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Hi all,
I’m Chris, I’m 49 years old and yep….I have bladder cancer.
I ignored the blood in my urine for far too long (over a year!), I guess I didn’t want to face the truth. The result was that 4 weeks ago, I ended up in the ER with servere anemia (hgb 61 g/L). They did the ultrasound and low and behold they found 2 large masses in the bladder. After transfusion (2 units), they did the cystoscopy (not fun) and showed 2 large papillary tumors both actively bleeding.
The next day they did a TURBT and 2 days later I was sent home with a little friend strapped to my leg. A week later the catheter was removed. Unfortunately the pathology report was not ready, so I had to wait another 2 weeks to find out how bad things really were.Well, that appointment was yesterday.
Quoting the pathology report…
“Right lateral tumor – Papillary Urothelial Carcinoma, High Grade, tumor invades the Lamina Propria, Muscularis Propria Present. Left Bladder Tumor – Papillary Urothelial Carcinoma, tumor invades the Laminar Propria, Muscularis Propria Present.”The doctors descibed it as T1 and gave me two options…
1) Another TURBT to further stage the cancer and make sure there is no muscle invasion, followed by multiple BCG treatments and ongoing monitoring.
2) Complete Cystectomy to eliminate any chance of “understaging”.So…after discussing it, I’m now waiting for the phone call to book me in for the second TURBT.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a medical professional (laboratory technologist, Hematology) and the hospital i’m being treated at is the one that I work in, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Hi Chris
Sorry you have been diagnosed with bladder cancer. You are making a very wise decision to get a 2nd Turb just to be sure there is no muscle invasion.
You are in great medical hands at Sunnybrook as you know they have many top bladder cancer specialists.
I will you all the best with your upcoming Turbt and hopefully BCG as it has done for me keeps the cancer from returning.
Please keep us posted as we have many members that can share their personal experiences with BCG treatments.
JackHi Chris:
Welcome to the other side of the tests! Sorry you have to go through this. I too had T1G3 for 2 1/2 years treated at an outlying hospital. When my BC progressed to muscle invasive disease I got a 2nd opinion at Sunnybrook (Rob Nam) and had the RC done there with a neobladder in December 2010. As you well may appreciate, the RC is a huge surgery and not to be taken lightly. I certainly chose the multiple TURBTs and treatments until I had no option but RC. It’s a very individual decision of course and there are no wrong answers if you are being treated by the best docs. Sounds like you are. If you ever want to chat on the phone or in person, private message me and I’ll give you my ph number.
All the best.I just got off the phone with the hospital…
Pre-op appointment is June 12th with the surgery scheduled for the 28th.
Hi Chris, sorry to hear your diagnosis, but glad you found BCC and this site, it and the people that are involved with it have been a great help and resource for me as I journey down this road. I have had two Turbt’s – one in Dec and one in Apr – in Hamilton. You will need a little time after it to have things return to ‘normal’, but its not too bad so take the time you need. My BC was muscle invasive at diagnosis, so I am having a Radical Cystectomy next week. Will look forward to following your good progress!
Hi Chris, and welcome. I had my first bout with BC at age 44. So far I still have my bladder after several turbs, tretment with BCG and with Valstar. Mine was CIS (Carcinoma In Situ), always high grade. Based on your path report the patholgist did fine muscle present in the tissue sample which is good. No mention was made of cancer in the muscle, also good. I think getting another TURB and further checking for any cancer that may have spread into the muscle is a good idea. iF NONE IS PRESENT THEN bcg IS SUGGESTED. i DON;T THINK vALSTAR IS AVAILABLE IN cANADA BUT IT IS A GOOD BACKUP SHOULD bcg NOT BE EFFECTIVE. vERY CLOSE FOLLOW UP IS RECOMMENED. gLAD YOU HAVE YOUR APPT. FOR THE NEXT turb. gOOD LUCK TO YOU
sORYY ABOUT THE CAPS AND SPELLING, i’M ALMOST TOTALLY ASLEEP, LIKE gREG.
kIOWA
Chris:
The first thing I need to warn you about is Kiowa. He’s from Texas…’nuff said!Secondly, keep an eye on that hemoglobin level. Was your ferritin low too? I experienced something similar to what you describe following my RC and it was finally determined I had Celiac Disease after they did a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy. The path results were classic for Celiac. I am by no means suggesting you are following my ignoble path to medical history, but Celiac Disease usually takes a decade on average to diagnose in Canada since no one is really looking for it. Thanks to Sunnybrook once again for coming to my rescue and checking it – of course, they were looking for something much more serious, but thankfully it was not what was expected.
Thirdly, did I mention Kiowa is an alien. He says he is from Texas, but we’re really not convinced…
Fourthly, all the best on the 28th. I had 6 TURBTs and 34 instillations of BCG, MMC and Gemcitabine and am still alive to tell the tale. I now sing soprano, however, where I used to sing bass!
Chris:
The first thing I need to warn you about is Kiowa. He’s from Texas…’nuff said!Secondly, keep an eye on that hemoglobin level. Was your ferritin low too? I experienced something similar to what you describe following my RC and it was finally determined I had Celiac Disease after they did a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy. The path results were classic for Celiac. I am by no means suggesting you are following my ignoble path to medical history, but Celiac Disease usually takes a decade on average to diagnose in Canada since no one is really looking for it. Thanks to Sunnybrook once again for coming to my rescue and checking it – of course, they were looking for something much more serious, but thankfully it was not what was expected.
Thirdly, did I mention Kiowa is an alien. He says he is from Texas, but we’re really not convinced…
Fourthly, all the best on the 28th. I had 6 TURBTs and 34 instillations of BCG, MMC and Gemcitabine and am still alive to tell the tale. I now sing soprano, however, where I used to sing bass!
Wow…..6 TURBTs and 34 instillations….props to you!
Yes, my ferritin was/is very low. I have all the signs of classic Iron Deficiency Anemia. Its what you get when you choose to ignore obvious signs that something is seriously wrong.
The funny part is that, I work in the Hematology Lab, I see iron def. anemias every day. I also had all the classic physical symptoms of anemia that I learned about when I was a med. lab student 30yrs ago. The only thing was, because I couldn’t admit the truth, coupled with the affects of the anemia, I didn’t put two and two together until after the fact.
I credit my colleagues at work for saving my life. They were the ones who recognized that I was so very ill and forced me to seek help at the ER. If it weren’t for them, I would have continued to ignore the symptoms and probably would have stroked out and died due to the anemia. Another reason to proud of the work done at Sunnybrook.Anyway, its all now just a waiting game for me. Waiting for that next appointment. Waiting for that next pathology report. Waiting for that next sucker punch below the belt. Maybe waiting also for that good news from the doctors. We’ll have to wait and see.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I’m right beside you on the “waiting game”. I can sincerely say that the folk on BCC have been fantastic and very helpful to me regarding support and making some muddy waters clear.
I don’t have to tell you how fantastic Sunnybrook is, as I’ve had a great experience with them so far. I’m still very new here myself, but if there is anything I can offer, please feel free to reach out.
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