father in-law recently diagnosed

Patti...sounds more like he has hydronephrosis...an obstruction of free flow of the urine from the kidneys to the bladder from what you're telling us of the tube that is in and bag...what is causing that is another thing but i would certainly seek out an explanation of it rather than just take out the kidney..thats pretty extreme. Pat

Hi Patti, Did you give a grade and stage? How invavsive, threw the bladder wall? I hope for the best your fil, 77 and ball room dancing, Hell i cant even get threw a slow dance without crippling my better half
Joeburg55

Patti if it were my FIL I would make him sit down and you could show him what to read on this board. Without the removal of his bladder his chances are slim if not nill. As I mentioned the radiation is a 50-50 chance if that. And also then the BC could spread and that would not not be in his best interest, I think you get my drift here. Any surgery is a risk but leaving his bladder in is a bigger risk if he would like to buy some more time in this crazy world. Wishing You The Best, Joe

Patti,
I had my bladder removed almost a year ago, and although I'm younger than your dad (50), I'm sure he'll do fine. It takes a bit of getting used to, but humans are remarkably adaptable.

He may have one round of chemo afterwards if it hasn't spread, or if it has--in my case it had--he may have several rounds.

Is he having the surgery at a hospital where they do this often?

Zach

Joe, thanks for your input- I think my fil is going to have his bladder removed- although he is reluctant maybe just scared but we believe since he is healthy otherwise- no medication this is a good decision to just be rid of the cancer.
I wonder if they do chemo after surgery? just to make sure it doesn;t go anywhere else? we will have to ask about that.
Best wishes to you -we have a tentative date for his surgery june18.
thanks for responding to me- everyone is so genuinely caring it seems to offer any info or just a kind word.
I just wish he would come on this forum - maybe we can have that as a goal for him- I think it is a generation thing- haha

Patti this sounds to me that the cancer is invassive like mine and also grew into the ureter. My tumor was rather large at the top of the bladder and part of it 3cms grew into my left ureter. They put in what they call a doulble J-stent and that opened up my ureter and my left kidney is functioning normal due to that and I am now done the chemo which helped even more. The ureter they decided other then the stent to leave alone and not biopsy till my surgery which is now June 20. I am 52 yr old male and on the 5/17 I am scheduled to see the cardioligist just to make sure everything is up to par for the surgery. I told the Dr who is doing the surgery after being dx on 1/6 and all the tests and chemo and then the MRI of chest, pelvis, and abdomen to see if chemo did it's job and it did if I didn't have a heart attack yet I should be good to go he got a kick out of that. The best and safest call here is to have the bladder removed even though now they don't see a mass on my bladder. You can't be sure if there are any cancer cells there and I am not taking that chance period and as I mentioned there is still a problem and growth in my left ureter. My Dr. said if I were an 80 yr old man I might consider radiation but that is a 50-50 chance. So if your father-in-law is in as good as shape as you mentioned here I would suggest having the bladder removed. Like any surgery there are risks involved and this is an intense surgery so thats why they may offer older folks different options as I said the radiation. I seen older folks like your father-in-law that may be 77 but look and act like there 55 lol. So I would say go with the removal of the bladder and be done with the cancer. Best Wishes, Joe