Thanks for the fast response. My husband is 28 years old. Hopefully he will have a fast recovery like you. We live in Louisville, KY but the doctors here do not have much experience with the neobladder. We are traveling to Indiana University Medical Center for the surgery to be conducted by Dr. Koch, the cheif of Urology. He told us he has been doing this surgery for 15 years...the doctors in Louisville were not even familiar with it! My husbands tumor was 8 cm and had already moved into the muscle wall. He is just finishing his 4th round of chemotherapy. Dr. Koch thinks my husband will be a good candidate for the neobladder but stated it is "an operating room decision." They will also be removing his prostate as a precaution. Dr. Koch is going to preform a "nerve sparing" operation in hopes that my husband will still have sexual function with some help of drugs (Viagria maybe?) but we assume that will also be something that is determined once they open him up. After the second round of chemo was completed, my husband had a CT scan and was told that the tumor was shrinking. He will have another CT scan on Dec. 8 to see the latest results. My husband is in good physical shape, aside from the cancer. The chemo is taking a toll on him; he is tired constantly. The doctors want him to have December free of chemo or any other treatment to allow him to regain his strength & white blood cells before surgery.
I am glad to hear that you are having a positive experience. My husband and I feel that the neobladder will allow him to have the most normal quality of life, post op. Of course, if he must have an external bag, we would accept that as well. Saving his life is the most important factor. We have an 8 month old little boy that needs his Dad!
Thanks again for sharing your story. I hope your recovery continues to go well.
Also, we were going to go to either Vandy Medical Center or IU medical Center for a second opinion. We ended up at IU only because we were able to get an appointment there faster than at Vandy.
Thanks again,
Steph