This year has been a blur...

mmc
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Mike

13 years 5 months ago #34694 by mmc

Replied by mmc on topic This year has been a blur...

Yes, you want that on your Netflix list!

Here is an excerpt with just the Hakuna Matata song.

Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results....distant mets
2/2014 ct result...spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph...

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CatherineH
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13 years 5 months ago #34693 by CatherineH

Replied by CatherineH on topic This year has been a blur...

Good morning and thanks to you all for your encouragement and kind words.

Pat... I definitely eat chocolate EVERY day! Dark, of course (lol)!

Mike... I'll be humming "Don't worry, be happy" all day now. Thanks for starting my day out with a smile. I have to confess, I had to Google "Hakuna Matata" because I've never seen The Lion King. (gasp, I know!) I'll put it on my Netflix list.

I have come to believe that the 45%-55% 5-year survival rates I keep reading about are because adenocarcinomas are often advanced and metastasized by the time they are discovered, even though it doesn't actually say that. That has let me relax quite a bit. Yes, Pat, I agree... I am a very lucky lady! Thanks for sharing your recovery story.

I read all the research abstracts daily from UroToday and anything else I can find. I've been to the websites of all the big cancer hospitals, NIH, on and on. That probably means I spend way too much time reading and not enough time out doing things. But, did you know they are experimenting with implanting a small camera inside the bladder that can transmit pictures for two years for monitoring instead of doing cystocopies? (Still in artificial urine, not a human yet.) Not sure I would want that, but they are making advances against this awful disease all the time.

Have a great day! I'm off to meet some wonderful friends for lunch!

HAKUNA MATATA!!!

Best wishes... Catherine

TURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TN

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mmc
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Mike

13 years 5 months ago - 13 years 5 months ago #34692 by mmc

Replied by mmc on topic This year has been a blur...

Catherine,

Sounds like you did all of the right things! You went to a great place with great doctors. I wouldn't worry a whole lot about lotions and cosmetics and other things you apply to the outside of your body. Seems to be more of an increased risk due to things one eats or breathes. Even the hair dye thing was people who work around it and who would be breathing the fumes a lot.

Time to put it behind you and not worry. Worry is stress and stress can increase risk of all sorts of other issues.

You will get you follow ups at VU and they will let you know if you need to worry. Until they say worry, don't.

Remember that song? Don't Worry, Be Happy.... Get that in your head as your new theme song.

Or in the immortal words of Timon and Pumbaa:

Glad you found us and thanks for sharing your story!

Mike

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Patricia

13 years 5 months ago #34690 by Patricia

Replied by Patricia on topic This year has been a blur...

Hi Catherine with a C..sorry i put a K the last time....
From Mayo Clinic
solitary lesions at the dome of the bladder, which usually represent neoplasia in a urachal remnant, seem to behave somewhat differently from lesions elsewhere in the bladder. Indeed, five-year survival of patients with lesions at the dome of the bladder who underwent segmental resection approximated that of those with similar lesions who underwent total cystectomy.

You're a very lucky lady.
Vandy has a great team of urologists and pathologists.
pat
P.S. i was also T2 and am now almost 8 yrs out from cystectomy
Quit worrying, eat some chocolate! :laugh:

pat

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CatherineH
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13 years 5 months ago #34687 by CatherineH

Replied by CatherineH on topic This year has been a blur...

Thank you, jj. Congratulations on your continued recovery. I have been very happy with my treatment at VU. I see Dr. Cookson and he is always very pleasant. It is getting a little easier not to think about it constantly. I'm hoping that continues with time. Who knows, we may run into each other in the waiting room one day!

Best wishes... Catherine

TURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TN

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jj803
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13 years 5 months ago #34686 by jj803

Replied by jj803 on topic This year has been a blur...

Since I am only about 2.5 years post cystectomy and getting close to 3 years since diagnosis (end of 2007), I can only say that at this time (in spite of no evidence of disease as of last set of tests and scans), I am still not free from concern. My urologic oncologist (also at VU) has been most positive as to my situation and has said that for bc the vast majority of post cystectomy recurrence is within the first 2 years. I did not have adenoca, but I would think a T2a tumor that has been completely removed would probably not have a greater chance of recurrence since the pathogenesis of this tumor is probably different than for urothelial cancers. I hope that you continue to be cancer free and will definitely be thinking of you as you approach your next scans. Best wishes,

jj

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This year has been a blur...

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