My dad has bladder cancer

[BPH]

He just got back from an appointment after having blood in his pee for a little while.

He doesn't recall whether or not it's in the muscle walls, but based on what he's told me, the doctor suggested treatments to extract the cells, which leads me to believe it's still highly treatable.

I wanted to see if anybody here has had cancer, or maybe has family who's had cancer, and recovered. I understand that doing a water fast and doing one's best to be in a positive mood (laughter, something to look forward to, fun activities) has proven to be very helpful.

Just seeing if anybody here knows anything.

 

[Plinco]

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully this was caught early enough so it's more treatable.

My understanding is that cancer is basically a parasite acting on an unhealthy body. Look up Dr. Eric Berg on youtube (here's one of his videos on cancer), in my experience he's well informed in other areas with health.

 

[Gamisch]

Damn bro...that's really unfortunate. Let's pray he'll get better soon.

Spend time with him, appreciate him and spoil him where you can. I wish him all the best and may God bless him with a fast recovery!

 

[Doctor Europeo]

Sorry to hear. I lost my dad to cancer.

He did the traditional chimoterapy and radioterapy but that didnt cure him. It was already stage 3 or 4 by the time he caught it.

 

[characternote]

I had it young. Bladder. In my late 20's. Never even smoked or anything so the docs were very surprised. Just bad luck.
Had the tumour operated on and had a kind of chemo solution put inside me.
Had checkups for like 5 years in a row and so far it's come back all clear each time.
I don't know anything like as much as I should bearing in mind i'm the one who had it! I also forgot a lot of what I researched at the time.
But yes, whether it has gone through the muscular wall effects things a bit. But try not to panic too much yet (easier said that done!). Even if it's through the wall, there's things they can do depending on the stage

 

[Prepostereax]

I know someone who's had bladder cancer / in remission
So yeah, totally treatable

Obv I don't press on details
But a nice lady will insert a tube in his d!ck and pump him with chemo
Expect some hair loss. Haven't noticed other symptoms, but maybe short-term fatigue?
Still has sex drive

 

[BPH]

Some more information...

It looks like the cancer is stage 3. The place that would schedule him is closed, so I guess he'll have to call/wait to be called tomorrow.

During these appointments and tests, it's been revealed that he also has an aortic aneurysm. I'm waiting to get the full report from my mom about whether it's abdominal or thoracic, as well as the size.

He just turned 69 last month, has never been a smoker, and is generally active with an average diet, so all of this has been a surprise.

 

[plumber]

you will know more when more test and info comes to you. if he needs help, and you can help him that's nice. if i have trouble with something serious usually one of my kids helps out, usually a lot. getting the help is nice, but the feeling that its coming from the kids (adults kids) is really special. i have known some that recover and some that don't.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Sorry to hear that man.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Oh man...that really sucks, I'm sorry to hear that.

Did they let him know what stage? Or have they not gotten all that sorted out yet? Typically that's when they'll have a better idea of how to treat it and the timeline, etc...

 

[Clockwerk50]

I’m sorry, man.

I lost my grandfather in the 1990s to prostate cancer. He was in his 60s, and according to my family, he had been peeing blood for a while but never bothered going to the doctor.

One of my girl’s in-laws recently chose assisted death after dealing with lymphoma for six years. Near the end, he was on experimental drugs because the cancer would only stay away for a couple of months before coming back.

Her grandmother also died of cancer. She had colon cancer at a younger age, then breast cancer, and then colon cancer again. Another girl I was seeing lost her dad at a young age (she never said how), and her mom had cancer in her head. She lost so much hair that she had to wear bandages on her scalp because the skin was breaking down and looked like an open wound.

Most of my family members, however, have died from heart-related issues.

Either way, I’m probably not much help and don’t know much about the subject, but it seems like many forms of cancer are highly treatable these days.

 

[BPH]

Oh man...that really sucks, I'm sorry to hear that.

Did they let him know what stage? Or have they not gotten all that sorted out yet? Typically that's when they'll have a better idea of how to treat it and the timeline, etc...

Stage 3. We won't know whether it's localized to the bladder until he goes back in to have it removed; at least that's my understanding.

Everything we know so far is based on a dye test and CAT scan.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Stage 3. We won't know whether it's localized to the bladder until he goes back in to have it removed; at least that's my understanding.

Everything we know so far is based on a dye test and CAT scan.

Gotcha...well, it's definitely better than stage 4, and the good news is that survival rates are actively improving with new treatments and immunotherapies, so hopefully that's something he can benefit from...

 

[BPH]

Gotcha...well, it's definitely better than stage 4 or 5, and the good news is that survival rates are actively improving with new treatments and immunotherapies, so hopefully that's something he can benefit from...

I'm optimistic. I'll be more optimistic when we get news whether it's confined to the bladder.

My mom was a nurse, so she's taking it the worst. She heard "stage 3" and has been very upset.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Sorry to hear OP! Best of luck to your pops.

You will want him drinking alkaline water, avoiding processed sugar, and taking in as much vitamin C as he can. A little fasting is good but you also need nutrients.

 

[MatureDJ]

Urothelial cancer has been ominous in my family tree. My understanding is that for an otherwise generally healthy patient, the new drug Keytruda is very effective, at least in concert with other chemotherapy Rx.

I've had a different urological cancer (mixed-cell non-seminoma testicular tumor, Stage 1), so I know the general song. Once the diseased primary organ (or part of it) is excised, it is then a question of curing any metastatis (i.e., cancer cells leaving the primary organ, and finding a new place). The lymph nodes were designed to filter out stuff, and so the next step for cancer is to go there, at which point it's considered Stage 2. Stage 3 is when it gets into the lungs or brain, and Stage 4 is anywhere else.

Because Keytruda is nowhere near as nasty as earlier chemotherapy, I would think that giving it adjuvantly (i.e., with no sign of metastatis) is standard now. Getting chest X-rays & CT exams (this will be for the retroperitoneal lymph nodes, that are in the lower back) for surveillance will be often; the dye is radioactive iodine for contrast for the CT scanner. I'm not sure if a lymph node disection is a standard therapy these days, but this operation entails taking out ALL of the guts so that the surgeon can get to the back from the inside , and remove a bunch of lymph noides - and like it sounds, it's pretty rough. For my cancer, I did neither adjuvant chemotherapy nor the lymph node disection, just doing surveillance, and I'm still around .

 

[MatureDJ]

Gotcha...well, it's definitely better than stage 4 or 5, and the good news is that survival rates are actively improving with new treatments and immunotherapies, so hopefully that's something he can benefit from...

I've never heard of Stage 5.

 

[MatureDJ]

I lost my grandfather in the 1990s to prostate cancer. He was in his 60s, and according to my family, he had been peeing blood for a while but never bothered going to the doctor.

<snip>

Either way, I’m probably not much help and don’t know much about the subject, but it seems like many forms of cancer are highly treatable these days.

The big thing for treating cancer is to get it looked at EARLY. There is a new chemotherapy Rx called Keytruda which sure seems like a component of a silver bullet, at least for folks that don't have any co-morbidities.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I've never heard of Stage 5.

Yeah, I forgot that most cancers only have stage IV except for rare childhood ones at times...

 

[Clockwerk50]

The big thing for treating cancer is to get it looked at EARLY. There is a new chemotherapy Rx called Keytruda which sure seems like a component of a silver bullet, at least for folks that don't have any co-morbidities.

Are there any symptoms or clues that can identify whether you have it or not at one of those early stages?