Bladder boipsy

The email and phone # is a bladder cancer patient that goes to Huntsman. She lives I think 2 hours from Salt Lake City.
Kandi does not live in St George.
She would be happy to talk to you.
Jack

thank you for the info.
My husband is having the biopsy May 18th here in St. george,UT.
We are seriously considering going to Huntsman for second opinion. The email and phone # you gave is that for the person in St. George that had bladder cancer sugery?
we are just a little nervous this is all new to us. We want to be as informed as possible.
Thank you again.
Kathleen

This is from a friend in Utah with bladder cancer

My uro is Dr Robert Stephenson at Huntsman Cancer Center. The other really good one there is Dr Dechett. I know of a guy who was treated in St George, but I don't know any of the particulars except that it has been 2 1/2 yrs and he has never had a recurrence. She can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 208-201-4609
Kandi

I only see 4 uro's in St. George at Dixie Regional...of the four i would pick this one as he has trained at Portland which is an excellent center for bladder cancer.
intermountainhealthcare.org/providers/profile.html?id=27261&brand=ih
Its about a 4 l/2 drive to Salt Lake City but believe me it would be worth your while to do so. Being at a comprehensive NCI center and a multidisciplinary team and better pathology is very important. Plus everyone kind of brushes off a TURB as a simple procedure..it isn't. The bladder is very delicate..it can be easily punctured by an inexperienced surgeon who does not do this procedure on a routine basis. Its also very important that he gets all of the tumor including a part of the muscle plus all the margins. Its not something i would want a uro who mainly sees prostate patients to do. Ask your surgeon how many TURBS he does in a week. My surgeon does them every day at a major cancer center, 4 days a week and approximately 20 a day.
Pat

From your message, it sounds as though they haven't done the first TURBT (biopsy) yet.

It should be fine to get the tumor removed there locally but as soon as it confirmed as bladder cancer, the next step is to get to the best bladder cancer center that you can.

There, he should get a second TURBT done around 6 weeks after the first. This will be done to ensure that they got good margins and nothing was missed. Bladder cancer is frequently understaged so this second TURBT is important as is getting to a top bladder cancer specialist.

If it has to be Utah, then the one pat mentioned. If it can be elsewhere, you may want to check out MD Anderson in Houston.

Treatment Guide for Patients

Click the link above for a flow chart of the treatment process that I put together for patients to use with their doctors.

If caught early, and treated aggressively, bladder cancer is very treatable.

Feel free to ask any questions or have your husband log on and ask questions himself. Many of us have been where the two of you are right now.

Mike

The only NCI designated cancer center is located in Salt Lake City...I see only one uro/surgeon who deals with bladder cancer
at the Huntsman Cancer Center associated with the U. of Utah.
Dr. Dechet...has some good training
www.huntsmancancer.org/patientInformation/bios/dechet.jsp
I would definately get my second opinion there. If you can travel out of state i can give you further references.
Do you have pathology back on your tumor?
Pat