Chemo after surgery

Corbin, I feel for you so much and know that as pat says you are a great brother who really loves his sister and only wants what is best for her. When you go to visit in Oct. just love her and listen to what she is saying. Maybe she will setup and appt for you to join her at her doctors. Perhaps that may put your mind at ease. Meanwhile, don't beat yourself up too much, she is her own master and you can just offer suggestions. Wishing you both well!

Corbin...well he has great credentials...if only your sister had a prostate!
"Learning this technical skill has been a worthwhile endeavor as it has improved the quality of care I can deliver to those patients with early stage prostate cancer"
Thats his area of expertise.
You're a great brother. You tried.
pat

I just got off the phone with my sister. I tried to discuss what I have learned here with her but she would have none of it. She said she trusts her doctor completely and doesn't feel a need to get a second opinion or question him about the treatment plan he has decided. Her surgeon is Greenberg:
www.fccc.edu/physicians/surgical/greenberg.html
I will be visiting my sister in mid-October. I may try again in person but I doubt I will get any further. This makes me very frustrated and very sad. I can only hope that she is right but I don't find much reason to believe that will be the case. Thanks for listening.

Wow...this is a case of gross understaging even with a very old Ct scanner. Most hospitals now have the helical computed tomography which would pick up those lymph nodes and perivesical fat. Fox Chase is no slouch but U. of Penn is better and i really don't understand an oncologist giving 2 cycles of Cisplatin/Gemzar. I mean there are new versions out there such as the one at USC/Norris.....i don't know what to say. Maybe she should travel to Osaka Japan and see if she can get in on their program which i just listed in Articles of Interest.
Or at least get a second opinion from U. of Penn and Dr. Malkowicz
www.pennmedicine.org/Wagform/MainPage.aspx?config=provider&P=PP&ID=1398
None of this sounds right to me..i mean you have the TURB and pathology, CT scans, blood work, bone scans..if invasive then chemo started within 2 weeks and then cystectomy within 6 weeks after that...and inbetween you get a second opinion..but this was definately not contained within the bladder.
i know you are trying to help and sis is staying blissfully ignorant....help her out....Pat

I'm certainly interested to hear of any experiences / thoughts about Fox Chase. I live in Ohio so am not familiar with it at all. I am frustrated by my sister's response to her cancer diagnosis. From what I can tell, she asks very few questions of the doctors and my guess (based on growing up with her!) is she probably discourages much discussion. I, on the other hand, want as much information as possible. I sent her links to this site on several occasions but as far as I know, she has never looked at it. That's why I decided to sign in and start asking my own questions. I asked my sister again recently how her cancer was staged and she said she didn't ask. !!!! I have made my own guesses based on the information she has provided, which isn't very much. Here is what I know. She said the tumor had not broken through the wall of the bladder. She had scans but I don't know details. The drugs she was given during her initial chemo were cisplatin and gemzar. She had two rounds, was told by one doctor that was all that was needed, went to the surgeon who said no, it should have been three so went for another. The pathology report after the surgery stated the cancer has spread to 3 of the 5 lymph nodes in the right pelvic region and 2 of the 17 in the left pelvic region. It also spread to the perivesical fat in the left leg. As far as treatment plans - she said she has been told it will be chemo but the details will be figured out after the next appointment with the surgeon which is the end of October. My sister is 54.

I'll provide more information later but wanted to let you know her surgery was done at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.