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Hi There, New Diagnosis, Bladder Cancer

ZombieFreak
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Hi 

I'm quite new to all this so please bare with me, my names Andy and I'm 41 years old.

Ive been recently disgnosed with Bladder cancer, it was found early and I have had a TURBT to remove it, however I have had a follow up appointment today and they have told me that what they have removed is very aggressive, (not sure if it punched one of the lab techs in the face or what, maybe someone can explain tht to me). I now need to go for a CT scan to check my lymph glands and to have another TURBT to make sure its all gone. 

All the way through this I have been really posative about it all and have quite a level head, today however when they told me that I've come over all scared about it, I have no idea why.

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    Hello ZombieFreak,

    I like your username! I wanted to welcome you to our forum and I hope you get to talk to many here who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

    I was wondering perhaps whether you could edit your title to something more specific like for example "Hi there, newly diagnosed with bladder cancer' ? This would allow our members to find out immediately from looking at your title the type of cancer you have been diagnosed with.

    One of our members, LorraineD, has extensive experience of bladder cancer and she would be a great person for you to talk to.

    I hope it will help you to speak to others who are in the same boat.

    Wishing you the best of luck for your coming CT scan and TURBT,

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator 

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    Hi Andy,

    I was on a climbing course as a teenager and fifty feet up the instructor abseiled down and asked me if I was scared of falling? I said yes and his response surprised me but has stuck with me over the years. It was "good - because the danger is real. People who aren't scared of falling are dangerous to everyone". 

    What I'm trying to say is that feeling scared is a natural reaction to this dangerous situation we find ourselves in. Cancers are graded from 1 to 3 with Grade 1 usually growing slowly and Grade 3 growing aggressively quickly. For more info see  www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../bladder-cancer-stage-and-grade 

    If yours is a 3, your care team will be keen to obliterate it as soon as possible. It sounds like they're doing a thorough job AND you've caught it early which is always a good thing!

    Good luck with the CT scan and your next TURBT.

    Best wishes
    Dave

  • Offline in reply to davek

    Thanks Dave, I like the climbing analogy, really gets the point accross 

     

     

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Lucie

    Thanks for the pointers Lucie, I'll look up Lorraine for a chat.

     

    thanks again Andy :) 

  • Offline in reply to ZombieFreak

    Hi there Andy, I beat you to the draw! Now you don't have to look me up. Welcome to the forum, but of course, sorry you find yourself here because you have been diagnosed with bladder cancer. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer 3 years ago, and to date, I still have my bladder, so that's saying something for what they know today on this cancer. Having said that, it has been a rough road up until recently. I was also considered to have highly aggressive bladder cancer. As long as the cancer hasn't penetrated the wall of the bladder, you have a good chance that it hasn't spread yet. It sounds like they are getting right down to business in checking everything out and that's a good thing. I don't know whether or not they have discussed treatment options with you as yet, but I have had several rounds of BCG treatments, TURBTs and surgeries, cystoscopies, etc. along with several scans. My last cystoscopy indicated an "all clear" which means that at the time of the cystoscopy, there were no tumors!! Yeah! Of course, I will continue to have cystoscopies as a matter of course, every 6 months unless there are some indications that there is a problem, in which case, they would do another cystoscopy. So far so good.

    I would strongly suggest you go on the "About Cancer" section of this forum and read up on bladder cancer. It is very helpful to get as much information on it as you can, so that you understand what the different terms mean and how the treatments work. Don't be shy about asking questions of your oncologist and get him/her to explain what it all means. Everyone is different of course, but this has been my experience so far in dealing with this particular cancer. Your treatment, like mine will likely be very aggressive as well, since you are dealing with an aggressive cancer. I wish you all the best in your journey that may not be fun, but hopefully, will kick those tumors right out of your bladder! Whatever you do, do NOT go on Google to look this up. That info is not based on sound research and will make you a little crazy. This Cancer UK site is reliable for information and will give the best info available.

     Take care,

    Lorraine

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