Joyce, Catherine has been taking great care of you!! I will just pop in with a few more thoughts.
Some uro's do a cystoscopy at the first visit, but it does take a little time and that may not be scheduled in a first visit. When you do have a cystoscopy, it is a bit like a pap smear, pelvic. Not fun, but definitely do-able, and certainly not any worse.
If they find a hint that it might be bladder cancer, you will probably be scheduled for a TURB (trans urethral resection of the bladder) which is done under general anesthesia. During this procedure, the urologist takes biopsies of all suspicious areas and they are sent to a pathologist for examination. Only after you get the pathologist's report will you know what you are looking at.
After you get a diagnosis, if it is bladder cancer, you will have some decisions to make. If you feel the need for a second opinion, you are quite close to one of the top places in the country, Johns-Hopkins in Balmer (I know, a lot of people call it Bal-ti-more, but I lived in Maryland and we called in "Balmer.")
Let us know, as you go along, how you are doing, what you find out, and what questions you may have.
Been there, done that!!
Sara Anne
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