You’re Not Alone: A Guide to BCAN’s Bladder Cancer Support

June 1, 2026

Transcript

Voice over:

This is Bladder Cancer Matters, the podcast for bladder cancer patients, caregivers, advocates, and medical and research professionals. It’s brought to you by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, otherwise known as BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advances bladder cancer research, and provides educational and support services for bladder cancer patients and their loved ones. To learn more, please visit bcan.org.

Rick Bangs:

Hi, I’m Rick Bangs, the host of Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast for, by, and about the bladder cancer community. I’m also a survivor of muscle invasive bladder cancer, the proud owner of a 2006 model year neobladder, and a patient advocate supporting cancer research at the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or as many call it, BCAN, producers of this podcast.

I’m pleased to welcome today’s guest, Patricia Rios. Patricia is the director of education and advocacy at BCAN. She brings over 20 years of experience in healthcare and public health with expertise spanning community engagement, program design, project management, evaluation, health promotion, and cultural competency. In her role at BCAN, Patricia leads the development, implementation, and evaluation of patient education programs and resources to support individuals affected by bladder cancer. She also oversees BCAN’s advocacy initiatives at the federal and state level, working to elevate the patient voice and advance policies that improve care and outcomes for the bladder cancer community.

Thanks for joining us, Patricia.

Patricia Rios:

Thank you for having me, Rick. It’s a true honor.

Rick Bangs:

Oh, it’s my pleasure. So some of our listeners may not have had the pleasure of meeting you yet, so can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your part in fulfilling the BCAN mission?

Patricia Rios:

Absolutely. So my name is Patricia Rios and I serve as a Director of Education Advocacy at BCAN or the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. And in my role, I get to develop and lead many of the patient education programs and advocacy initiatives that empower patients, caregivers, and families with the information they need and the support they need to navigate a bladder cancer diagnosis. What I love most about my role is really being able to bridge the gap between patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and industry partners to ensure that everything that we do is centered on improving the outcomes and the quality of life of the community we serve. And supporting BCAN’s mission in this way is the most meaningful part for me.

Rick Bangs:

You have a really broad role, which makes you uniquely qualified for a mission today. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to provide a quick overview of BCAN resources for both patients, caregivers, and partners. And today, BCAN has a lot of options, so you’re only going to provide a taste of what is currently on the buffet. So it’s kind of a sampler plate. While everyone can benefit, I think those new to a bladder cancer diagnosis and their family and partners, along with those new to BCAN itself, we’ll find the tour particularly helpful. When we post the transcript of this call, there are going to be some links that will provide more detailed exposure to everything. So Patricia, are you ready?

Patricia Rios:

Born ready.

Rick Bangs:

Okay, let’s go. All right, so we’re going to start with something that’s pretty foundational to a bladder cancer survivor or the family or caregiver, and that’s Bladder Cancer Basics, which now comes in three different flavors. So talk about that.

Patricia Rios:

As you know, Rick, a bladder cancer diagnosis can lead patients and their loved ones feeling overwhelmed. And so our flagship guide, which is Bladder Cancer Basics, is a plain language, expert reviewed publication available in English and Spanish. It is available in print and online, and it covers the full spectrum of disease from what causes bladder cancer, the diagnosis, to treatment options, and some survivorship topics. And caregivers also play a critical role, yet they’re often overlooked in the role supporting patients. So the BCAN’s Tips for Caregivers Booklet offers practical tools to ease the emotional and logistical burden of caregiving. Both the Caregiver Guide and the Bladder Cancer Basics are free resources to ensure broad access for not only patients, but also healthcare professionals so they can make these available for their patients. We update these guides regularly to reflect new therapies and evolving guidelines and also the latest in medical knowledge.

And as you said, the Bladder Cancer Basics is available in English and Spanish, and they can be downloaded from our website, but we can also mail those to anyone who may request a print copy.

