MEN!!! Oh well, women do this also. My sister-in-law's mother had a lump in her breast for YEARS but was "afraid it might be cancer" so she didn't do anything about it. Need I say that her story did NOT have a happy ending?
The urologist is doing exactly what he should be doing. Very often during the first TURB he doesn't know exactly the extent of things. During the second, he has a much better idea of where additional samples need to be taken for pathology.
Usually, when urologists discuss bladder cancer, they do not use the usual stages in the description. It is either "low grade" (very slowly growing) or "high grade" (with rapidly dividing cells and more likely to spread quickly.) They will also tell you if it is has invaded the lamina propera (the next layer in the bladder) or the muscle. One reason for a second TURB is that the urologist may not have taken a deep enough sample to check these.
"Superficial" is not really descriptive of how dangerous it may be. This just means that, as of now, it appears to be growing out of the top layers of the bladder surface, either like a little mushroom or a rash, and it can still be high grade.
During the TURB the urologist removes as much of the tumor as he can, but the primary purpose is to get samples to send for analysis by the pathologist. Only when the pathology report comes back will he...and you...be sure what you are dealing with. It is also probable that your urologist will do a wash of the bladder after the TURB...probably with Mitomycin A...just as a precaution.
If the tumor is low grade there probably will not be any more treatments right now. Your husband will be scheduled for frequesnt checkups, usually every three months for about two years. If things stay the same, he will then graduate to every six months until 5 years total have passed and then once a year forever.
If the tumor is high grade, the doctor will probably prescribe BCG treatments. BUT there is no reason to be concerned about this until you have the final report from the last TURB. Be sure that your husband asks to have a copy of the pathology report and have the doctor go over it with him.
We will try to answer any questions you may have, and good luck to both you and your naughty husband!
Sara Anne
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