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Timeline diagnosis to treatment

Cosita
  • 2 replies
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Hello,

After being in hospital for 2 weeks with kidney failure, my 85 year old mum had a biopsy last week which confirmed that she has bladder cancer. The cancer has penetrated the bladder wall and the vaginal wall. Her bladder can only hold a tenth of the volume of urine it should be able to hold. 

The urologist mentioned in passing that it is a 'high-grade' cancer and after a chest CT scan - which she had 2 days ago - we would have an appointment with an oncologist who would discuss treatment options with us. 

When I took mum for the scan, the technician said it would 'probably be a week or two' before we would get to meet an oncologist. I'm struggling in the void to be honest. Would you have any idea what stage cancer my mum might have from my description? And in your opinion, does it make any difference chasing the hospital up? 

Many thanks for your help.

  • Just to add: is it standard practice to send patients for a chest CT before deciding treatment? There has been no mention of it spreading further than the vaginal wall... Thank you.

  • in reply to Cosita

    Hi Cosita

    Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to the Online Community. I’m Hilary  one of the Cancer Information Nurses here on the Macmillan Support Line. 

    I’m sorry to read that your mum has recently been diagnosed with bladder cancer and that you are waiting to receive an appointment date to discuss treatment options. I appreciate how difficult this must be. Waiting for results can be a worrying time. You can read a little about how to manage this uncertain time here.

    It very much depends on the volume of scans that are waiting to be reported on, as to how long it will be before you hear about an appointment. Two weeks is about the average wait time, but it may be sooner. If you feel it would help to discuss this with someone, you can telephone the urology consultants secretary or if your mum has the contact details you can call the urology clinical nurse specialist (CNS)

    Regarding the urologist’s comment about the cancer being high grade, the grade of a cancer means how much the cancer cells look like normal cells. It tells your doctor how the cancer might behave. 

    To find the grade of cancer cells, doctors take tissue samples (biopsies) and send them to the laboratory. A specialist (pathologist) looks at them using a microscope. You can find further information about the grading of bladder cancer here

    The stage of a cancer means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. The CT scan results will help determine the stage and this will enable the consultant to decide the treatment your mum will need. There are several methods of describing bladder cancer stages. Your mum’s consultant will be best place to discuss the stage of your mum’s bladder cancer based on one of these methods.

    Here is a link to further information about bladder cancer that you may find useful in helping you to understand what happens going forward.

    I hope you have found this helpful. Please do get in touch anytime we can be of support in the future.

    Best wishes

    Hilary.

    Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

    You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

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