Bladder Cancer

I would like to hear from someone who has, or had Bladder cancer, and...took, or was suggested they take, Chemo therapy.

I have taken 2 "rounds of chemo" (consisting of 3 days per round} , and have decided to NOT take any further Chemo treatment, while I am still a Healthy person. with a good immune system.

I am not sure where to go to from here.

Donald P.

My 28 year old husband was diagnosed on August 1 with stage 3/3 bladder cancer. He underwent 4 rounds of chemotherapy. He received 2 different drugs - cisplatin & gemsar. He received treatment once a week for 3 weeks then had a week off - that counted as 1 round. On January 6 he had his bladder removed and received a neobladder. My husband needed the chemo because the tumor was very large. The Doctor felt that if he received chemo, it may shrink the tumor, making the surgery a little "cleaner." The chemo worked well shrinking the tumor and the surgeons were able to spare his nerves, which are necessary for sexual function. Because my husband is so young, he wanted to have the most normal quality of life possible, post op.

The chemo was the most difficult part of this ugly disease. He was very weak and sick while undergoing the chemo. He lost a lot of weight. Chemotherapy was much more difficult than the recovery from the surgery.

My husband is almost 6 weeks post op and ready to go back to work. He is 100% cancer free now. While he was undergoing the Chemo, I absolutely hated it & thought it was the worst thing in the world. I now realize that it may have saved his life.

That is our experience. I am nt sure if that is what you are looking for or not, as it sounds like you want to stop chemo. If you have any questions, let me know.

Good luck. Stephanie

Hi
I was diagnosed w/ bladder cancer in Jan 06.
I went for an appointment at Dana Farber Cancer
Institute Boston, Ma. I was refered to Dr. Graeme
Steele as a candidatefor a neobladder( made from my own organs) My operation took place on 3/ 06
its been nine weeks and i am cancer free

My dad had his surgery 3/06 removed his bladder.
Had a bladder made from his own organ.
My dad is having a hard time eating? Very sensitive to the smell of foods. He is just having a hard time recovering (just getting back to normal) My dad's age is about 65 with diabetics. Is there anyone out there that is having the same or like issuses? How did you get throught it?

Hi Donald,
I beg to differ that your immune system is working well. As I understnad this, if it were doing its job, you wouldn't have such a dangerous cancer.
Please as the cancer treatment people about supplements that would assist your immune system at this time. Food alone isn't strong enough or nor could you eat enough.
We did bcg and that helped us until we had the sugrery. Hope you can do more reading. There is a web site called. cancer tutor.com that is interesting. Another help for us.
Rose

Hi,
We had some problems with food. We did't have diabeties. He had major bowel problems for almost a year.
Read or go to the diabetic doctor and see if they can help get him in balance again.
My husband accepted the bag with no problmes. We had trouble getting the correct one but after than he is fine. I wonder if your dad is not happy with having to be like this now.
We still love them, things just changed.

Rose

Hello Donald:

I have had recommended Immunotherapy, but not Chemo in the very sense of the term as most use it.   By Immunotherap I mean a course of BCG, which is a live Virus 'instilled' into the bladder via the Cystoscope.

I have been dealing with BC for almost five years with the last almost 2 years 'clean'.  I do have an exam in two weeks.

Why was Chemotherapy selected over Immunotherapy or were you ever given the choice?   Did you have a resection which is a tumor removal?

Was the tumor invasive?

I use a number of alternative things that have been 'highly' recommended and not by people trying to sell to me.   Additionally I have become friends with an Alternative practitioner, via e-mail, phone, and two visits we made during a cross country trip.

What is your status now?

Joe C.