Symptoms And Diagnosis

Just trying to learn a few things about this type of cancer and would like to ask you guys for help, what were your initial symptoms that triggered a trip to the Urologist and how were you diagnosed? DRE? Urine samples? UltraSound? CT SCAN?

I am a 27year old male, and just want to learn about taking care of my body?? My dad was never one to make trips to the doctor on a regualr basis...just looking for some help..Thank

Hi Andy,

My husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer last August 1. He was 28 years old at the time. He had blood in his urine & was treated for a bladder infection with antibiotics. After completing the antibiotics, the blood in urine returned. He then had a CT scan where they discovered he had a tumor about the size of a tennis ball. Upon discovering that, he had a procedure (can't remember the name) where they go in & get part of the tumor & figure out what it is (like a needle biopsy, but that isn't what they called it). Without even sending a sample to the lab, the doctor told me it was cancer.

My husband went through 4 rounds of chemo and then had his bladder removed. He received a neobladder, which is a bladder made out of part of your small intestines. Now, just a little over a year past diagnosis it is almost like it never happened.

I think that early detection is very important in overcoming this horrible disease. It is important to pay attention to things out of the ordinary and seek medical attention ASAP.

Are you having symptoms? If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to help answer them. This board was extremely helpful to me during my husbands ordeal, especially in the beginning when everything was so scary and foreign to me.

Good luck. Stephanie

Hi,
Oh my, you are so young. My husband woke up one night to extreme blood i the urine. He had had an injury years ago and occassionally had to have the tubes opened up. So I wasn't concerned. We were told that he had cancer cells in the blood.
We went to a specialist for a short repair and ended up with a surgery and tumors in the bladder and the bladder had bubbles in the wall-without this he might have kept his bladder. The bubbles thinned the wall and then made it easier for the cancer to excape the organ and contaminate other parts of his body. We did nt' want ths. Panic!
We tried bcg for 6 wks and found a seond opinion. We had the removal in April 05.
The information I have found is that workeers in the chemical industries-rubber, benzone, and others plus smoking are all factors to having this type of cancer. We were told that many mem die of lung cancer and then they find out that the bladder is so full of cancer that escaped and settlee in the lungs.
More later. Rose

Hi,
We have to go back every 6 months for more testing. Are you that scheduled and How does one not panic if the doctor frowns.
I so don't want him to hurt or to have to do this again.
He is looking good and one can relax a little but I am so scared even now. I like him too much to want to see him ill.
This also put us into major financial problems. We are so glad he is better but we owe the doctors so much. Our insurance is being stinky.


Rose

My sympton mainly was back pain on the left side that would come and go away. ...and the worst part was it was present Every morning, and I kept telling my husband we had to get a new mattress. Once in awhile it would sometimes even bring me to my knees it was so severe but only for maybe a minute or so.
Finally went for my annual physical and the urinalysis showed blood in the urine... Immediate visit to Urologist, and 2 weeks later no kidney, no ureter. Kidney was filled with TCC Bladder cancer. Grade 3 - however, bladder didn't show any cancer until March 2005, (2 years later) now we watch every six months. The moral of this story is to never ignore pain that takes your breath away.... God is good!

Hi,
A new mattress would have been cheaper. ( a little joke) I am sorry you had so much cancer in the system. I hope you are doing well now.
There are new magazines I have been getting the first one was on goji juice and the second issue is on glyconutirents.
This is called " breathtoughs in health" and has to be gottten at Barnes and Noble. It is interesting reading and maybe something you might be interested in.
Rose

I passed a small kidney stone. Went to uro and after many test. I wanted to stop flo max for BPH and I had to let him look into my bladder for him to do another treatment and wala 2 tumers. I did bofore the stone have frequent urination and sometimes had to pee and not much would come out. Don

I have had pain in my bladder, right side and back and blood in my urine now since prior to March 07.  the pain is intense, I feel as if I have a scouring pad in my bladder and someone is scrubbing it. The pain is so intense I get sick to my stomach. I have went through 8 bouts of antibiotics over a 3 month period with no change. I finally found a doctor to take me seriously but even at that he put me on more antibiotics for two weeks prior to sending me to the urologists. I am scheduled for a cystoscope and a bilateral pylogram on the 30th.  I have had numerous cat scans and nothing shows up. Did your bladder cancer show on a catscan and did you have any of these symptoms?