-
superficial cancers and the elderly
Hi all,
My mother in law, who is 80, just underwent a cystoscopy due to recurrent UTIs. Following this procedure she was told there was a “small lesion” in the neck of her bladder and she would need a TUR for further biopsy/removal. After reading through this section it seems as if most people have questionable areas removed while they are scoped. Now they are asking that she go under general anesthesia for the TUR and we are concerned about risks/benefits to this ( she does have mild heart issues, sleep apnea, etc). The only other testing done was an ultrasound a week after she was scoped which was “unremarkable”. By the way, the doctor also told her this lesion at the neck of her bladder has nothing to do with the UTIs. Any thoughts? It seems most on this site are considerably younger when diagnosed, I am still wondering if the TUR is necessary although according to MIL the doctor did not give her a choice but said she had to have it removed. He did however tell her it was most likely nothing. I read all the articles related to “watchful waiting” but I presume that strategy is only after you have a definitive grade on the tumor. I went through this with my father who was diagnosed with very early stage prostate ca at 77, again would watchful waiting have worked. He chose radiation and thankfully had no significant side effects and PSA remains low 5 years later. Hope I didn’t ramble too much. thank you. -
18 Replies
-
I LOVE the Pom juice…drink it every day.
-
Excellent news! My MIL came through the TUR beautifully last week and the urologist felt right away that he had removed a benign leiomyoma which is only rarely found in the bladder. These types of benign tumors are more commonly seen in the uterus. Anyway, path report today shows it to be benign, we do have a second report out but feel good about the results thus far. Thank you all for your wonderful insights and opinions! I have certainly learned alot and could not have done it without you guys. There is much courage and caring in all of you.
Best of luck to all.
Take care!!
AmymarieActually Annmarie it is not that hard since I am now insane after all of the this lol. Glad all went well for yous. Joe ;)
-
Well first they will draw his blood to make sure the platelets are ok which they will be, but you will be surprised how fast they can drop even the next day. At Penn they had to be 40,000 or greater to get the chemo. The highest mine were once was 290,000.
Then when he goes into the room to just relax and take it easy. On my big days I got the zofran for nausea in the IV on the short day I got a zofran by mouth. My chemo was MVAC http://www.chemocare.com/bio/list_by_acronym.asp?acronym=MVAC I went Tue, Wed, and Fri, everyother week for 3 months which is 3 cycles. I got the Methotrexate on Tues. The Methotrexate they told me to rinse my mouth out with warm salt water to prevent mouth sores but not for the other 3 drugs but i guess it can’t hurt. And then on Wed I got the other 3. I also came back on Fri. to get a shot of neulasta http://www.drugs.com/neulasta.html which is a shot to keep the white blood count up. I got nauesous here and there at home I took compazine which worked fine for me. The biggest effect the chemo had on me I was tired alot. My insurance Keystone65 did cover Zofran 6 tablets a month $35 each. I saved them for my bad days. Karen is right about chemo brain but for me it was I get real forgetful or just like slip into a trance or lose track of the conversation. I didn’t have any mood swings because I was too tired to swing into a mood. You didn’t mention what kind of chemo your husband is getting. I know some people that just made themselves sick mentally by just walking in the room and this is no joke. I really did not have any major problems taking the chemo and it will be over before you know it. Good Luck, Joe ;)***Karen what’s with the Ben Gay thing that’s a new one on me guess we are all different and also when you are on chemo Stephany you don’t do anything drug wise or whatever unless you check with your Oncologist first and this is no joke. My Oncologist stessed this to me over and over. For example if needed I could take a tyenol but no motrin. Even if your Primary prescribed a new drug you need to check with the Oncologist first. Most Primaries wouldn’t do this. You hit the nail on the head the poison going into you so you don’t wanna do anything to interfere with it without the Oncologist’s ok.
