New to Group - Reaching out to community

Hi Maazz and welcome to this supportive group. Firstly, be aware that bladder cancer can be treated successfully one way or another. I also was diagnosed with a very large mass and was treated with radiotherapy and so far still have my bladder many years later. If it does come to removal, then we have many members here with experience who can help you. Early days yet for you, but once you get your results things will become clearer and once you have a treatment plan , you have something positive to focus on going forward. Best wishes.

Hello Maazz, the situation you are in is familiar to all of us on here regardless of which path our diagnosis and treatment eventually takes. It is the waiting for results that adds to the tension and can send the mind racing. There are many on this forum who have had their bladder removed. I'm sure you will see a response from them soon. Even if your doctor and the team advise a different course of treatment after their meeting, someone on here will likely have had similar experience to share. Do bear in mind that we are cancer patients, not medical professionals, so always seek detailed medical information from your contacts within your cancer team. As for anxiety, posting on here helps. Different individuals will try other methods e.g. I resort to self hypnosis relaxation videos on you tube or listening to music in an effort to distract my mind from cancer for a while. There is a Macmillan contact number somewhere below if you scroll down. It is not a 24hr service but many have been helped by the experienced staff when they don't quite know which way to turn. Wishing you good luck and a successful course of treatment.  Ray x  (76, diagnosed 2017 with 7cm non muscle invasive bladder tumour, Radiotherapy + TURBT x 2 in 2017/18, palliative treatment regime since early 2019, living alone independently, driving etc.) 

Thank you Rily, really appreciate your message.  

Thank you Ray, really appreciate you taking the time to reach out

Hi Maazz,

Welcome to the club. I am female, diagnosed over 3 years ago and had my bladder removed aged 70. It may feel like the end of life as you know it but it isn't so bad, and you will have a good quality of life after it.

There are lots of us like you on here at various stages of treatment and afterwards so you can ask us anything and someone will have an answer.

As far as anxiety is concerned, I'm a comfort eater so don't ever lose my appetite! But I have always been very optimistic about this (and other medical problems I have had). I don't say I'm positive because everyone becomes upset from time to time and then some feel bad because they couldn't stay positive. But my tips are:

• Understand as much as you can about Bladder cancer (no need to Google, Macmillan's booklet is very good and downloadable from this site). Of course if you feel better not knowing that's fine too.  Cancer  Research and NHS sites are safe resources you can trust as well.
• Think about how you are as a person and what sort of things about illness and treatment worry you then see if you can think of how to handle them. For example I was glad that they would be removing my bladder because they would be taking the cancer with it. I know others preferred to keep their bladder. Chocolate helped too.
• Try and live day to day during all of this. Find things to distract you and don't get ahead of yourself. My mantra is "worry doesn't cure cancer" (or anything else). So I stopped myself thinking too far ahead and stressing about stuff that may never happen. Once you start the next phase of treatment you'll become very busy with appointments and having these people working with you can be energising. Cancer treatment is very 'full on'.
• If you have family or close friends, keep an eye on them. Everyone focuses on the patient while the people around us may need help too.

I hope some of the above helps. Eating healthily is good too, you need the nourishment to keep you going. 

Keep in touch.

All the best,

Latestart

Thank you, it's really helpful to hear this, really appreciate it