Help-Stepfather recently diagnosed

I replaced this question in new thread


I was diagnosed with noninvasive but high grade april 1, 2011 after TURBT performed March 30 by highly regarded private urologist. He said the tumor had been there for "a long time." He did Mitomycin C treatment and scheduled course of 6 BCG treatments to begin April 20,2011. Two pathologists (one at major cancer center) concurred with noninvasive high grade per slides. Second opinion surgeon at MD Anderson recommends putting off the scheduled BCG treatments and going to MD Anderson week of May 24 for second TUR for restaging. I have read the MSK study on RETUR and comments on this forum that the second TUR is "gold standard" for high grade and I am inclined to follow advice of MD Anderson surgeon. Should I be concerned about delaying the BCG treatments, effectively doing nothing until the RETUR in the end of May? Should the RETUR have been suggested by my urologist even though he "aggressively" scraped more than 30% of my bladder and got margins, etc? I did note that in the MSK full article about restaging TUR the author said that getting good margins, etc on the first TUR could potentially take the place of the 2nd TUR. I am ready to go to MD Anderson if needed. I appreciate any input.
Thank you so much,
very scared and confused

MD Anderson is certainly the place to go if he can.
He needs to get the pathology report because stage is very important and will determine the treatment path.

Once he gets the CAT scan done, he should still get a 2nd TURBT (TransUrethral Resection of the Bladder Tumor). That's what they already did but it is best practice to repeat that surgery 2-6 weeks from the original one. The reason is that it is easy to miss some cancer the first time and they must get good clear margins (tissue around the cancer that is clear of cancer) in order to be sure they got it all.

MD Anderson should be where he gets this 2nd surgery done. Depending on the scan results, they very could wait until after the wedding for him to get the 2nd TURBT done. It is a discussion that he should have with the doctor.

Hope all goes well for him and congratulations to you on your upcoming wedding!

Mike

Thank you so much for your reply. My mom contacted Houston today and they want to wait to hear about the CAT scan that happened today. We are supposed to hear those results on Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks Again,
Ashley

My father was diagnosed at age 80 and had his surgery in Ft. Worth. After complications from his surgery, I got him to see a urologist at UTSW in Dallas who was excellent. I wish Dad had seen this doctor in the beginning. MD Anderson would not take Dad's Medicare Advantage plan, so he couldn't go there.

UTSW has some very talented and experienced bladder cancer doctors and if you would like a recommendation, I would be happy to give you the doctor's name. My Dad really didn't want to be treated out of town since follow-ups would be a problem and where would he go if he had complications or other problems? Guess this was an issue for a man his age who doesn't really like to venture too far from home.

Thanks for the quick response!

My mother lives in Dallas. I know that there is a good cancer center in Houston. Anyone know any details?