To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question

I had 9 years of non invasive tumors and now have aggresive ones. I studied my choices between BCG and RC... My final decision was based on reading and reading and reading and trying to get my head around the options.

For me, the fact that I had previous tumors... an unknown shadow in my left ureter... knowing the tumors would most likely return again...being in a position of relatively good health for a 60 year old...having a chance for "internal plumbing"...being that my last testing showed that no cancer remained in my bladder and none could be found elsewhere... I opted for the RC to be preformed March 17th and see it as a gift and a chance to live as cancer free and as fear free as possible.

Not telling you what to do just relating my story for your consideration.

But the best thought I can give you is get to know your situation as compeltely as you can... I lived on the net...I asked questions on this site, on the Bladder Cancer Cafe site...on the Canadian Cancer Support site... and researched the heck out of it on the net... that allowed me to take charge of the situation rather than have it in charge of me... In just a few weeks I have gone from my posting of "Scared Newbie" to acceptance and excited to get on with this and on with my life.

Hope this helps...

Rick

rlemar.....where are you located?
I'd really think twice about radiation. It plays havoc with your intestines and then if you do have to have the bladder removed about the best you can hope for is an outside bag or ileal conduit.
I'm female but i also had a T2a tumor..invasive..which was completely excised by a top surgeon and never came back..However in the words of my surgeon "it will come back!"
So i went ahead with the radical cystectomy..that was 8 yrs ago.
I think you're talking about a neobladder and most of the guys here have one and i'm sure they will weigh in shortly.
Best of luck to you.........Pat

Hi All,
I was diagnosed w/bladder cancer months ago (Sept.). The tumor was removed. It had invaded the muscle.
Because it was considered very aggressive, they urged bladder removal. They prescribed a short run of chemo followed by the removal operation. I have also had a short course of chemo (cysplaten & gemzar). I just had a high-contrast, full body CT and I am totally clear after 3 months from the date of tumor removal. They still want me to remove bladder. There is another route though. I can go in on a periodic schedule where they would scrape out the tumor site and check for new growth. They would also apply radiation as well. They say that survival rates are higher with bladder removal. BTW, they suggest the method where they use intestine piece and route urine out through the urethra again. I'm 59.

Has anyone wrestled with the question of removing the bladder or not under similar circumstances? What have you done? And what were the results/complications etc.?