-
[quote author=fearandfight link=topic=1216.msg8804#msg8804 date=1192217057]
Stephany that is a good point the meds. Why is it and my wife keeps my meds written down on a piece of paper because I’m on a few. Now everytime I have been in the hospital they always screw something up med wise. Or a med I am taking they don’t have like it is something from outer space and then say it’s ok to bring your meds from home for the one they didn’t have. It takes at least a day everytime I go in to get my meds the way I take them at home. A hospital and none of them can ever get your meds in order. But the bill always seems to arrive on time. Joe ;)
[/quote==Yes it does, Joe. I have just about decided to take all my husband’s meds in my purse next time he has to be hosptitalized, and give them to him and tell the nurses afterwards!
OK, I might not…but I’ll have them, and if he misses a dose and they can’t help, I’ll be ready.
Right now, I’m in the hospital right beside my husband’s bed, while he is getting his saline hydration before his CT scan. He starts chemo tomorrow, and they are making sure he’s well enough to take the poison. I’m typing on the hospital lap-top, and it’s really slow going.
Any suggestions out there for someone just starting the chemo?
Stephany in Iowa
-
Great news…Answered prayers….
Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
Excellent news! My MIL came through the TUR beautifully last week and the urologist felt right away that he had removed a benign leiomyoma which is only rarely found in the bladder. These types of benign tumors are more commonly seen in the uterus. Anyway, path report today shows it to be benign, we do have a second report out but feel good about the results thus far. Thank you all for your wonderful insights and opinions! I have certainly learned alot and could not have done it without you guys. There is much courage and caring in all of you.
Best of luck to all.
Take care!!
Amymarie
Stephany that is a good point the meds. Why is it and my wife keeps my meds written down on a piece of paper because I’m on a few. Now everytime I have been in the hospital they always screw something up med wise. Or a med I am taking they don’t have like it is something from outer space and then say it’s ok to bring your meds from home for the one they didn’t have. It takes at least a day everytime I go in to get my meds the way I take them at home. A hospital and none of them can ever get your meds in order. But the bill always seems to arrive on time. Joe ;)
One more thing, AmyMarie…sounds like you’re going to be helping her after the TURBT. If so, makes sure she gets her meds. And if she does need further surgery, make sure she gets her meds. Even a day or so off could make difference.
Let us know the results of the TURB.
Stephany in Iowa
Amy Marie,
It sounds like you have covered all the bases. You might want to ask if they are planning a Mitomycin treatment if the doctor feels the tumor requires it.
I had Mitomycin while sleeping and knew nothing about it till it was all over with.
I don’t think it would hurt to ask this question…Good luck tomorrow.
Your friend,
Rosemary
Rosemary
Age – 55
T1 G3 – Tumor free 2 yrs 3 months
Dx January 2006
Hi all,
Just to follow-up, tomorrow is the big day. My MIL will have her TUR and we all feel comfortable with the procedure and doc. This week I spoke with all involved and feel that everyone is on the same page. She had a review of all heart issues with her cardiologist and he signed off on the procedure as well. Still hoping whatever they find will be low grade and stage. We have also requested a second pathologist from either Hopkins or Sloan review the sample. I will be there tomorrow to meet with doc after TUR so if you have any good questions I should ask him that we haven’t already discussed let me know. Thanks again to everyone who posted.
amymarie
[quote author=amymarie link=topic=1216.msg8415#msg8415 date=1190988459]
Hi all,
My mother in law, who is 80, just underwent a cystoscopy due to recurrent UTIs. Following this procedure she was told there was a “small lesion” in the neck of her bladder and she would need a TUR for further biopsy/removal. After reading through this section it seems as if most people have questionable areas removed while they are scoped. Now they are asking that she go under general anesthesia for the TUR and we are concerned about risks/benefits to this ( she does have mild heart issues, sleep apnea, etc). The only other testing done was an ultrasound a week after she was scoped which was “unremarkable”. By the way, the doctor also told her this lesion at the neck of her bladder has nothing to do with the UTIs. Any thoughts? [/quote]A tumor at the bladder neck could cause blockage and has to go, and like others have already said a biopsy needs to be done, and if the tumor is grade 1, Ta, that would be a best case scenario.
