And I don't mean to trivialize anyone's diagnosis in any way, but I like to keep thinking about what my urologist said when he delivered my diagnosis: "if you are going to have any kind of cancer, this is the best kind".
Now I know I was only TaG1, and haven't had a recurrence in 20 months, but I think of all the people who are diagnosed every day with breast cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, brain cancer... and I think about what my doctor said, and I think he's right... because now I like to tell myself that God gave me THIS one to deal with, and perhaps he won't challenge me with any other kind...
Until it's very advanced, our kind of cancer doesn't require systemic chemo (almost as bad as the Big C itself for most people); it doesn't outwardly disfigure us, and they CAN make us new bladders if it comes to that. They can't do that for lungs and livers and pancreases (sp?) yet...
If you are having trouble with the sense of fear that never leaves you, try to remember that if we compare bladder cancer to, say, boxing - we are not stuck in a ring with a 250 lb. Mike Tyson look-a-like; our enemy may look more like Woody Allen!! 8)
I hope I made someone smile more and worry less... Bless you!