my mom just learned she had bladder cancer today

mamasgirl1975
mamasgirl1975 Member Posts: 1
in Bladder Cancer #1
my mom went into the hospital a couple days ago to deal with side effects from the hep c treatment interferon she has been on the last 6 months as soon as she got to the hospital she found blood in her urine and they did a ultrasound the ultrasound came back with a mass on the bladder they did surgery today and yes it was cancer they were able to remove it all and are testing the tumour to see how aggressive the cancer was and what stage .. i am beyond devasted and i am at a loss to what we do now ... how do they know if it has spread outside the bladder or not ??? what are the odds that it will come back and how do we stay diligent to make sure she is given the proper procedures to monitor it and so on .. i have been researching bladder cancer all day but would like to hear from people who have or are still dealing with it first hand what should we watch out for ?? what are her odds of it being gone for good ??? thank you and god bless you all

Comments

  • mellycat
    mellycat Member Posts: 5
    #2
    dad had cancer
    Don't panic about the cancer. My dad was found with a grapefruit size tumor along with two other types of cancer so 3 different kinds when he was diagnosed. His was considered stage 3. It had grown to the outer lining of his bladder. He has underwent several bcg treatments. He gets them every 3 months and has for 6 years. He goes in every 6 months for a scraping. It has.changed all of our lives and requires a lot of maintence but she will beat this. This year was the first year he was considered NED. Stay positive stay strong and have faith. Like they say if god brings u to it he will bring u through it. Take care and god bless
  • wilsel
    wilsel Member Posts: 38
    #3
    Bladder cancer surgery
    Hi mamasgirl1975:

    Well, to begin with, I have had bladder cancer and had my bladder removed on 06-30-2010 and now have a urostomy. If you're not familiar with a urostomy, it is simply a diversion for your urine to leave your body when you no longer have a bladder. So, I guess what I'm saying is that there is life beyond the surgery.

    Now the thing is to find out what stage her cancer is and how far the cancer has spread. These are important things to know in order to know how they will treat her in the future. You mentioned she had surgery but you didn't say if they removed her bladder or not. If they did, then she would have had to have some kind of 'stoma' as I have, in order to get the urine out of her body. Sometimes when the cancer has not invaded the bladder muscle or actually left the bladder, then they can leave the bladder in tact, and treat her with chemical medicines.

    The tissues from the tumor they got during the operation will be sent to the pathology department to be interpreted. When your doctor gets the results he will know what stage the cancer is/was and also give you a proper prognosis and treatment plan.

    You just have to take it one step at a time. Since your mom did not experience a lot of symptoms related to the cancer, then I would think that that would be a good sign. She may be advised to have chemotherapy, as I did, or radiation or both. Or, she may have other types of treatments. After pathology results are in, you should find out if in fact the cancer had spread to any other areas outside of the bladder.

    I wish you both well and if I can assist you any further, don't hesitate to contact me. I am doing great and it has been 1 year and 4 months since my surgery. Every 5 months I have a C T Scan to stay on top of things and my next one will be on this coming Monday.

    Take care and God bless.
    C U,
    Bill

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