Rick Bangs:

We’re suggesting this is a great starting point, and we’re going to switch gears now, and we’re going to talk about the specific resources which center on support and involve people. And one of my favorite things and something I know I personally would have loved to have had after my diagnosis is the Survivor to Survivor program. So what’s that about?

Patricia Rios:

Well, the Survivor to Survivor is one of my favorite programs too. So Survivor to Survivor is a program that’s meant to provide one-to-one support. We have over 200 volunteers who are available to help patients who have been either newly diagnosed to help them by offering compassion and share their personal insights about diagnosis and treatment and help them navigate life with bladder cancer. This is a peer-to-peer connection program that provides meaningful emotional support and practical guidance. It is a program that is also open for caregivers as well, and all of our volunteers are trained. Again, as you mentioned, Rick, it is one of the most popular programs we have because it is a program that helps provide hope and helps patients not feel alone.

Rick Bangs:

And you do a little bit of matching, right, with the survivor to survivor?

Patricia Rios:

Yes. Well, I want to say there’s more than matching.

Rick Bangs:

Okay.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. Well, there are many peer-to-peer programs out there that match patients. And what I like to say that what we try to do here at BCAN is look at the whole person. So rather than just matching a volunteer with a similar diagnosis to a patient, we look at the patient and as a whole individual and look at not only diagnosis, but also gender, look at what their hobbies are, look at if let’s say there’s a veteran. So we look at different things that may help us better connect them with another volunteer so they have things that they can connect on besides their diagnosis and they can help them support.

For example, we have a patient who swimming was really important for that patient and connecting them to another… Yeah, so connecting them to a patient who also was a swimmer was really meaningful because someone who’s going through this for the first time, they think they may never swim. And when they talk to somebody who has gone through different treatments, that they can still do things that they enjoy, it really creates hope and lets them see that there is light at the end of all of this.

Rick Bangs:

Right. And get a feel for the real world day-to-day lived experience. So that’s awesome.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. Yes.

Rick Bangs:

I want to talk about the online support community. And so BCAN has one. It’s got over 60,000 members. So let’s talk about Inspire.

Patricia Rios:

Yeah. So the best way to think about Inspire is it’s an online health community and social support platform that helps connect patients, caregivers that are navigating similar health journeys, not only here in the US, but also across the globe. So Inspire is an international program. And there’s another way in which BCAN aims to support patients and caregivers by giving them a space where they can connect with people who truly understand, share experience and ask questions so they feel a little bit less alone. One of the beauties about the Inspire community is that we have actual BCAN patient advocates who are on the platform monitoring questions so that they can also ensure that every question that’s there gets answers. So nobody feels alone, right? So that if you’re posting a question that we’re able to connect you to the right resources.

And we do this in partnership with the organization that manages Inspire and their name is Inspire. So it is a well-structured program that is monitored and that is safe also, I think, which is important nowadays because there’s so much information out there and sometimes the information may not always be accurate. So we do our best through this online platform that we’re monitoring the conversations and that things that are posted there relate to the community that’s there.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. All right. May is the month for the walks for bladder cancer and they are incredible networking opportunities. So tell me about the walks.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. So May is Bladder Cancer Awareness Month and during Bladder Cancer Awareness Month we have anywhere from… Well, this year we have 19 walks, but any year we can have more than that or a little bit less than that, but there’s walks across the US and hopefully there’s one near you so that you can find the closest one to you and attend. And as you said, the walks are so meaningful because they are tremendous networking opportunities, but I also feel they’re a way to make a real difference in the bladder cancer community. And they’re more than just a walk. They’re a chance to honor survivors, remember loved ones, support those that are currently facing bladder cancer, and most importantly, help raise awareness about this disease, which often doesn’t get enough attention, right? So we use this opportunity to bring that community together and to invite others to help us bring awareness.

Rick Bangs:

And we often see our clinical partners there as well.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. We have our clinical partners, we have our industry partners, and other community stakeholders that come together and support our walk. And we’re really excited because I think that the walks at BCAN have grown over the years and we need that, right? We need all that attention so that more people can hear about bladder cancer, know bladder cancer is here and also know that BCAN is here as our resource to support those individuals.