I’m also from NJ, and my sister is the one with bladder cancer (me and another sister had breast cancer). Good ol’ NJ! Must be the water or something. My sister goes to Sloan even though she has a very non-aggressive type of cancer and no recurrence for these last 8 yrs or so. Our other sister went to Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick, I think it’s the only cancer center in NJ. She was fighting breast cancer but didn’t make it, so we did not want to go back to RWJ due to the sad memories.
[quote author=amymarie link=topic=1216.msg8415#msg8415 date=1190988459]
It seems most on this site are considerably younger when diagnosed, I am still wondering if the TUR is necessary although according to MIL the doctor did not give her a choice but said she had to have it removed. He did however tell her it was most likely nothing. I read all the articles related to “watchful waiting” but I presume that strategy is only after you have a definitive grade on the tumor. I went through this with my father who was diagnosed with very early stage prostate ca at 77, again would watchful waiting have worked. He chose radiation and thankfully had no significant side effects and PSA remains low 5 years later. Hope I didn’t ramble too much. thank you.
[/quote]Yes, this forum and our email group are younger than the average blc patient, and women are overly represented; thus we’re not a standard cross-section of the actual bladder cancer community at large.
My second cousin was dxed with blc at age 88, she had a high grade, aggressive kind of tumor and received Mitomycin, one dose, post-TUR. She handled it well and it did keep the recurrences at bay for a while; this treatment is said to delay recurs up to 2 yrs (blc recurs very frequently, up to 70% of the time). It is on the way to becoming standard world-wide. Other drugs can be used aside from Mito for this, there is more info about non-invasive tumors and intravesical chemo on the main site, if you want to read more: http://blcwebcafe.org/superficialblca.asp and http://blcwebcafe.org/intravesicalchemo.asp
My sister received a CT upon dx, it’s pretty standard as staging.
About the anxiety issues, that’s tricky when someone is elderly, the normal drugs like valium and ativan cause different side effects than with younger people, but a good anesthetist will know how to best deal with this kind of thing. Make sure you get some advice on how to help her get through this very trying period.
Tell her she is not alone, there are at least half a million blc survivors walking around the U.S., this is a survivable diagnosis.
All the best,
Wendy
Thanks for the info everyone. Yes, she has been on standard dosage of Paxil for 9 years to help with her anxiety issues, but now only takes Klonopin at night I believe. She is quite active and very educated as a retired nurse practicioner. However, she tends to jump to worse case scenario in any medical situation and then works herself up into a frenzy.
Anyway, I will be sure all docs are aware of meds and history at her pre-op. A great idea to check with her cardiologist as well. Having worked in hospitals myself for many years as a speech therapist I know that docs don’t always communicate with each other so I will be sure to facilitate that. This site has helped me become much more informed and also has given me hope that even if this doesn’t turn out to be superficial, there are a number of effective treatment options. I will post an update after mondays pre-op session.
Thanks to all,
AmymarieWow…really..she’s on Paxil and Klonopin ..thats a lot for an 80 yr old…that combination needs monitoring for central nervous system disorders as well as respiratory distress…and certainly the surgeon and anesthesiologist must be made aware of her usage ahead of time.
And Joe…trust me a epidural headache is one you don’t want to experience ..kinda like an A-bomb going off in your head.
Pat
Amy I think your MIL should get the Tur and then find out what your up against. If it’s small they may be able to get it while they are in there doing the Tur. Now if she had to go the route of the surgery then that is a whole different story. Good Luck With Your Decision, Joe ;)
P.S. Rosemary with the epidural all they ever told me if they did not hit the right spot it would be the epidural just would not work. Now they never mentioned a side effect of a headache and after any surgery lol that would be least of my problems.
Amy,
The tumor definitely needs to be removed and for biopsy purposes. I do not think that the doctors would go forward if they did not think that she could withstand the anesthesia. The risk would be too great, I think. There might be an option of an epidural, but then you take the risk of her contracting a terrible headache if the block is not administered correctly.
Let us know of any further progress and if we can help.
Regards,
Rosemary
Rosemary
Age – 55
T1 G3 – Tumor free 2 yrs 3 months
Dx January 2006Sign In to reply.
