Home Forums All Categories Newly Diagnosed, New To The Forum Moving to Johnson City, TN

  • rbmc

    Member
    June 3, 2013 at 9:57 pm

    Hi Ernie. Welcome to the site, and best of luck/good wishes in becoming an unfortunate member of “the club”. Nice to hear there is a VA facility in your new location. If you participate, you know you have to be accepted/transferred there, which takes time. Start the process, to eventually be assigned a physician. From there, inquire about the VA procedures for BC. The first will be lots of time to evaluate your case. The VA can (and does) send you to a non-VA facility if they deem it necessary. So do look at other mentioned options in the area as well, for your own satisfaction. I’m not from there, so can make no recommendations. Your situation sounds a bit positive, but with BC, there is a long road ahead to be sure. I’m only a 2 year member now, with 4 surgeries in that time, and 2 rounds of BCG treatment. Stay tuned in here, and keep us posted on events, and questions. It’s quite a friendly and informative place.

  • Lovehorse

    Member
    June 2, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    Hi Ernie
    I have been down the road your on now and I would like to suggest that you start a research project on the net. I have survived 23 years with BC and still going but one of the things that helped me most was my research brought me to find information on the use of BCG and the BCG maintenance treatments so I would ask my new doctor his thoughts on BCG.

    age 76
    BC for 23 years
    14 cancer free
    7 surgeries
    doing chemo now

  • catherineh

    Member
    May 28, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    Hello again, Ernie… I wanted to add a bit more into to answer your question about urologists in the area. My initial TURBT was done in Bristol. When my path report came back, I had one of the “rare” types of bc so my local uro sent me to Vanderbilt in Nashville which is where I still go for my cystos and CT scans. That is a resource that is available to people in this area if they want to ensure they are being seen by a bc center, even though it is a bit of a drive.

    Also, we have members here who have been treated both in Oak Ridge and in Knoxville. If you do not find someone to your satisfaction in JC, those are some alternatives. When you “interview” your potential urologist, ask about their experience with bladder cancer. Many uros seem to concentrate more on prostate issues/cancer, so don’t be shy about asking.

    Hope your move goes smoothly. Please add any other questions you may have.


    Best wishes… Catherine

    TURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
    Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
    Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
    Vanderbilt Medical Center
    Nashville, TN

  • catherineh

    Member
    May 25, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    Hello and welcome, Ernie… I think you will like East Tennessee, especially in the summer. As you probably already know, there is a VA Medical Center in Johnson City (Mountain Home, TN) as well (link below). You can probably get suggestions for your medical needs from the VA doctors and staff. I am just down the road from there but I don’t know any of the uro’s in JC personally. There is a great hospital in JC and lots of medical specialists in the surrounding area. You shouldn’t have any problems finding good doctors to care for you.

    VA in Johnson City

    Welcome again to the forum and please feel free to post any other questions you may have.


    Best wishes… Catherine

    TURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
    Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
    Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
    Vanderbilt Medical Center
    Nashville, TN

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