Actions after diagnosis

I am sharing this media star’s report with you because I think she made the wrong decision and it could have taken her life.  Her experience is shared openly and I admire her for that.  My opinion is that when she first noticed a problem she should have acted on her instincts and taken her doctor’s advice.

My own experiences occurred twenty years apart.  But the first one definitely caused the second one.  I didn’t know that was a possibility at the time.  My worry was the 80% chance they gave me of getting breast cancer.  Was warned repeatedly by my oncologist about this.  Bladder cancer from radiation was not in my mind at all. I was told that the uterine cancer could occur again, even after my total hysterectomy. After the typical five year period they give you, I thought I was free and clear.  However if any other serious health problems came up, I always thought the cancer had come back.  It’s always in the back of your mind somewhere, lurking.  As it turned out, the internal radiation I received via the uterine cancer is what my current doctors are sure caused the bladder cancer.  Bladder cancer chemotherapy hasn’t changed much at all since the 1970s.  New treatments are coming. I was fortunate to not have the chemo and radiation was out of the question.  I had a pet scan before surgery to determine what they would have to do.  I knew they would remove the bladder but wanted to know what else.  Luckily the surgery worked and the post surgery chemo was determined to be unnecessary.

The bottom line for me is to recognize any unusual problems you have, not just with the kidneys or bladder, etc, but anything at all that your instincts tell you isn’t quite right, and have yourself checked.  It will be worth it, not just for peace of mind, but to catch things early enough to get effective treatment.