Author: wsilberstein

Part I My story begins 8 years before I had bladder cancer. I started having annoying symptoms: needing to urinate more frequently and having these twinges that felt like when you gotta go, but only lasting a second. I'm a pediatrician, not especially knowledgeable about bladder cancer since it's just not seen in kids… and […]

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 […]

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 […]

Part IV My urologist returned in January. He was unaware of what had happened until I spoke to him. His response was that he was not concerned about the stricture. "The important thing was to be sure that there was no cancer." I fully understood his focus on the cancer but was unhappy that that […]