Idea For Everyone on this site......

Karen I agree with you here but it just is not as easy as it should be. My wife is an LPN and works with folks that have cerebral palsy and with their regular physicals their urine tests were paid for and now the insurance companies have quit this. I was in the hospital last Sept 26/06 to get my left hip replaced. While I was in the hospital they were checking for UTI but not for blood in my urine because UTI's are common I guess with hip replacements. Until I got walking I was bed ridden when I got home for about a week and my wife was dumping the urinal and absolutely no blood in urine. Ok I finally get rolling here and I was discharged from the Doc on 12/10/06. I told him ( the Ortho Dr )and it had been just a week I noticed blood in my urine and dripping at the tail end of voiding. He said like I was thinking maybe you got a kidney stone no such luck. Point is the whole time I am in surgery for my hip and recovering at home with this I had a 3 inch bladder tumor growing in me and no symptoms till like I said 12/3/06. So I spent them holidays b4 Christmas and New Years getting 2 different urine tests done and my PD finally said Joe you gotta go to the Urologist and gave me a referral and off I went to get the most shocking news of my life. I was diagnosed on 1/6/07 with the tumor and I saw my PD alot because I am on a few scripts and one I have to be seen by him every 90 days because it is a narcotic but neither of us are thinking about should I be getting a urine test. Karen it's not that my PD never made me get a urine test it just wasn't a common practice, where I would urge it to be now when folks go to get a checkup. Joe ???

***Now I think they should make or consider that everyone get an annual urine test whether they see the blood or not in case it's microscopic. Just like they urge women depending on age with mammograms and pap smears and men for prostrate exams the old digital lol plus the PSA for an analogy.

Well, then lets send it to whoever we all agree would be the right contact to get the word out there better than it is to stop like I said even ONE CASe!!
Maybe in the case of women it could become part of the yearly screening process?

Who knows what can be done here. I am open to ALL suggestions, and it is only a concept to try to reach as many people as possible.

Karen..its not just the uro's who do this. Usually the first contact is with the internist or in a womans case her GYN who dismiss microscopic blood in the urine. If you actually see blood in the urine and see a urologist who does not do a cystoscopy you've gone to the wrong Uro.

Hello Everyone,

Since finding this site in June, (when my husband was diagnosed) it is amazing, frustrating, and agravating for me to continually read how some Doctors missed the early warning signs of this disease. Yes there are those who didn't listen to their own bodies (my husband included) but there are alot of stories here that refer to the fact that the Uro or GP put the patient on antibiotics, and dismissed them, instead of doing further investigation.

I have a proposition, it is worth it if we can save someone, or some family from going through what we are going through...

Here goes...

Every member takes out their yellow pages and gets the name of every Dr/or OBGYN in their area. Find out if they have an email address, if not use their regular address. We come up with a flyer/mailer of some sort and send it to each and every one of them. Reminding them, or in some cases telling them of the warning signs of this disease.(there may be alot if you are in a large city but there may be a large group in which case send only one). We could suggest that they post it in the office waiting area.

"BLOOD IN YOUR URINE??" (insert: alitte back round and the main message)
end with:Paid for and distributed by the members of the "Bladder Cancer Webcafe'
visit us at: www.blcwebcafe.org

I want to find a way to tell everyone that blood in the urine is not always a bladder/urinary tract infection! That one or two more tests could save their lives!

Let me know your thoughts.

Karen