Rick Bangs:

And there’s also the opportunity for virtual walks. So all this information will be in the link, which is very important. Okay. So BCAN started holding patient summits in the past several years. So where and when is the next one and what is encompassed in a patient summit?

Patricia Rios:

Okay, Rick, I may be a little bit biased about the patient summits because I lead those.

Rick Bangs:

Oh, okay.

Patricia Rios:

And those are my favorite events. The patient summits, we have two a year. We try to change the location every year. And the reason for that is because we want to create access for all the individuals across the US to attend a summit. The summits have, I would say, two to three objectives. One is to build community. Again, we often hear that many patients feel isolated, they feel alone. And so being in a room with over 150, close to 200 people who understand is really powerful. The other objective of the summit is to nurture hope. I’ve heard time and time again for people who have attended the summits that they leave the event with a sense of hope. And that is powerful, especially when you’re newly diagnosed, to be surrounded with others who have gone through that and to know that not only there’s a community to support you, but also there’s all this new and exciting research.

And that’s the other component of the summit. The summit is to provide education and to empower patients so they have the tools and the knowledge and the resources they need to thrive. And so to do that, we invite guest speakers, we invite local experts in bladder cancer from your oncologist, to medical oncologists, even to allied professionals to help educate patients about survivorship topics from sexual health to mental health, to what are the latest treatment therapies that are coming down the pipeline. So it’s an opportunity over a two-day period to really be surrounded by a nurturing community, but also to learn.

And so you asked when is the next patient summit? The next patient summit, it will be in August in San Diego, August 28th and 29th to be exact. And I invite everybody who’s listening today, patients, caregivers, survivors to join us. And especially if you’ve never attended a summit. If you have attended the summit, we also, I encourage you to attend. I think we have what we call our groupies, which are individuals who join us at almost every summit and they will tell you how important it is for them to attend the summit, even if they attended a previous one. Because again, it goes back to that community and it becomes a place where you connect with individuals who understand what you’re going through, but also you form friendships with these people. And so to be able to see them, the summits are also a platform where a survivor volunteer may meet their mentee or support groups use the summit as as an opportunity also to get together.

So if there is one event that I would say, well, I guess two, a walk and a patient summit, those are two you should definitely put on your radar to do it in the next year.

Rick Bangs:

All right. So BCAN has an 800 number now, so how can I use that?

Patricia Rios:

We are very fortunate to have been able to partner with CancerCare to provide a support line for anyone impacted by bladder cancer. And before I tell you what the support line does, let me tell you what the number is and when it’s available. So the number for that support line is 833 Ask4BCA or 833-275-4222. And so it’s available Monday to Thursdays from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Friday is between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM, and these are all Eastern Time. And as I mentioned, this is in partnership with CancerCare. So what that means is that the support line, it is staffed by trained oncology social workers who are bilingual, speak English and Spanish, and they are there to provide emotional support and help navigate callers through resources, whether it is resource on our websites, clinical trials, or resources in your community. Let’s say you’re having issues or challenges with transportation. They may be able to connect you to some organizations within your community or some other financial funds that are available for you within their resources.

I would say that the support line is that one-stop shop for all the needs that you may have because that you have someone that’s navigating you and they have an array number of resources in their database to be able to support patients. In addition to that, I think the most important thing is if you need somebody to talk to, they’re there to provide that kind of emotional support. And they’re, as I mentioned, trained oncology social workers.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. So you mentioned the support groups, and there are actually a number of those, including one for females. So what’s available there?

Patricia Rios:

Yes. So on our website, we have a listing of support groups, both virtual and in person. I think many people don’t know too much about that resource, to be honest with you. And so I hope that we get to, one, help spread the word about all the support groups that we have there. And also, if there is a support group out there that’s not on our website, too, please let us know so we can add it. And as you mentioned, there is a support group for women that is run by BCAN, but there’s other more specific support groups. There’s a support group for ostomy, there’s support group for neobladders, Indiana Pouch. I mean, there are specific support groups as well as general. And so browse through that listing because you can find one almost every day, whether it’s in person or virtual at different times throughout the day.

