INFO PLEASE SO SCARED

Hi TraceyB and welcome to the group. I am sure you will get lots of support here as you go forward. It is understandable you are feeling scared. The early days of uncertainty and not knowing can be the worst. It is not unusual to get little information in the early days as there will be little to tell you. Once you have your op, they will analyse the biopsies and have  a lot more information. Things then start to speed up. Not sure how the fistula affects things, but now you have a date for your pre op, the actual procedure  (TURBT) should follow soon. Best wishes.

Hi TraceyB,Welcome to this friendly group.There is plenty of advice and support here so I hope you will find it helpful.As rily has said you will get more information in a follow up appointment after the TURBT.I expect you will find out more about the fistula then or at least you should be able to ask about it.Best wishes for your pre op.Jane

Dear TraceyB, welcome to the group,, as rily says it is very kind and supportive.

Just about how you came to get an abscess in the first place and what I personally would see as the implications. From the days before doctors had antibiotics to 'play' with, an abscess was viewed as a sign of being what was called 'run down'. This is the result of poor nutritional status and probably stress and overwork as well.

So may I suggest that you first check with your pharmacist and get some best -quality- you- can- afford multivitamins/minerals* [one-a-day], plus fish oil capsules and sustained release Vitamin C to take am and pm. All best with food. I get all mine online.

If you can afford any organic food it has a higher nutritional content than ordinary and no nasty pesticide residues. 

All this will give you body the building materials for fighting infection, stress and unwanted misbehaving cells to gain the best results from the medical treatment you will receive.

*way to check quality is read the ingredients. If it has zinc oxide don't buy, it should have zinc citrate, or zinc picolinate, or zinc amino acid chelate etc.

My husband never even got a call from the cancer specialist nurse and that was before covid. But this forum has been all I've needed and he is happy with seeing the consultant when he has checkups.

Best wishes, 

Denby

Abscesses are caused by bacterial infection, whereas bladder cancer is highly unlikely to be caused by an infection. Given the proximity, I guess there might be some link, but could also just be a fortunate chance that one condition showed up the other. BC is very treatable, but until you have had the tumours removed and biopsied, you will not know which treatment will be appropriate. At that stage, you should have a full consultation with a bladder consultant & be allocated a specialist nurse.

Oddly, a vesico-vaginal fistula can be a complication of bladder removal surgery with reconstruction. In that case, it is usually left to heal by itself, but surgery is sometimes needed. 

Please not not feel you have to spend money on vitamin supplements or organic food. Neither are necessary if you have a normal heathy diet with plenty of fruit & veg - aim for a Mediterranean diet. There is no evidence that organic is healthier than other food. Try to get plenty of sleep & exercise. This will all stand you in good stead for coping with your forthcoming surgery. 

We are all familiar with the worry & fear when waiting for action & results. Hope the wait is not too long for you.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/is-organic-healthier

may be an informative read. It takes a very cautious view compared to some of the lab nutrition stats available.

Best wishes, Denby

I understand fully abotu lack of information. The NHS treats you as a number unless you kick & scream. I went for my pre op tests & told the nurse abotu having no information. She quite literally marched us into the Oncologists office & stayed with us while she made him answer all our questions. Out of interest, the Oncologist has turned himself around & now looks us in the eye & takes the time to speak to us. Make a fuss!

We read many books on cancer, especially my wife. Cancer cells are fed by many things, refined flour, sugar, especially. We are on a Paleo diet with every organic & everything made from scratch.Plus we are under a private oncologist who provides certain inexpensive blocking meds to block the cancer cells from being fed.

Before making any major changes to diet, or adding supplements, worth reading advice from here:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/treatment/coping-with-treatment/complementary-therapies/diet-and-food-supplements

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies

Always seek advice from a professional to ensure that you are not doing anything that may be harmful rather than beneficial, or that may prevent conventional treatments being effective.