[livingwith]

Since I found out this all seems like a nightmare, the doctor that is treating me is very good but he has me quite confused. He stated when he did the cystoscope he removed the entire tumor and that no further treatment was necessary yet. He then proceeded to tell me that I would have to come back to follow up and have another cystoscopy in 3 months to see if the cancer has grown back. It was beginning stages when he removed it but I am still confused that nothing else was done. If anyone has an...Read the full article

[BladderCancer]

Hi Danielle

I was recently diagnosed with Bladder Cancer and will be having my first cytoscopy in three days. From what I was able to learn, after the tumor is removed, it is examined and staged by the pathologist. The stage determines further course of treatment. Once you get this information, they will decide to either treat with chemotherapy or continue to follow up every three months to see if it grows back, and remove it again. My urologist told me even if he removes the tumor it will most likely grow back. The seriousness of it is based upon how deeply it grew into the layers of skin and especially muscle in the bladder. If it is on the surface and not so deep it is not as dangerous it may be a stage 0 or 1. If it is deep, it may be a stage 3 or 4 and it requires more agressive treatment and even removal of the bladder and surrounding organs. You should call your urologist and get the staging information which may give you a better idea of what to expect treatment wise. I also have a two week follow up to rescope and see if he got it all out. Then again every three months for a re-scope. I guess this is standard treatment for this type of tumor.