My journey to Bladder Cancer

Thanks and hope all ok for you now. 

Yes thanks, I'm fine and hope you will be too.

Yes, I have no regrets about my choice. Recovery took a while, but looking back, it seems a short episode in my life. I was then able to get on with everything I normally did, having adjusted to new toilet habits. have neobladder - internal reconstruction. Many opt to have the standard stoma, even if offered neo - pros & cons to either option. 

Hi Caust,

Your story seems similar to mine - a uti that wouldn't go away; to be fair to my GP when we started the second type of antibiotic she made the referral to Urology which, even though I could access privately took 4 weeks to obtain an appointment, a further month for a cystoscopy and another month, following an extremely direct letter from my GP to the urologist essentially advising to get the finger out for the TURBT which unfortunately confirmed MIBC.

I completely relate to what you have said about having to push for things - Ive had to push for every scan both pre and post diagnosis. 

My treatment plan (which I had to chase) is 3 (round 2 started today) rounds of gemcitibine and cisplatin followed by RC (the only surgical intervention suitable). 

There are definitely days where I feel a bit battered not so much by the diagnosis but the fight for info and progress but I try to remember that this is in many ways a fight and Im very stubborn which is helping me tackle some of these issues.  What I would say is now that my treatment has started appointments are coming thick and fast for chemo and surgery which is reassuring.

Everyone on this forum has been so generous in sharing their experiences with me and it has helped me a-lot in terms of questions to ask and things to consider.

Can I be nosey and ask which hospital you are under?  I’m also under one of the big London hospitals.  

I'm at UCL 

Thank you for sharing your story and your motto. I will try to adopt it. I hope you remain well and in good spirits.
My dad has been diagnosed and so I’m new here. There’s a lot of acronyms in your post. Is there somewhere on the forum to find out what they mean?