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Hopefully I don’t belong here…
So, I have been reading about BC this week because I have been having many of the symptoms and me and my Doctor are worried, I saw a Urologist Tuesday and have a cystoscopic (sp?) on Monday. I have had blood in my urine since Septemeber, went in for what I thought was a UTI cause I had to PEE Constantly, and nothing came out. Infection was not present, but blood and white cells were. I have continued having urgency, frequency, incontinence and pain. Truthfully, I have had pain for many months, just didn’t listen to my body.
Ultrasound was inconclusive, but the tech spend a WHOLE LOTTA TIME on my left side of my bladder, and the Urologist said that she felt a thickening on that side.
So I guess what I am saying is… Do I worry, and I blowing this up and it could be nothing? and if it isn’t Cancer, what could be causing the symptoms. I have no infection. I have had a full Hysterectomy 25 years ago for Adnomyosis, and precancerous condition, and then some external chemo for pre-cancerous cells at my cervix cuff about 8 years ago.
How long does it take to find out the results from the scope? Can they tell by looking or do you have to wait forever for the results.
I am 48.. this is too young from what I have read, but I have always been one to go against the norm! :)
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17 Replies
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Congratulations, Bruce, on your 6 month ALL CLEAR!!!!
Anita
Forum Moderator
Caregiver
Fantastic news Bruce! GOOD NEWS ALL AROUND!
I AM TWO DAYS SMOKE FREE! Lots of cravings, i will try more water. My fingernails are gone but I dont think they would be there anyways with scare
Anita,
it took about 10 minutes. No cancer but lots of imflamation and some expanded blood vessels from my previous radiation. Still says we will watch it because immfimation is also a cause of BC but will only need to do yearly cystos for now.I enjoyed talking with you too! Best of luck to your husband.
I hope you don’t belong here, the not knowing is the worst part. As an ex smoker I know how hard it is to quit, drink a lot of water and breath deep. You can do it. Best of luck with your tests. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer 13 years after quitting smoking, smoked for 25 years on and off. My brother{who was diagnosed with BC 5 years ago} and I used to wash our hands with gasoline after working on cars, maybe that was the cause. Also swallowed some a couple times after siphoning some gas. Couldn’t be a good thing. Best of luck. BTW had my six month checkup today after radical cystectomy and all is clear, halleluia. Best of luck.
Ruth Ann,
Glad to hear your good news. It was nice chatting with you last night. Hope your doctor can get your bladder to calm down soon.
AnitaPS — how long would you say the scope took and did you get to see your bladder on the TV thing?
Anita
Forum Moderator
Caregiver
So happy to hear you did not get a BC diagnosis. Now you have a name to put with the source of your pain and can focus on getting well!
Best of luck…
Best wishes… CatherineTURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TN
:laugh: :woohoo: :silly:
Yay!! Congratulations on NOT having bladder cancer.
Spread the word to people you know that blood in the urine is worth a referral to a urologist. In your case it was not bladder cancer but it was clearly worth checking out.
Best of luck to you!
Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
So, the good news is I don’t have bladder Cancer.. the bad news is that I have what the call a Radiation Bladder. THere are things that can be done, so I should have some relief in a month or so. See Dr Walker again on the 12th to look at options. One thing is to go back on Estragen, as he thinks that it what caused the bladder to start being irritated. There is a lot of imflamation in my bladder, and that is what is causing the urge to Pee constantly and the pain I am feeling, as well as the blood in the urine.
So thankful it is not Cancer!!
I will still be stopping the smoking.. this scare was just too much for me!
Thank you all so much for getting me through the weekend! I wish all the best to you!
Ruthann,
I know what you are saying about feeling “guilty”………..I did too, and I had quit smoking 17 years before I was dx’d with bladder cancer. My son kept saying,
“it is what it is, and you have to move forward and beat this”, so I did! :)
There are a lot of people on here that never smoked. I truly believe mine and my brothers bladder cancer came from the enviroment we lived in, a steel town with lots of smoggy air!
Whatever the outcome is, you have found friends on here to help you.
Keep checking in when you need support, after all, we have all been exactly where you are right now.
Good Luck,
Nancy
Nancy S
Ta CIS
dx Ta 11/06
dx Ta CIS 10/07
Keep checking in every day! Glad you found us. Good luck on quitting smoking! For years on this site I didn’t mention anything about it because I felt kind stupid for still smoking after actually getting cancer twice and losing my bladder to it.
Do work on the guilt. It causes physical problems and is not good for the immune system. It is another form of stress on the body.
I felt pain in my kidneys for a couple months after my local urologist said my cancer had spread to the kidneys. Well after my cystectomy, we followed up and there never was cancer in my kidneys. Pain went away. I’m not saying anybody’s pain is similar to what I and I never had that kind of experience in the past. The mind is a powerful force! The pain it can make is real! Just as real as pain caused by a physical break in a bone or wound to the muscle.
Again, I hope your situation is not cancer and is something simple to fix. If it is bladder cancer a lot can be done. I’m over four years cancer free now and doing great!
Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Good morning, Ruthann. I like your hummingbird picture. I love birds, too, and right now, out my window at the feeder are about 6 cute little tufted titmouses. (I don’t know if that would be titmouses or titmice! lol)
I don’t know if this is your first cysto or not tomorrow, but I was really scared and nervous about the first one I had–mostly that it would be painful. As it turned out, they prepped me with numbing gel first which made any discomfort pretty minimal. Now that I’ve had about a dozen of them, it’s just routine as far as the procedure goes. Of course, it’s still worry-inducing leading up to check up time thinking about the possibilities but that is true of any kind of medical test.
I hope you can relax today, even if for a little while. Pamper yourself and keep looking at that mug… “It IS all about you!” Take care and I will be thinking about you tomorrow!
Catherine
Best wishes… CatherineTURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TN
Thanks you guys.. it is very comforting to have such nice responses when I wake up.
My brother gave me a coffee cup over Turkey day, how prophetic he was.. it says ” It’s all about me!” That is how I feel right now.. like I am going to be the center of attention for so long, and not good attention.
I hate waking up to pain, today is really bad, couldn’t sleep more than 2 hours without having to void, and then you get the whole cramp, clamp down stuff. I am sure it is just my overactive imagination, but it is like I can FEEL the spot on my bladder that is the problem. It feels like a big lump on my left side. I guess this is all a good news/ bad news situation… the bad news is I may loose my bladder, the good news is I wouldn’t have to pee all the time and it wouldnt hurt to do it…
Mike, i agree, I have to quit regardless and thankfully it looks like I won’t have to do it alone. We don’t nor never have smoked in the house, and with winter here, not having to bundle up like an eskimo to go out and slowly kill myself is a good thing, a good time..
I will work on the guilt, it is part of my makeup. I keep telling myself that it might not have been smoking, it might have been my uterin/cervix cancer scares of the past, after all they were all once neighbors.
Well, gotta go again.. pun intended. I hope it is ok if I keep checking in today. I am worried about tomorrow and your support means alot to me.
Ruthann
Guilt causes cancer. Don’t do it. It is the most useless/destructive emotion there is (except for hatred).
You can’t change the past but you can change the future by doing things differently in the present.
Two people quitting at the same time is going to be a HUGE challenge. One or the other saying “I can’t do it unless xxx does it” is kind of pushing away personal accountability.
My wife quit 10 years before I did. I didn’t quit until 1 year and 3 months ago and I had bladder cancer twice while I was smoking. I quit a few times but never became a non-smoker until this last time when I finally quit for good (pun intended).
You can quit if he does or not. If either of you smoke in the house, that should stop even if only one of you quits now.
Think about that little end of the little cigarette whenever you inhale. As it glows and sizzles, imagine it burning into your DNA. Each time it glows it is doing damage, every single time….
Hopefully you don’t even have bladder cancer but quitting smoking is a great gift to yourself. If the only way you can motivate yourself is by feeling guilty about it, then maybe I am wrong about guilt. Any tool to quit is a good tool. :)
Best of luck!
Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
The waiting is terrible… waiting for appointments, waiting for the next checkup, waiting for path reports. But, it is all part of the human condition. Our bodies have defects, our DNA gets messed up, and sometimes that lets the bad stuff take root.
Do not allow blaming yourself for things in the past that you cannot change now (like your smoking) to cause more stress than you already have. Guilt is a terrible self-sentence. You can only commit to doing better for yourself going forward.
I know what you mean about wanting to put a name to whatever monster you may be facing. It helps to focus your energies and time into dealing with what you have to do.
As a footnote, I never smoked and I got bladder cancer, like many others here. They really don’t know what exactly causes cancer, or why some get it and some don’t in the same environment. Try to let that part of your thinking go and just concentrate on the things you need to do to get well!
Best wishes,
Catherine
Best wishes… CatherineTURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TN
It is the unknown that scares me the most I think. The waiting and wondering. I think I have suspected for a while that something has not been right, but I didn’t want to face it. I still don’t! But face it I must, and will.. just want to know what it is I am facing I guess… I want a name for my monster. Regardless of whether it is BC or not, something is wrong and will have to be addressed. I am tired of the pain, of feeling like I need to pee and not being able to, and constantly being afraid to cough, sneeze or laugh… I want to LAUGH!!
The worst part is the guilt I am feeling. I most likely did this to myself because of smoking, I never knew of the high risks of bladder cancer, but I am not stupid either, I knew that smoking was a nasty, stupid habit to have. I have tried to quit in the past but my dear wonderful hubby smokes too, and without him quitting, it is near impossible.. but he has committed to me that regardless of whether this is cancer or not… WE ARE DONE! To think that I may have willingly cheated my family out of me should the worst happen is just so horrible to bear.. I owed them to be smarter with my health!
I can’t seem to quit reading about it..both on this site, and others, and while it scares the crap outta me, it is also helping me to be more prepared for the worst. I guess I am trying to accept the possibility in the event it is BC, and hoping that the news will be better, and that I just spent my time learning about what will probably be my fate down the road if I don’t quit smoking NOW! Talk about finding a reason to live! I have so many, I am so blessed and I have been foolish about my future.
That stops now!
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