I had a small (.5 cm) papillary tumor, low grade, non-invasive removed in May 2006; I got complacent after almost 2 years of no recurrence, even knowing the statistics. On Friday the 13th (June), my uro spotted 2 tiny ("pin-head size) tumors, in a different spot than my initial tumor. So, I'm going in today to have them out, in-office procedure. The first time I had it done in outpatient surgery under mild anesthesia, as I really didn't want to be awake. However, this time I'm giving a try at having the procedure done in the office; I've been given ativan and vicodin to take a little ahead of time, and hope those plus local anesthetic will do the trick. Uro is sure the recur is going to be the same type, stage and grade as the first, but we'll see what the pathology report comes back with.
I'm not really worried, more just mad that I'm back to square one for another 2 years of 3-month cystos. Compared to what a lot of other people are going through here, I know I'm one of the luckier ones (so far at least), but I'm still annoyed. As someone phrased it in one of the forums, you're "living your life in 3-month chunks." I wish it were now 6-month chunks, but at least I know things will be watched and kept under control. Because of my anatomy, I have an above-average amount of discomfort during the cystos, and bladder spasms after for several hours. Uro gave me an anti-spasm medication sample (urelle) and that seemed to help, and he's also found out that tipping the table slightly helps as well.
My dad also had bladder cancer (in his 70's), with one recurrence, and I can well remember how pleased he was when he got to the point of having annual check-ups. I hope maybe I'll follow in his footsteps in that regard. (He had smoked heavily, and ended up dying at age 84 from lung cancer. I never smoked, but was exposed to a lot of second-hand smoke from both parents, while growing up in a small NYC apartment.)
Wish me luck!
