Living with Bladder Cancer

I started seeing blood and blood clots in my urine in early November, 2008. My doctor had a urinalysis done and prescribed antibiotics; then a second round when there was no change. In mid January, 2009 I was finally able to get an appointment with a urologist who did a cystoscopy in his office and said he was 90% sure I had bladder cancer A week later, he did surgery and found three tumors. The stage is between 2a and 2b.

I’m scheduled to undergo chemo for 8 or 9 weeks, at the end of which he has recommended a radical cystectomy - or total removal of the bladder - which will result in having to wear a bag for the rest of my life. At this point, I don’t know what the prognosis will be, and probably won’t know until the surrounding lymph glands and other areas outside the bladder are visualized. I’m 66 years old and have been a smoker all my life. Guess you could say I’m kind of numb at this point and a bit disbelieving that this could happen to me. However, I enjoy my life and have always been a very optimistic person. The urologist said attitude is everything. So, I can’t say I’m looking forward to the treatment at all, but my fondest hope is overcoming all these hurdles will result in a cure.