Florida Bladder Cancer Awareness: January 7, 2013

Florida Bladder Cancer Awareness

Katy’s Mission:

To promote bladder cancer awareness to the Florida public. If I can help just one person, then maybe together we can spread the word. Knowing the signs and symptoms can save your life!

Katy’s Story:

Even though I was in the health care field for 20 years and taught smoking cessation classes, I never knew a patient with bladder cancer and never heard of bladder cancer prior to my diagnosis. The signs and symptoms I experienced were classified as a UTI. It wasn’t until a year later that I started to experience intermittent hematuria followed my gross hematuria. It took one and a half years before I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. My goal is to promote bladder cancer awareness in the state of Florida.

My motto:

We each receive blessings along life’s paths. When we do we should pay it forward. A kind act always goes a long way. I thank God every day for being with me along life’s path. I thank physicians who work so hard, medical staff personal who are there with a kind word or smile. I also thank scientists, researchers and generous financial supporters that help find cures.

Friday, May 8, 2015

January 7, 2013 - First surgery and biopsy

It’s been about 9 days since I was diagnosed. Now it is time to remove the tumors and have them biopsied. Biopsies are important because they tell the doctor the stage and grade of the cancer and treatment options. I was admitted to Florida Hospital Outpatient surgery in Orlando for a TURBT procedure which is a removal of the tumors. I was scared and nervous but I prayed the night before with a vengeance and I felt an unexplainable peace within me. I was very impressed with the outpatient surgical center. The nurses were attentive and kind. Anesthesiologist came in to meet with me after I was prepped. The nurses made sure I was warm and comfortable. They even gave me warm booties for my feet! Operating rooms can be quite cold and sterile and I will never forget how they made me feel comfortable in a very scary situation.

Surgery took 1 1/2 hours removing 4 tumors, one approximately 2 cm. and one just outside my ureter orifice. I went home with a catheter. Prior to surgery I asked for a slide of tissue to be sent to Johns Hopkins pathology department for a second opinion.

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Florida Bladder Cancer Awareness

I was diagnosed with high grade Bladder Cancer in December 2012. So why now do I want to tell my story? Because I couldn’t talk about it before and now I want to promote bladder cancer awareness to the public. To educate others so they can act quickly on any signs and symptoms to rule out bladder cancer. You must be proactive in your health care. Bladder Cancer is 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. The lack of public recognition results is less funding for research, treatment and cure of BC. Bladder cancer is the #4 cancer in men and #9 in women. With proper diagnosis, bladder cancer is a treatable disease and there are more than 500,000 bladder cancer survivors in the U.S. today. If it is not treated early, it could be a deadly disease. I have decided to share my story with others. I hope sharing my story will open the eyes of the public to take caution with chronic UTI infections and blood in the urine and to put themselves under the care of a urolgist ASAP. Seek a second, or even a third opinion. My goal is to bring bladder cancer awareness to the public so we can talk about what is normally an unmentionable subject. Finally, I would like to thank the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network for promoting bladder cancer awareness, their moderators and my fellow BCAN family for all their education and support. I don’t know where I would be today without their help. If you have been recently diagnosed with bladder cancer and need help, I encourage you to visit BCAN Inspire.

Florida Bladder Cancer Awareness