But let me tell you about the female focus support group because that one is specifically run by BCAN. All the other support groups that you may listed there are run either by peer facilitators or in partnership with some other organization, but the Female Focus Support Group, that one’s run by BCAN and it is held the first Tuesday of the month from 70 to 8:30 PM Eastern time. And the registration information is also on the website. And that support group, we have anywhere from goodness, 50 to 65 women who join us every month. And it-

Rick Bangs:

Wow.

Patricia Rios:

… sounds like… Yes, I know that sounds like a lot. And it’s great because we start as a big group, but then we break into smaller groups. So there is that sort of intimate conversation. So I invite all the ladies out there who are listening to join us if you haven’t been to a female focus support group meeting.

Rick Bangs:

That’s terrific. Okay. So BCAN on its website has a number of patient stories. Tell me about those.

Patricia Rios:

Patient stories are, in my view, of the most meaningful ways we can elevate the patient voice and create a sense of community. Hearing from patients and even caregivers, it helps people feel less alone and reminds them that there are others that have walked a similar path. And through the BCAN stories, we can highlight all those patients and their journeys. We invite anyone who’s willing to share their story to submit their story or request to participate in that. That’s also on our website. And also to browse, there’s a numerous amount of patient stories there. And oftentimes you may see those stories highlighted through our social media platforms. Again, I think that the patient’s stories, you never know when one story may touch another patient and that’s why having so many different patient stories are so important because everybody’s journey is so unique and there might be something that may resonate from your story that may not resonate from others. So I invite everybody to participate in that and support that resource.

Rick Bangs:

Okay, great. Okay. So now we’re going to switch gears. So we were talking about people centered support up till now, but we’re going to switch gears and we’re going to talk about information on bladder cancer, bladder cancer treatment, bladder cancer survivorship. And obviously the Bladder Cancer Matters podcast is just one of many options. So talk first about webinars and videos.

Patricia Rios:

One of the things that I learned many moons ago is that people learn in different ways. Some people like printed stuff, others like a lot of information. Some can only manage things in little pieces, right?

Rick Bangs:

Yeah.

Patricia Rios:

And so this is why, if you’ll notice, we have all kinds of resources to cater to the different learning needs of our community. And so the webinars and the videos are an additional resource to the print resources that we have. So each year we have about 10 or so webinars and they cover different topics from diagnosis, latest in treatment, survivorship. And what’s really great about our webinars is that even if for some reason you’re not able to attend… Although I encourage everybody who’s listening to attend a webinar because you have the opportunity to ask questions. We have a dedicated Q&A session, a question and answer session after each webinar. And so you’re able to ask a question there and submit a question for the speaker. But let’s say for some reason you missed the webinar, not to worry because we post all of our webinars on our YouTube channel and on the BCAN website.

In addition to that, we also transcribe the webinars and provide printed handouts of the transcript as well as the PowerPoint slide. So you can use that to highlight. If you wanted to print that handout, you can highlight and make notes in addition to listening to the recording. Now, the webinars are one source of educational resource, like a video, but we also have smaller videos or other types of videos that I like to call more animated that help patients understand, for example, what is a cystoscopy. There’s a lot of important procedures and new terminology when it comes to bladder cancer and our animated videos help us to explain what are more complicated procedures so that patients can understand.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah. I love that you’re offering these different ways of learning and consuming information because that is so important. We’re all different in terms of what we want and what we need. So what about tip sheets and one-pagers?

