Well i do tend to rattle cages Bambi. I sincerely was taken aback when your husband has been battling bladder cancer for quite some time and now a urologist in a single practice is saying it is now Grade 3. As a urologist at a large university center Dr. Wilson is well aware of potential pathological errors ( truly it is in the 50% range) and i would expect her not to make any recommendations until she saw the slides. I was told by Memorial Sloan that the slides had to be presented before a consult. It didn't take them long to determine that the sample was not a viable one and Dr. Herr scheduled me for re-turb immediately 2 days later. I was indeed T2 but my local uro left part of the tumor and did not obviously get the margins.
I wonder who did the pathology on your husbands TURB? Maybe they sent it to the U. of C? If that is the case then i could see why she would make a determination based on a written report only.
The staining is probably to determine the P53 gene..whether it is a wild type or not. That determines agressiveness. Several years ago 30 institutions were involved with determining the variant of P53 lead by USC/Norris.
And with all the pain he's having ..either a reaction to scraping the tumor near the ureter or an infection..why not take a peek? Why not do a test for infection?
Maybe i haven't heard the full story?
I only truly want your husband to have the very best care.
And if jj gets on here..he's a pathologist...he will tell you that they will not package up all of the tumor..they will only take a hopefully potential slice of it so they should be able to send to Hopkins another sample for a second opinion. And Hopkins is one of the best (#1 in Urology) and they will also be fast. Dr. Jonathon Epstein one of the best.
pathology.jhu.edu/department/services/consults/urologic.cfm
pat