Diana
Following a much needed vacation just prior to my 59th birthday, I noticed little brown flakes in the toilet. At first thought maybe it was some rust peeling from the toilet tank. However, after about 3 weeks, when I began spotting and the vaginal irritation I had experienced upon returning from vacation remained, I decided it was time see my OB/GYN. She examined me and asked if the spotting was vaginal or coming from my urinary tract. I told her the truth: I didn’t know and I had no way of telling.

She treated me for both a yeast infection and a urinary tract infection. The medication didn’t relieve the symptoms but since I was never in serious pain and since the doctor hadn’t seemed worried, I did not believe there was anything seriously amiss. It was not until a month later, when those little flakes in the toilet transformed into a frightening red deluge, that I called the doctor and insisted that something was really wrong. She sent me in for an ultra sound; then called to tell me that I had polyps on my bladder. I realized I was in trouble. Never, in my wildest dreams did I think I was headed for major life changing surgery.

I made an emergency appointment with a urologist. He went over the results of a second ultrasound and told me that these tumors meant I have to have my bladder taken out. I was dumbfounded.On January 28, 2006, five months after my first symptoms, I had a radical cysectomy. While some cancer cells had penetrated to the outside of my bladder wall, there was no evidence of cancer in any of my nodes. My doctor said I did not need chemotherapy.

Recovery from the surgery had its ups and downs, but mostly up. Bladder cancer is a serious disease and success is judged in annual increments. A year following the surgery, my life was pretty much back to normal. I hike on week-ends, work part-time, travel for fun and party when I have the opportunity.