Patricia Rios:

Going back to what you said, we all need different things to help us and based on how we learn best and what we need. And so the tip sheets and the one-pagers are essentially another tool in the toolbox that we have for patients and caregivers. And really what these are, they’re plain language tips from patients themselves about what to expect before, during, and after common bladder cancer procedures. The tip sheets, what we like to call them is get the facts. They were developed with guidance by BCAN Survivorship Working Group, and they cover an array of topic from what is BCG, what is a radical cystectomy, what is Indiana Pouch, what is survivorship? And there’s like over 20 different topics on our website that are covered there. And as I mentioned, these were developed with the help of patients. And so on each of these tip sheets, you’ll have questions that patients should ask their provider when they’re having these conversations with their provider.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. So we have a relative newcomer, which is the treatment matrix. So what’s that about?

Patricia Rios:

Yes. Well, the treatment matrix is one of my favorite tools and one of the tools that I often refer patients to, particularly now in this day of age that we have seen so much innovation in a bladder cancer treatment space. And what treatment matrix is is a tool that allows patients to identify and look at the different treatment options available to them based on their diagnosis. So for example, if someone has non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, now they can see some of those options, right? For example, explain like TURBT and BCG and other sort of intravesical therapies, and the same could be set for the other types of bladder cancer. So I encourage everybody to, especially when they’re having conversation about treatment, to have the treatment matrix tool available to them to review. And if there is a treatment that’s listed there that perhaps their provider has not mentioned, to have the conversation with their provider and says, “Is this an option for me?” So it is a tool to empower patients to know what’s available, but also it allows them to learn more about each of those therapies that are listed there.

Rick Bangs:

And that’s constantly changing. So it’s getting updated along the way.

Patricia Rios:

Yes, yes. And yes, and you know that better than us, right? There’s been a lot of innovation, so we have to make sure that we’re keeping that up to date.

Rick Bangs:

Right, right. Which we’re grateful for. We’re incredibly grateful for the innovation. It’s just wonderful.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. Yeah.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. Talk to me about survivorship care plans and there are something called population specific pages.

Patricia Rios:

I’ll start by saying this. One of our patient summits, we had a session about survivorship care plans, and it was interesting to see how this is a tool not often talked about, and many patients are not exactly sure what it is. I want to say that on the BCAN website, we have three different types of survivorship care plans. We have one for non-muscle, muscle invasive bladder cancer, and advanced metastatic disease. And we’re looking to develop one in the future for upper track. These were developed in partnership with our survivorship task force. And what these are, they’re comprehensive individualized documents designed to guide post-treatment care and optimize long-term health outcomes. What does that mean? It’s that as patients continue their care across different settings and providers, they need a living document that’s updated, that has the patient’s health status and also their treatments received. So it is a document that can be taken from one provider to another. And I know nowadays we have electronic medical records, but as you may know, Rick, sometimes those electronic medical records don’t talk to each other.

So having this tool with you as a patient can empower and can help with continuity of care. So this is a tool they can take with them to any provider and have them fill it out and to keep it with them across different visits. Now, you asked about the population specific pages. We know that certain populations are affected by bladder cancer differently. What I mean by that, for example, veterans. Veterans have, because of their occupation, have increased risk and have been exposed to certain toxins due to their occupation. Like Agent Orange is one of them that we hear most often. And so what we’ve done is we designed pages on our website for populations, veterans being one of them, firefighters be another, and women, to be able to customize resources and highlight what we have available for the specific population so that they can go there and find the resources, links and relative information that can help them as they navigate the journey.

We’re looking to always add and enhance those. So those who are listening, if you visit those websites, if there’s anything else that you feel will be needed in those particular pages, please let me know because we’re here to support and enhance those resources for our community.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. Excellent. All right. So BCAN’s had a clinical trial finder for some time now, and I personally, firmly believe every patient should consider a clinical trial if one’s available to them. Now, I said consider. That doesn’t mean that they should definitely participate, but they should consider it if there’s one available. So what should people know about the clinical trial finder?

