Hi Everyone,
I've been reading the forum for several days now and decided to join. Here's my story.
About 3 weeks ago my 67 year old Mom went to urgent care for blood in her urine. They gave her antibiotics for an infection. The bleeding came back about a week later and her general practioner gave her a different antibiotic. Please note that the bleeding is sporadic, not everytime she urinates. After the bleedin came back again, her general practioner referred her to a urologist. Can you believe they can't see her until September! I can't believe they would let someone go on that long with this problem.
Anyway, she made an appointment with a urologist in Syracuse, NY, which is a larger city,1 hour away. She went yesterday for a consult and liked him very much. He has her scheduled for a CAT scan on Wednesday and another appointment with him on August 1 when he will perform a cystoscopy to look inside the bladder. He said there is a chance it is bladder cancer. She feels fine, no pains and her only symptom is the blood.
Here is my BIG problem and why I'm sick with worry.
My father passed away from bladder cancer 7 years ago. He was diagnosed 12 years ago and the tumors were contained in his bladder. He had them removed and they came back 3 months later. They were removed and followed up with BCG. He had remained clear after that for almost 5 years. When the transitional cell carcinoma returned it showed up in his kidney and liver. The bladder was still clear. We were in shock. He had been given a clean bill of health by his urologist in February and now in June he has metastatic transitional cell carcinoma. He had MVAC therapy and a nephrostomy tube and wasn't given much hope. I was fed up with the urologist here that it had not been caught sooner, so we travelled to Dana Farber in Boston to get a second opinion on his treatment. They agreed with the oncologist here. The MVAC treatment got rid of the tumor in his kidney, but the liver tumors kept growing. He passed away 6 months after being diagnosed in December 1998 at 61 years old.
I'm so afraid that this will happen to my Mother too. What if it has already metastized? Is that possible being she went to the doctor at the first sign of blood in her urine? I know I'm jumping the gun, but having been through this and playing the waiting game for tests is just making me physically and mentally ill. I needed to seek counseling during the end of my father's illness and after his death and I'm still not the same.
I'm sorry to go on and on, but I'm just looking for some help from some of you that have been there.
Thank you