bad news please advise

Julie,

May I be so bold to ask how the PET scan did in detecting metastic bladder cancer? Seems very odd to me that this would be less detectable than other metastic cancers.
God Bless, Holly

Julieann, many of us think it would be a good idea to use PET scans to check for metastatic cancer however Medicare will not authorize a PET scan for bladder cancer. Something about how they really don't pick up bladder tumors. They are doing research now on the efficacy of PET scans to check for metastatic cancer. My husband had a PET scan after it was determined his lung nodule was cancerous and he got his PET scan because he agreed to be part of the study otherwise he would have been charged for the test. The best they can do is the CT scans. Did the pathology report after the cystectomy indicate what type of cancer it was?
It is very frustrating to have BC show up when you think it has been excised by the surgery. I don't know the mechanisms of how cancer spreads but it apparently can travel through the lymph system or the vascular (blood) system. My understanding is the cancer cells are microscopic and hard to detect until they reach a measurable size. This is why many people chose to have chemo even though there is no sign of cancer being present.
Julie

Well, I'm no doctor but a lot of her treatment hasn't made sense to me after some things I've read. First of all, they didn't even offer her chemo before the surgery. Also, they did not do a pet scan or anything to see if there was a spread. Seems to me that before they would put someone through such a major surgery, they would check everywhere to see if surgery would even be worth it. Another thing is that after surgery, they told us that her uterus was GIANT and that it was cancerous. They told us that they really weren't sure if it started in the bladder or uterus at that point but were going with the bladder???????????? Don't guess it mattered at that point, but come on. Also, she had been to the doc with recurring UTI, bladder infections for a long time before anyone sent her to a urologist. After surgey, we were told her scans were clean. She then went to her oncologist who mentioned a small "something in her lungs. No one told us it was even there! I don't know, I just feel like some things could have been handled differently, but I realize that I am just feeling a little bitter right now.

I would of definitely got the chemo b4 the surgery and if not then after the the surgery but either way the chemo in this case would of been a must for me. To me getting the preadjuvant chemo is better because you are feeling better then after the surgery you get beat up some and then have to get the chemo I think this is why alot of people are hesitant on getting the chemo after the surgery because they been thru alot. Good Luck, Joe

Julianne, This sounds insane but try to be optimistic, it may be not as bad as it sounds, you can read alot into a path report if you aren't sure of what your reading. take care, your in our prayers, Ginger Beane

Ok, I got a copy of the scan report. Says nodes are highly suspicious of metastatic something (my sister now has them) also that the nodes are something like 2.4 cm on average. Spot on lungs has not changed. I finally got out of her that her back and hip have bothered her some. We have to wait till the 31st for results, but I'm expecting the worst.