Waiting for RC

[Nettie]

My husband had his appointment with the surgeon that will be doing his cystectomy, is being referred for a PET scan which was supposed to happen in a week, but it’s over a week already. I called the urologist office and they confirmed that the referral had gone in to be done ASAP. We were got told it would take 4-6 weeks till surgery. Is this normal? We were told his cancer is stage 2-3, muscle invasive bladder cancer. Has had 6 BCG treatments which failed. We are scared just sitting & waiting for surgery while the cancer is growing. Any recommendations?

[Susan]

The waiting is terrible for sure.  I think all of us would wish for immediate action, we want something to happen right after diagnosis.  Especially when we know that a surgical removal is the next step – the following day would be great, right?

I can only speak about my personal experience, but I have had 2 surgeries for bladder cancer – cystectomy and nephroureterectomy – 2011 and 2017.  In both cases, I waited 4 to 5 weeks after the decision to proceed with surgery was reached.  Perhaps there are people out there who had a shorter wait time … and maybe they will write in explaining why and how they were booked into surgery more quickly.

I had trouble sleeping after diagnosis and asked my family doctor for a sleep aid to deal with that.  And while waiting I tried to “keep calm and carry on” … just living my life and telling myself to live like the Bob Marley song ..

Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
Singing’ don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Good luck to you.

 

[Nettie]

Thanks for your reply Susan. Yes, waiting is most difficult! I know the surgery and recovery will be difficult, guess that’s another reason I would like to speed up this process.

[Author]

Posts