Just diagnosed

Thank you for your kind words, Lupenbill.

Part of your story remind me of a humorous truism: "A nagging wife will save your life."

Purrrkat
I'm very sorry to hear that you are in the same situation as I. As you know from my posts that I had papillary carcinoma 4 mm two of them. When the pathobiology report came back it was high grade. I'm praying for you that yours comes back low grade. But even if it comes back as high-grade with BCG treatments the outcome is virtually the same the outlook is extremely good. As for how I found mine I pass of good amount of blood one day. I did not think much of it as I am a very active person and do a lot of heavy activities. I just chalked it up as overexertion on a empty bladder. I mentioned it to my wife that evening and she insisted I see a doctor. I am very glad that she did otherwise we would not have caught it as early as we did. I know that waiting for the pathobiology Report it's going to be very hard for you to do. It was for me. Regardless of how the pathobiology report come back I believe you're going to be fine it was caught early and you are in a good spot you seem to have a good sense of where this is going. I did speak with my son about it and he handled it very well I think he handled it better than I. Children amaze me at how resilient they are. I did reassure him that I'm going to live to be a very old man and hopefully embarrass him in front of his kids.

Hi Lupinbill,

I'm in a similar situation, just a few steps behind. My urologist found a small tumor, papillary appearance, less than 1 cm in size. I had my TURBT yesterday, which went fine, and the doctor still thinks low grade and Ta. Now, the wait for pathology results .

I wanted to ask you, and others can chime in as well, what symptoms did you have that ultimately led to finding your tumor? For me, it was a few instances of very faint hematuria; if my vision weren't as good as it is, I might have missed it. That was over a month ago, and none since, not even on dipstick tests.

It's just amazing to me that such a small mass would produce enough blood that I could see it. I guess that's the one blessing, if you can call it that, of bladder cancer. It does announce itself, and early.

I also wanted to comment on your concerns about discussing your condition with your son. I have a 13-year-old daughter and have been completely open with her throughout this process, unknowns and all. This seems to be working very well. It has decreased MY stress because I feel I can be "myself" around the house and if I have a low moment, she knows what it's about. My husband and I can discuss issues about it with her present (such as appointments, opinions on doctors, etc) and I think the implied "normalcy" is good. She also knows, as I have reassured her, that this type of cancer at this stage is highly treatable. Fact. And that I will most likely live long enough to ultimately die of "old age." I'm 50 now.

Best wishes to you. Nice to meet you, apologies for the circumstances .

Lupenbill, telling my son and my 4 siblings was very difficult, but they all reacted very well. I gave them all of the statistics and explained what my treatment path would be. For me, I felt much better after I told them.

Sending some good vibes that it goes well for you too

Take care,
Lillian

Lillian
I'm trying to get back into the fun part of life. Some days much harder than others. Spending a lot of time thinking about this and logically I know the odds are in my favor of having perfectly normal life. Today's going to be a very difficult day. I think we intend on talking to her 13-year-old son today about this. I think this is a big source anxiety The fear of how he will react
Send some good thoughts this way. This is going to be very hard for me to do.

Lupenbill