Can someone enlighten me?

cheers matey. right back at you!

Tim

Tim that is a %110 positive comment there my friend right on the button and very well written. I view many of your posts and you are very intelligent when it comes to your knowledge of this disease. Keep up the great work you are an asset to this board and I have learned a few things from your post as well. Please don't be afraid to have a fan Your Friend, Joe

Glad to help Debs. And thanks Joe. I think!  

Tim

Well Tim who I am now referring to as Dr. Tim answered all your questions to the tee. As far as the ultra sound the red dye is referred to as a contrast and allows the Dr. or whoever is doing that paticular test a clearer view of the area. Wishing You The Best, Joe

Thank you so much Tim for your reply. Its made me understand it all a bit more. My dad is seeing a consultant urological surgeon so i guess thats ok. Thanks again for your input and i'll let you know how things progress. Take care. Debs x

Debs
Lots of people here have had your dads experience, including me, so here's my bit! I'm sure others will add to it. You're in the zone now where you're all waiting for news so being apprehensive is normal and understandable. It's an unnerving time for you all. TURBT stands for Trans Urethral Resection of Bladder Tumour and means that material that may be a bladder tumour has been taken from your dads bladder. Having said that (a) it may not be tumour (I've had red areas biopsied that aren't anything but red areas) and (b) even if it is, there's still a range of possibilities.

Tumours are normally graded from 1 to 3, 1 being least aggressive, 3 being most. In addition the "Stage" of any tumour will be assessed with the biopsy sample. The stage describes how far the tumour has infiltrated the bladder and will have a bearing on what treatment is used and the prognosis for your dad. It may well be that your father could have an early stage tumour which can just be treated with a TURBT and a "watch and wait" protocol or the medics may prescribe some further therapy such as a bladder wash with Mitomycin or BCG or some other therapy. Really, until you get these details it's hard to say and the field is wide open. But when you do, please let us know and we'll all, I'm sure, do our best to help you guys understand and deal with this situation.

It's normal for surgeons to remove all of the bladder tumour if they can. If it's an area, then this may be more difficult and they may just take a sample of it to decide what to do next. There are areas of flat tumour called CIS (carcinoma in situ) that it's best to remove using a wash of special medicine into the bladder.

It's pretty normal for the bleeding wih a tumour to come and go. I had a year between my "bleeds" when I was at your dads stage of treatment. And, yes, I'd hope any resonsible medical team would do these tests whether they thought it was cancer or not. Frankly, it'd be more scary if they didn't! In the meantime, it's quite important for you guys not to go crazy with worry; no easy task. For me waiting is amongst my worst experience with this illness. I'm sure once you get the results back, whatever they are, it's better to know what you are dealing with and good to be moving forwards.

"Oncologist" is right too. And it's good if he's under a Uro Oncologist. It means a cancer specialist specialising in urinary tract issues.

All the best and keep us posted

Tim