2 Weeks Ago: 

My dad had blood in his urine for a few months and finally went to the ER after not being able to pass some blood clots. Four days of the nurses flushing him out, he had surgery. The surgery removed the 5 cm tumor he had attached to the wall of his bladder. The dr. told us he took a biopsy and would get back to us ASAP w/ the results.

 Today:

So here we are, 2 weeks later and just found out that he does have cancer on the walls and in the muscle of his bladder. The doctor said it is stage 3, but he is still a candidate for a neobladder. I have been trying to do some reserach and it seems that the neobladder takes time, but still is a rough process. The doctor gave him up to 3 months to schedule the surgery, but hopefully next week my dad will set a date for sometime in April.

 I am trying to educate myself on bladder cancer and such, so I can be a support system for my dad. He doens't have insurance, but he is a vet, so he will be treated by VA and UC (University of Cincinnati) doctors. We are thankful for the urologist that will be working with him, he has over 40 years of experience.

 I guess I am just interested in some advice on how to inform my dad of what to expect and how to cope with the new challenges of living your life a completely different way.