Thirty- six hours ago at on the morning of Thursday 29th of June 2017 it was confirmed, I have bladder cancer. What's amazing is how calm I feel. After a week of frantic anxiety and prayers I had the hospital appointment and, after a flexible cystoscopy, I was informed that I have a tumour on the wall of my bladder about 2.5cm in diameter.
About a week earlier I had noticed blood in my urine. There wasn't much, in fact my urine looked yellowish but when I looked at the white toilet tissue it was a sort of blush pink. I rang the doctor who asked me to come straight to the surgery. I walked over there and arrived with ten minutes to spare.
"First, I need a urine sample." The doctor held out a lidded clear plastic vial about four inches tall and one and a half inches diameter.
I looked at her. "You want me to do it into this?" I asked, rather incredulously, holding up the offending object.
I watched the penny drop as the difficulty (and mess) involved in this request sank in and she turned quickly, rummaged in the trolley and came up with a rigid foil pudding-basin- shaped bowl. I toddled off to the toilet, pinching a spout into one bit of the basin lip.
My urine looked clear, the tissue looked clear. It tested positive for blood. I was seen yesterday, after a week of frantic panic and praying. Cancer... Strangely it wasn't too much of a shock, although we'd thought it was more likely to be kidney stones. The doctor and nurses were very efficient and really nice. I'm booked in for a pre-op appointment next Wed, July 5th and for the operation to remove the tumour on Tues. July 25th. I am also going to have a Ct scan to see if its spread. I won't know if its malignant until they test the biopsy they get at the time.
After the initial crying it's amazing how calm both Dean and I are. We have both been reading up on this online and the outlook seems good as long as I have caught it in time. There is a brand new state of the art hospital here, which is where I am being treated and the treatments are so much better than they once we're. It's comforting. And both of us feel energised and focused.
They even make you a new bladder from a section your own bowel or intestine if you need to have your bladder removed. Amazing!
