I\'d like to introduce myself

psoriasis
You are quite right regarding the bag and psoriasis. I also have tender skin and the bag. However if you need to go to the ileal conduit there are all sorts of RX lotions and powders etc to use as nec.

Hello Charlene

You are now a Full Fledged card carrying member of the Club.
It appears as though you are one the right track medically and emotionally. After the shock of "the announcement" you have taken charge of the situation and are ready to become cancer free.

Keep your chin up and get well. You will soon be telling your success story here.

George

Hi Charlene- Welcome to this site. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. My husband Norm, had a neo bladder put in last summer. He has stage4 bladder cancer and we are still fighting this terrible disease and we are not giving up. Good luck!

Holly, thanks for the tales from the trenches.
The more I read, and hear, the more I am leaning towards an Indiana pouch. The illeal conduit seems the simplest and easiest on the body, but I have psoriasis that flairs up with stress, or any kind of irritation at all, and I'm afraid the bag would instigate an outbreak. I don't want to be dealing with that on top of everything else.
I'm still waiting for more scans and results to be sure it hasn't spread to my bones or elsewhere, then the oncologist, and then a plan for treatment.
On the bright side, I'm improving my vocabulary with this sudden sharp learning curve.
Thanks everyone, for reaching out and introducing yourselves. I think I'm going to like it here.

Hi Charlene,
Sorry you have been diagnosed, but Welcome to our club of bladder cancer survivors.
When I was diagnosed in Jan 2007 - it was high grade also. In March I got a neobladder. My final pathology was 3b so I began chemo 6 weeks after the bladder came out. Chemo and a few bouts of cdiff complicated training the neo. Within a year I had to cath for residual urine. I got up to pee every 2 hours at night, but I still leaked all night too. Then I had numerous kidney infections and reduced kidney function. Last Nov I traded my neo for an illeal conduit - the bag. No more kidney infections or back pain. I lost 25 pounds of bloat from kidney trouble. I am glad I did it.
I know you are reeling from the diagnosis, I was too. I have not met many women who are happy with the neo. Either hyper or incontinent. I have no experience with the indiana, but I hear many women who are pleased with it. Life with the illeal is better for me than with a failed neo.
Think it over and keep asking questions - survivors are here to help Holly

Hello Charlene, So sorry you have a need to be here. But you have found a good place for information and more importantly comfort. I myself had experienced cancer before, but with this site it was a lot like having a road map. I knew ahead of time what to expect at each turn in the road, and there was always someone here to support and prepare, and guide me through each step. It made a huge difference. I hope you won't need it but if you do there will be people here to help.
Wishing you the best.
Duke