Please help! My father was recently diagnosed

13 years 9 months ago #32747 by Patricia
Replied by Patricia on topic Please help! My father was recently diagnosed
Your father is 67..he has Medicare..He can go whereever he wants with Medicare??????????? Explain
pat

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13 years 9 months ago #32743 by Dee Ann
Replied by Dee Ann on topic Please help! My father was recently diagnosed
I have been in contact with my step-mom today passing on information and your posts via email. They are concerned about cost and she said that their insurance won't cover him at MD Anderson.

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13 years 9 months ago #32736 by Dee Ann
Replied by Dee Ann on topic Please help! My father was recently diagnosed
Thank you SO much! I'll forward this information on to him now and call him tonight. Hopefully he will take the advice and we can get him in contact with MD Anderson.

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13 years 9 months ago - 13 years 9 months ago #32735 by Alan
Dee Ann,

Both Pat and Mike have steered you right. Plus MD Anderson is only 2- 2 1/2 hours from LaVernia (I live in New Braunfels). No question what I would do especially in muscle invasive. Lots of helpful people and lots of close by accomodations that are reasonable including a Marriot that is connected via walkways. www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/guide-to-md-anderson/services-and-amenities/rotary-house-international/index.html Another link: www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/guide-to-md-anderson/index.html

DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.

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13 years 9 months ago - 13 years 9 months ago #32734 by mmc
Dee Ann,

The "other complications" you mention are not really major issues for having surgery assuming that he is being treated for the high blood pressure and cholestoral and that treatment is keeping those in check.

As Pat mentioned, the really big difference is getting a top surgeon to do the cystectomy and T2 means cystectomy. They always remove the prostate at the same time in men because of the high probability of spread from the bladder. They also remove a good number of lymph nodes to evaluate them to be sure it has not spread to the lymphatic system.

If it has not spread outside the bladder, and from what you stated, that sounds like the case (but needs to be confirmed), the prognosis is pretty good as long as he gets the cystectomy.

There are multiple types of diversions. Cleveland Clinic Article on Urinary Reconstruction & Diversion

I think your next step is to contact the doctor's that Pat mentioned to try to get that appointment at MD Anderson. It's one of the top places in the country.

You may also want to read this in case your father has a concern about getting to the top specialists: Major Bladder Cancer Hospital is NOT optional .

Mike

Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results....distant mets
2/2014 ct result...spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph...

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13 years 9 months ago #32732 by Patricia
Replied by Patricia on topic Please help! My father was recently diagnosed
Dee Ann,
pT2a: Tumor invades superficial muscle (inner half) ... NX: Regional lymph nodes cannot be assessed ... MX: Distant metastasis cannot be assessed
He's got a lot of things to be considered. First of all i would recommend your father go to MD Anderson for a second opinion and for treatment. Dr. Kamat is very good at handling difficult cases plus they have a multidiciplinary team to consult on all the other issues. Also Dr. Dinney, and Dr. Grossmann
I'm sure Dr. Hakim is a good urologist but he's in an office setting and i can assure you he does not see the volume of bladder cancer that MD Anderson does. This is a highly specialized field and you want a top surgeon.
Dr. Kamat
faculty.mdanderson.org/Ashish_Kamat/Default.asp
Dr. Dinney
faculty.mdanderson.org/Colin_Dinney/Default.asp?SNID=1806315031
Dr. Grossman
faculty.mdanderson.org/Herbert_Grossman/Default.asp?SNID=1806315031
With the invasion just into the first layer of muscle its imperative that he have a cystectomy and reconstruction. I had the same thing and am alive and well 8 l/2 yrs later as i had a surgeon well trained that does 90 plus a year.
Make your appointment and they will tell you what to bring with you. Its just a matter of contacting the hospital and signing release forms for the pathology and slides and any other tests they may have done. Did he have a CT scan or bone scan, blood work? They will do all those.
Don't get to far ahead of yourself. There is a lot of good information on the Home page here on newly diagnosed. You're very fortunate that you're close to one of the top hospitals for bladder cancer.
Pat

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