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Hi Nat51:
There are several symptoms which may or may not indicate someone has bladder cancer. The main one is blood in the urine. Sometimes people find out they have blood in their urine accidentally when they are having a urine test for something else. This blood is usually microscopic and can’t be seen with the ordinary eye. Many of us including myself had blood in the urine that could be seen. I had a lot of blood the first time that appeared all of a sudden. After that it came and went. I went to my family doctor right away because I knew that this was not normal for me. He sent me for an ultrasound and x-rays which showed multiple tumours in my bladder and my journey went from there.
Other symptoms can be back or abdominal pain, urgency to go pee, difficulty urinating. Any of these symptoms should be reported to your doctor. It may not always mean bladder cancer but it still needs to be checked out.
Some of us are fortunate and have a short journey with bladder cancer. It happens once or twice, is removed by surgery and may or may not require further treatment. Some people have one recurrence after another and it may or may not lead to them needing their bladders removed. Some are like me. I was first diagnosed with multiple tumours in 2008. I had scope surgery to remove the tumours and that was followed by immunotherapy treatments in the bladder. I was good until 2010 when a single tumour was found in my bladder at one of my cystoscopy checkups. I had had a small amount of blood in my urine about 2 weeks prior to my checkup. I had another surgery and again some follow up immunotherapy treatments. Then I was clear for 12 years and at my cystoscopy checkup in September 2022 I got a big shock and found out that it had recurred yet again. I didn’t have any symptoms this time to warn me that something was wrong. It was simply a lucky catch because of my going for regular checkups. I had another surgery in October 2022 and am now once again undergoing follow up immunotherapy treatments. I will be going for a cystoscopy check this Thursday before my next round of immunotherapy which starts next week. I have my fingers crossed that all will be well.
Every person’s journey with bladder cancer is unique. You won’t know what your journey will be like until you are going through it. The most important thing is if you have any symptoms that may indicate urinary tract trouble, get to your doctor ASAP to get it checked out. It is not fun to find out that you have bladder cancer but as with all other cancers and illnesses, the sooner it is caught, the sooner it can be treated and for most it leads to a better outcome.
I hope my information helps. Please don’t hesitate to post any questions. We are here for you. ((((HUGS))))
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