Dad having trouble getting treatment

Ginger Beane,

Thanks for your quick reply. My father is 67 years old and he is trying to have the surgery at Sloan-Kettering. The surgeon there is supposed to be one of the best. The cardiologist at the facility said that my father did not pass the stress test last week but also said it may have been a "false positive". She now wants him to get an angiogram to check his arteries...he's getting that on thursday.

In 1995, my father had an aortic aneurysm, therefore I know his heart may not be 100% but I would never think he wouldnt be strong enough to endure the surgery. I am so scared that he is not going to get treatment in time...what will he do if it spreads since chemo is apparently not an option.

Welcome to the forum, theres lots of help for you here, we need to know some things first, where is your father going for treatment? How old is he and what kind of heart ailment does he have. You need to be at a major facility that has done many of these procedures. We can recommend facilites and Doctors that some of us have used for our surgerys. Talk to you soon, Ginger Beane

My dad was diagnosed this august with superficial bladder cancer and had a resection. After the resection, he was given a ct scan and told that it may be muscle invasive, even though the biopsy from the resection came back as high grade, superficial. He was told by the doctor who did the resection that she could no longer help him and my dad began searching for a new doctor. He received two opinions-one doctor suggested surgery and the other suggested chemo followed by surgery and even scheduled him to begin the chemo. When my father approached the former hospital about the chemo, asking why they didnt suggest it like the other did, they said that his heart was not strong enough for it. My father then told the latter hospital, who had scheduled him for chemo, what the former hospital had said. Suddenly they said "oh you are right, your heart is too weak for the chemo" (very disturbing that this doctor did not check him out himself first). Therefore, my father decided to steer away from this doctor and stay with the former who had suggested only surgery. However, now this group of doctors is giving him a hard time getting cleared for the surgery. I am wondering, if they deny him of this, what other options does my father have? I am so worried about the cancer spreading...nothing has been done for him and the clock is ticking! Shouldnt it be the choice of the patient/family to undergo the surgery as long as we are told of the risks? Doesnt he need this surgery to survive? I am so upset and confused. These doctors have him running around all over the place getting all sorts of tests done and every time he is hopeful and thinks they are ready to clear him they find another reason to cancel the surgery. He is becoming so frustrated and depressed. I just lost my father in law to renal cancer and can't bear any more loss-especially since bladder cancer is supposed to be curable. Please help me.