Patricia Rios:

Well said. I do agree with you that patients should consider and always ask, because I think sometimes they’re not told about clinical trials. So definitely ask if there’s a right one for you. What I would like people to know about clinical trials, like our resource is on the BCAN website that we do have a clinical trial dashboard, a resource finder. Oftentimes when people talk about clinical trials, they talk about clinicaltrials.gov, which is the government website that lists all of the clinical trials. And if anyone has gone on that website, they probably understand how overwhelming it is because it has… Yep, it has tons of information and it’s focused on all the clinical trials available out there.

What makes ours unique is that our clinical trial dash pulls from theclinicaltrials.gov, it pulls trials from there, but it only pulls those trials that are related to bladder cancer. And my wonderful colleague does all the quality control and reviewing those trials that are there to make sure they’re properly coded and they’re easy for people to navigate. In addition to pulling all the clinical trials that are bladder cancer related there, people can also filter those clinical trials that are listed based on their bladder cancer diagnosis, as well as where they’re located. So there’s some filtering capabilities there as well, which we hope makes it easy for patients and caregivers to find a clinical trial near them.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. All right. Now there’s a section on the BCAN website that’s got resources by states. So what am I going to find if I go to one of those pages?

Patricia Rios:

Excellent question, Rick. Well, in addition to finding a clinical trial that’s in your state, our state resource page really lists a lot of helpful resources that are available in your area. As I mentioned, it lists clinical trials that are available in your state if there are any, but it also lists the NCI, the National Cancer Institute designated centers, as well as the National Comprehensive Cancer Centers. And these are centers that have been recognized for their cutting edge cancer treatments to patients. So those I think are very vital as well as statistics on bladder cancer in each state. And what I like also, it lists the veteran affairs hospitals that are available in that state as well.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. All right. So now for patients like me who might be interested in advancing the research about bladder cancer, that you’ve got several opportunities. We’re going to start with the Patient Research Advocate Network.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. I’m so glad you mentioned that. And thank you for always being willing to volunteer in that capacity. We need more. I think it’s so exciting at this day and age that we’re living that there’s so much innovation and interest in the space and the patient voice is so central to all of this. And so we often receive requests from researchers and as well as industry for patients to provide the patient voice when it comes to these studies and innovation. And so our patient research advocate network, what it does is it pulls from our list of volunteers who are interested in these kinds of opportunities and allows us to match them to these requests or invite them to participate in those requests. So for example, I have volunteers who are serving on advisory councils or who are reading proposals. We most recently had a few patients that we nominated to review grants for the Department of Defense research grant programs.

So the opportunities are vast. And I would say patients always have the opportunity to say no if I come with an opportunity. But it can be… I guess what I’m trying to say is we can customize it to the level of comfort of the patient. But I do say that this is so meaningful and we need the patient and the caregiver voice when it comes to research so they understand or the researchers know what’s important to the patient, the kind of impact the research has in them.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah. These are incredibly rewarding opportunities. So I encourage people to seek them out. Any other research opportunities?

Patricia Rios:

Yes. I think the other piece that I would mention is, as you know, BCAN also has a research focus and under that we have many different grants that we give out. And we’re often looking for reviewers. Again, these requests come maybe once or twice a year, but for anyone that is interested in participating, well, I’ll be providing my email address at the conclusion of this podcast. But if this speaks to you, I’d be happy to share our intake form, which is a volunteer registration form for anyone interested in any kind of research volunteer opportunity that’s out there.

Rick Bangs:

Great. Okay. So now finally, we’re going to talk about what I might label as calls to action. So we’re going to start with the bladder cancer awareness space.

Patricia Rios:

Rick, this is so important. What I’ll say is there is a lot of work for us to create awareness when it comes to bladder cancer. Many of us when we hear the word bladder cancer is when either it’s a diagnosis generally. I know when I first heard about bladder cancer when I first was introduced to BCAN. And so that tells me there’s a lot of work to do to create awareness and ensure that bladder cancer is not a word that they hear at the time of diagnosis, but it’s something that we all know about because we know that it exists and we know what the signs and symptoms are. And also that those who are impacted by this that know that there is support, there’s community, that they’re not alone. And that’s where BCAN comes in.

