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Bladder problem

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Health Center: Bladder problem users admin

Author Message
Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 4:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Luvmykitties a private message Print Post    
Hi,

Was wondering if anyone here has first hand experience (themselves or someone they know) that had "something that needed to be removed" from the bladder? Good possibility of cancer. Definitely not UTI.

I've never had any surgery in my life, and things are moving so quickly (surgery scheduled in 1 1/2 weeks). I want to know if there are things I should look into, and what I should expect.

I'm having a "cystoscopy" with the probability of removing whatever "something" is in the bladder. (but no surgery on the bladder itself) They insist on putting me under anesthesia.

I had a kidney & bladder ultrasound. Kindneys looked fine, but something is visible in the bladder. This ultrasound was requested because I had been passing blood (serious gross hematuria) on and off the past month - with no pain involved.

I asked if we could do more tests before considering surgery, and I was told that even if they perform more tests, they would still have to perform a cystoscopy because there is something in the bladder, and the bladder should be clean, and I should not be passing blood the way I have been. So the sooner the surgery the better in case it is cancer.

My mother insists that I should have a Board Certified doctor perform the surgery. When I did research, I found out that the Urologist is not Board Certified. (I never visited a urologist before. I was sent for the first time after the results of my ultrasound)
Even though I'm sure I need this procedure regardless, I'm guessing I should try to get a second opinion anyway, but being on Medicaid, not a lot of doctors want to take that insurance. So I may not have the option of demanding a "board certified doctor". And the doctor would most likely be part of the same clinic as the doctor I saw anyway.

So any advice/information would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

Sincebb1
Member

08-22-2005

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 9:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sincebb1 a private message Print Post    
Luv~ My mother had, what seems to be, the same thing...hers did turn out to be cancerous. She had little tumors in the bladder which made her bleed. At first she thought it was hemorrhoids. But then realized she was not bleeding from there...She sort of got a little anemic cause she let it go too long.

The doctor said that women who smoke (do you?) are extremely prone to bladder cancer. On the more positive side...if you do have the same, it is one of the slowest growing cancer there is.
On younger patients they irrigate the bladder with some kind of medicine after they remove the tumor. My mom was around 70 when she was diagnosed. She stopped smoking immediately. She returned several times within the first year and a few after to remove new tumors. The last 7 years she has been tumor free. So far so good.

I don't know if this helps or not....I send you good thoughts!

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 9:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Luvmykitties a private message Print Post    
Thank you Sincebb1.

That does sound like what the doctors said about it being a slow cancer and if they get it early, I wouldn't even need chemo or radiation. And that I will need to go for follow up cystoscopys probably for life. (but I assume the frequency would decrease as time goes on - depending on if they continue to see things pop up or not)
They also said that typically a tumor in the bladder is cancerous. Not usually non-malignant.
But we won't know what it is until they go in with the camera.

I had blood tests in the past year because I've been complaining of lethargy for quite some time, and I showed no signs of anemia. But that was prior to me passing blood in my urine.

Yes, I smoke. Have been a smoker for 20+ years (I'm 41). And I was told I need to quit. ("I picked a bad time to quit smoking" lol)
The first things the doctors asked were "do you smoke or were you ever a hairdresser?" I was surprised when the doctors said that it is common in smokers. I hadn't heard that before. They also said Hairdressers seem to be prone to it as well - possibly from the chemicals they are exposed to.
They also said I am a bit young for this type of thing.

Do you remember what her recovery was like? Pain wise and time wise?

Sincebb1
Member

08-22-2005

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 10:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sincebb1 a private message Print Post    
First, PLEASE stop smoking!!! You are young and it helps the tumors to not reappear. Her doctor said that almost ALL women that get bladder cancer get it from smoking! Hardly anyone just gets it.. It is a cancer that WE produce!

It is an out-patient procedure. I took my mom in and picked her up on the same day. She is one of those that has trouble with anesthesia...so I have to say that she has more discomfort with the anesthesia than with the surgery. The first time it took longer..there were several tumors. After the first two there were never more than 2 or three tumors. Be sure and get a really good surgeon. It is very important because it is easy to perforate the wall of the bladder if they go too deep when they take them out...that is a can of worms you don't want to open!!!

It burned when she peed for the first time after surgery..and she had some pain the first day. Not too bad. By the second and third she was up and running around.

It is true, you will very likely, NOT need chemo or radiation...but there is something they irrigate the bladder with (a nurse friend of mine told me) that helps along the process. You might ask about this. My mom was pretty much tumor free in four years. She does have to get tested every year (every 6 months before that). But it could be worse!!!

I will ask my mom if she has any info to add. I know this is scary...but please feel a little more calm in the fact that it is a totally treatable and controllable cancer. My doctor reassured me that there are far worse things to deal with and that they don't see this condition as a big threat. It is readily viewable and treatable. It is not in a habit of spreading or metastasizing as easily as other cancers are prone to do. Think positive, eat healthy, stop smoking...I think you will have good results!

Contact me anytime you need to!

Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 8:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
Luv, my mother-in-law had small malignant tumors in her bladder that had to be removed every few years, then every few months. Each time they had to remove a little of the bladder, and after many years she had very little bladder left. It did eventually cause kidney failure, but that was also because of her diabetes. The good news is that she lived to the age of 94.

She never smoked and wasn't a hairdresser, but she did have the traditional "little old lady perm" all of the years I knew her. Who knows what coud be absorbed that way...