My father was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2012, just days after his 58th birthday. He lost his mother to the disease years before I was born. Right after his diagnosis, I remember telling myself, “There have been so many strides in cancer treatments over the past thirty years. Surely
Stories: Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
Brenda and Jerry
Tell us about your husband’s journey. My husband, Jerry, was asymptomatic. One day, his urine looked like pure blood. And was bright red. At the time, we thought it might be a bad kidney infection. The doctors ran tests, a CT scan. They told him he had a spot on
Toni Stefani- A Firefighter’s Fight
Retired firefighter Captain Tony Stefani started with the San Francisco Fire Department in 1974. The 28-year veteran retired as the Captain of Rescue 1 in 2003. After being diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma in 2001, he founded the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation and now serves as its President.
Surfing with Ron
I was diagnosed on August 31, 2010. I had biopsy surgery on September 17, 2010 and a cancerous tumor was discovered and removed. On October 29, 2010 (five days after my 61st birthday), I had a radical cystectomy and neobladder surgery. I was able to surf again three months later,
Dancing Her Way through Bladder Cancer – Anne Doesn’t Miss a Beat
New Hampshire native, Anne Theriault now lives in Maryland. Anne spent many years in non-traditional careers with the US Army and in the Bureau of Prisons. She deployed four times to combat zones. Anne began taking up ballroom dancing after a challenging combat tour in Iraq. “I just did it
Jill Fights for a Normal Life
Bladder cancer can be a sneaky disease. Sometimes you have very few symptoms until things hit a critical mass. For me, that happened in the form of a suspected urinary tract infection (UTI). I’ve had UTI’s my whole adult life, so the latest one in summer of 2012 didn’t seem
Matthew’s Bladder Cancer Journey
2016 was the scariest year of my life. I urinated blood around Christmas in 2015, and a CAT scan in February 2016 found a tumor. I had a cystectomy on April 1 and the results were determined to be an aggressive cancer. Next, was another cystectomy which saved me from
Brenda’s Road to Cancer Freedom
In December 2001, my life changed when I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. In the summer of 2001, I noticed urinary changes that I attributed to turning 48 years old. Continency and frequency became issues and my urine turned cloudy with a tinge of darkish red from time to time.
Clinical trial patients…are never forgotten.
BCAN asked Dr. Andrea Apolo, Chief of the Bladder Cancer Section of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch of the National Cancer Institute, what researchers learn from bladder cancer patients who do not survive in a clinical trial. This is what she shared with us: Mr. Z. was enthusiastic about participating in the clinical
Rick’s Neobladder Story
Like others, I had symptoms without a bladder cancer diagnosis for some time – urgency and frequency for eighteen months. I had discussed both with my physician after about nine months. He said that I was getting old (I was only 48!) and my father had prostate cancer. Knowing that
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