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marysue.
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April 22, 2016 at 2:51 am #8373
suzYkskier
ParticipantHi I am the wife of treeline. He posted his experiences so far in his introduction. My job is to take care of him when in and out of hospital. This includes travel arrangements…
As he mentionned his bladder is houpped, reduced to a 100 ml volume, friable, extensive CIS, no flexibility. The poor bladder endured a stitching after it was perforated on two places.
The suggestion to get a second opinion is fine in principle, but we live north of 60 and we are not sure how to actually get that going. We do not have multiple choises here, actually no choise at all. The current urologist has actually seen the bladder. Would we have to travel south again to have another urologist have a look?
The decision has to made in 5 days or the potential spot for the operation would be lost and he has had to chemo or bcg.. The current urologist is concerned that waiting may lead to progression, as the cancer is high grade, and has proven to be refractory over the past 5 mo. Would there be time to have second opinion?
April 22, 2016 at 3:48 am #20513marysue
ParticipantHi Suzy!
Welcome to Bladder Cancer Cancer but sorry that you have need of us. I’m sorry to learn of what your hubby has been through. You are right in that choices may be more limited in the north but if you haven’t already done so I suggest that you either phone the toll free number in Toronto and leave a message or private message Jack Moon our former President. He has connections to names for referrals. Hopefully you still have time.
The most important thing is to know the stage and grade of the cancer from the pathology report. Ask the urologist to explain that if he didn’t already or a second time if you’ve not got a complete understanding of the situation.
Your main discussion with the urologist I think will be about the state his bladder is in and is it worth trying to save and if more BCG or some other drug is worth another shot versus the surgery to remove the bladder. Even if the cancer wasn’t invasive but his bladder is in poor shape that might be the reason the doctor is talking about surgery.
I suggest you ask questions about your hubby’s quality of life in each situation. There will be pros and cons to each. If it is possible to keep the bladder, there could be risk for reoccurrence and further trauma to his bladder versus if he bites the bullet and has the surgery to remove the bladder and has a greater chance of a cure and doesn’t have the bladder issues he has now. Your urologist will be the best one to answer these questions but as mentioned contact Jack Moon to see if it is possible to get in contact with someone else for a second opinion if you are still interested.
Best wishes and let us know how it goes. Take care. (((((HUGS)))))
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