing recommended.) This while receiving Genzar and Taxol. Also, yesterday I
had a turbt (and am at home, with a catheter.) I don't know the exact dimensions of the calsified tumor removed, but it was a lot smaller than the "softball" sized one removed last year.)

I write with a subjective description of my almost-a-year since diagnosis.

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In January 2007, the bleeding became continuous. I went to my present primary care doctor and was told that I should take antibiotics and see if it improved. I called back when the big clots started coming but was told (by a nurse) to just keep my regular appointment. I didn't get to that appointment because I had to go to the hospital with "frank bleeding."  I got a referral to a urologist while hospitalized and had a tur after being transferred to a hospital repaired enough to do it. Pathology: Stage 3 high grade tcc with sarcomatoid features. Some tumor remained after tur. The tumor has

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Part III

When you learn that you have cancer, it changes you for ever. Every clean bill of health is a celebration, and an invitation to go back to living, but... waiting once more for the ticking time bomb, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And then, there are complications of treatment that never let you forget.
I thought that my bladder cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but I was wrong. Two years ago, just after my mother's 83 birthday, she developed leukemia. She quickly went from an independent woman with her own apartment and car to assisted living. Her doctors were

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Part II

I took my catheter out and prepared to enjoy my recovery with all my problems behind me. I had my first Christmas celebration with gifts and stockings since my daughter's boyfriend wasn't Jewish and the kids wanted to do it. Of course, we threw a little Hanukkah Gelt into the stockings to make it ecumenical. The hooks for the stockings are still screwed into the mantle. Then we went out to the movies. I almost drove us into some wrong way traffic - maybe still under the influence of anesthesia. I made it through the movie without having to go to the rest room, but afterwards, I had a

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I've just had my three year follow-up appointment (5/18/2007) with my surgeon, Dr. Rizk El-Galley, and everything is great. No evidence of disease on my ct scan or chest x-ray, and all my labs are normal.  I've been taking vitamin B-12 injections since last August as my most recent blood levels had been low (May 2006), this is something all persons with a neobladder have to eventually deal with.  However this is nothing to be alarmed about and is quite easy to manage by ones self.
I've been off the board for sometime and am still finding it difficult to get back to what I have so enjoyed in

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I just had my one year all clear cysto yesterday!  We are going to continue with a cysto every three months for the next year.  The uro told me that I have about a 60% chance of reoccurance and less than a 20% chance that if the cancer comes back it would become invasive. For now everything looks good!

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I got my initial path reports today from 2006, initial diagnosis.

This is what I would have to describe as "pathology whiplash".

That is where you go from Point A to Point Z too quickly for your body and mind to catch up with you.

As an epilogue to these pathologies, when I went for muscle biopsy at UNC in May 2006, my cancer was [i]"POOF[/i]"  [b]GONE[/b].  I began BCG treatments in June 2006.  No recurrances.

When I was at Chapel Hill in May for biopsy, I was told that there were two muscle biopsies performed by my Doctor that day for T1 G3 bladder cancer.  The other guy wasn't as "lucky".  He

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Here is my story.  I first saw blood in my urine when I was 20.  I was treated for a UTI and the bleeding stopped.  I continued to get re-occurent bladder infections for the following five years.  I am not sure if I ever had infections now or not.  In April of '06 I had an ultrasound to measure the development of my baby who was measuring small.  I had to drink a lot of water to fill my bladder.  The ultrasound was extremely painful.  I went home and peed what looked like cranberry juice.  At all of my following prenatal and post partum visits I had microscopic hematuria which was never even

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