What we’re trying to do specifically through my team with the education advocacy is the latter part, is to ensure that anyone who at the moment of diagnosis is diagnosed with bladder cancer, that at that moment when they feel overwhelmed, that they don’t feel alone, that they know that BCAN is here and that we’re here, that they have all these resources to support them.

And so my call to action is, if you like to help us with that piece, what we are looking for is… Or rather we invite you to do this. We invite you to help us create that awareness and help those providers, particularly if those who are listeners who are like, “I didn’t know about BCAN until I Googled it.” Well, you’re the right person for this because that means that we need to go talk to your provider. And if you could take them our starter kit, which really is a folder that has a copy of basics, has a copy of our caregiver, our fact sheets, and all the resources they need to be able to give to their patients so that patients don’t have to feel lost. They don’t have to go out and look for this information themselves so they have this at the right moment. That’s what I would say will be my call to action.

And the other call to action really is, you heard a lot of me talk about a lot of things like a summit, but also a low hanging fruit or something easiest is if people feel comfortable is to share their story. That’s always very powerful. And I mentioned, there’s many ways you can do that. We provide that platform here at BCAN.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. Okay. BCAN also has a bladder cancer app. So what can I do with that?

Patricia Rios:

Oh, yes. The app allows you to access all the information I just shared with you throughout this podcast. Through the app, you can access all the information that’s on our website. You can access our bladder cancer basics. Also, receive notifications about whether it’s walks or just if we launch a new webinar recording on our website, it is the best way to stay informed. But it can also help you track your appointments. It has a note taker, so it has multiple uses. So I would encourage everyone to download the BCAN app. It’s available both on Android and iPhones. You’ll have BCAN available at your fingertips 24/7.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. Excellent. All right. So we’ve covered a lot of ground, but do you have any final thoughts?

Patricia Rios:

Well, first, I would just want to thank you, Rick, for the opportunity to highlight all the resources that we have available for our community. I feel like there’s so much.

Rick Bangs:

Fair enough.

Patricia Rios:

Yes. And as you mentioned, this is only a teaser. There’s a lot more that we didn’t cover. I hope you’ll invite me back for another part two, but I would say my final thought is very simple. One, that there is hope and there is community. BCAN is here to support patients and families every step of the way, and that together we can continue to raise awareness, improve care, and move closer to better todays and more tomorrows for everyone affected by bladder cancer.

Rick Bangs:

Oh, that is terrific. Thank you. All right. So Patricia, I want to thank you for giving us a guided tour of the breadth and depth of BCAN resources available today.

If you’d like more information on bladder cancer, please visit the BCAN website, www.bcan.org. Patricia, could you share your contact information?

Patricia Rios:

Absolutely. So for anyone who would like more information, wants to get in touch with me, I am going to share my email address, which is P for my first name. And then Rios, my last name, @bcan.org. So let me spell that out. [email protected]. I would like to also mention that, as Rick said at the beginning of this podcast, that all the information that was listed today, the transcript of this podcast will have links to those resources. So we are trying to make it easy for everybody who’s listening to find and access the resource that we have here. But again, as I mentioned, I am always available and so is my team to help. If anybody has trouble finding anything or there’s something that you’re looking for and you don’t see it there, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to support you.

Rick Bangs:

All right. That’s awesome. Just a reminder, if you’d like more information about bladder cancer, you can contact the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network at 1-888-901-2226. That’s all the time we have today. Please like, comment, and subscribe so we have your feedback. Thank you for listening, and we’ll be back soon with another interesting episode of Bladder Cancer Matters. Thanks again, Patricia.

Patricia Rios:

Thank you, Rick.

Voice over:

Thank you for listening to Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advance bladder cancer research, and provide educational and support services for bladder cancer patients. For more information about this podcast and additional information about bladder cancer, please visit bcan.org.