To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question

Hi KC,
I'm leaning very heavily toward getting the RC. It's encouraging to read your great results. I will find out how many RCs my surgeon has done.
Thanks,
Robert

Thanks Mike,
As I told Pat, the NIH has an entire wing devoted to the study of urological oncology. Of course this involves cancer of anything within the urological system (the kidneys, bladder, prostate, etc.). I will ask how many RCs my surgeon does per year.
Robert

Hi Pat,
The NCI is a part of NIH. It's one of the institutes conducted by the NIH. So, I feel confident about which doctors I'm seeing. They have an entire wing devoted to urological oncology - which is where I go. Thanks for your suggestion though.
Robert

Robert,

I had neobladder surgery almost 4 years ago. I can tell you that my life now is totaly normal, except that I am now cancer free. I cannot begin to stress to you how important a second opinion is. If I lived where you do I would get over to John Hopkins ASAP! The skill of the surgeon is the most important consideration when getting an RC. That skill is derived from a doctor that has done hundreds of RC's You need to ask the surgeon you are considering to use, how many RC's he performs in a year. As Mike stated, you want someone who does 50 or more a year. The surgeon I used did over 100 a year. Good luck to you on whatever decision you make.

KC

Robert,

I guess I am confused also. The National Institutes of Health are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a branch of the U.S. Federal Government.

www.nih.gov/about/NIHoverview.html

I was just trying to advise you to get to someplace that deals with bladder cancer patients on a daily basis. You are certainly free to choose not to do so.

I am unaware of NIH being involved directly with bladder cancer patients and surgery directly. I couldn't find it anywhere on their website. However, I acknowledge that I could be wrong. Certainly wouldn't be the first time.

The reason that RC is recommended once it has become muscle invasive (even if they remove the tumor) is that bladder cancer tends to come back and if it comes back in the muscle it has a high probability of spreading to other parts of the body. Males tend to choose the neobladder surgery and females tend to have better success with an Indiana Pouch.

For this type of surgery, research has shown that the patients operated on by surgeons who perform many of these on a regular basis, like 50 or more a year (more is better), have a higher probability of living and lower probability of major complications.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Mike

OK..i'm confused
The National Cancer Institute is the world's largest organization solely dedicated to cancer research.

NCI supports researchers at universities and hospitals across the United States and at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers
Since you're in Maryland i would think the number 1 Urological center in the country and tops in bladder cancer
Johns Hopkins would be your choice and Dr. Mark Schoenberg
www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1686/mpage/expertdata.cfm/expID/529
am i missing something?
pat