Mom just had TURB and I have questions

This statement rings a bell with me.

As a disclaimer, let me say that I am not trying to tell you what your mother does or doesn't have.  But it's kind of ironic that I said this same thing to my sister just last Sunday when I was telling her about my bowel polyp.  No one else in my family has these things.  I said, "I grow things."  I joke with my gyno that he "plants' these things in me when he does my pap smear.

I had an ovarian tumor about 20 years ago.  It was really scary until the surgery was done and it was found to be benign.  I have fibroids and polyps in my uterus. I had a polyp removed from my colon.

It is sickening to me that the Doctor at Sloan missed this important information when it was right before his eyes.  

To answer your other question if superficial BC can be metastatic the answer is "no'.  The terms are mutually exclusive.   If her BC is metastatic, then it is not superficial bladder cancer.  If it were me, I would at least believe that the Sloan doctors and pathologists would be certain about this much of the diagnosis, at the very least.

Please have a good weekend,

Your friend,
Rosemary  

No more info than a pelvic mass. He couldn't even say for sure if it was on her ovary. She goes for a trans vaginal ultrasound on Monday morning. She has no uterus, but she did keep her ovaries because she was only 33 at the time of the hysterectomy. I guess I am just wondering if superficial bladder cancer can metastisize? i just assumed that if it were superficial it could not be anywhere else yet. Is that the wrong assumption? I am looking for the answer to this question, but can't seem to find it. Of course even if it isn't metastatic bladder cancer I guess she could have ovarian cancer too?! I know it could also be nothing, but given that she was just diagnosed with bc, we are thinking the worst and it's hard to shake that thought. I think we are also thrown by the fact that the Slaon doc missed this. Obviously he wasn't concerned about it because he told her to start BCG. When I called to update him yesterday he said not to start the BCG yet until we resolve this, so it seems to me he missed it! I would just like to have a little trust in one of her docs at this point.

My mom is prone to benign masses. She had a huge fibroid in her uterus, thus it's removal. She also has a hemangioma in her liver and a few years ago she had a few nodules in her tyroid -- all were benign. I keep reminding her of all of that, hoping that this pelvic mass may just be another benign mass, but it is hardly easing her mind.

Kim,

Please slow down.  You are jumping from A to Z really quick.  Did the gyno give you indications that he thought this " mass" was a malignancy?  

There are benign reasons for a mass on the uterus.  Blood in the stool can also come from polyps, etc.

This is coming at you like gangbusters.  

You could be right about all this, but, you might also be wrong.

Have you got any more information, than just a "mass"?

Rosemary

Things jsut seem to be getting worse. My mom went to her GYN today. I actually made the appointment against her wishes because my sister and I were not satisfied about the way her Sloan doc was handling the issue of the density in the area of the urterus. Well I am sure glad we pursued it because the Gyn did an internal and found a mass. He says it's near the ovary, may be on it, he can't tell. Plus he found blood in her stool. To say this has hit us like a ton of bricks in an understatement. I have never seen my mom so low before in my life. I am trying to remain positive, but I am so scared. Could she have metastatic cancer? Could her uro at Sloan have missed this? Her gyn did a blood test for ovarian cancer but we won't know the results until Monday. The BCG treatments are now on hold. She goes to a gastro guy on Monday, plus has an ultrasound of the mass. Then Tuesday we see the Ortho about the lesions on the bones and then a gyno at Sloan. My head is spinning, it seems like everything is pointing towards metastatic but she only had blood in her urine once! It's not like she put off getting checked or treated. How can this be happening?

Kim

Rosemary, I know you are a very caring and compassionate person with all on this forum. I am just suggesting you need to clarify by the actual written pathology reports what your original and current type and grade are. None of us is very clear on what is said in the doctors office or during a cysto as we feel nervous and exposed LOL. That is the reason the written reports are so important and the follow through to question the doctors if something is not of understanding to us or is in conflict with prior information. I had a doctor call me once, with the results of my DNA ploidy telling me 5 out of the 7 markers were bad and I might have to have my bladder taken out. I pulled out my copy of the report while talking to him. The report and percentages were different from what he was reading on his sheet. He did not have my report in hand but rather someone else's. I recognize that urologists are extremely busy so his mistake did not turn me against him and his ability but rather once again verified I needed to check, double check, keep all reports, clarify and be very cognizant of my own health.

Rosie,

I do trust the validity of my pathology reports.  I am the one who lived it.

I am not in any way trying to frighten Kim about her Mother's health care or her providers. I am simply stating my own experience with Bladder Cancer and what can and did happen to me. When an educated doctor sends a the tissue sample to two different pathologists and gets the same results and then tells me that my stage and grade is now a reason for concern, then I have a tendency to believe him. I do not have the good fortune of a companion sitting in the examining room while my doctor is explaining stage and grade so at least this time, I was a little confused about details. But, I won't be next time!!

That is why Kim's mother is very lucky to have her as her best advocate.

Kim,

I hope that you are feeling better about what is going on with your Mom.  Please let us hear from you.

A friend to you both,
Rosemary