Florida Bladder Cancer Awareness: Living With Non-Invasive Bladder Cancer

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

Living With Non-Invasive Bladder Cancer - Quarterly Surveillance

February 26, 2014 - September 5, 2014 My quarterly surveillance continues with my local urologist. So far there have been no recurrences. Praise God! April 21 my doctor recommended that I have another CT scan even though my cystoscopy has been normal for a year. Everything looked good on the scan. I believe that it is important to stay positive but because bladder cancer has the highest recurrence rate, it is sometimes hard and our fears override especially when the next cystoscopy is due. On September 14 my urine cytology was negative but my FISH test was positive. A FISH test checks for DNA damage that may indicate the presence of cancer. Because the FISH test is highly sensitive and sometimes gives a false positive, my doctor ordered a second FISH test. That one came back negative. This was a time when we were under a lot of stress. I wasn’t exercising, stopped juicing and was not managing my stress. We were moving and downsizing. Not an easy task. 2014 was a stressful time. Both getting back on my feet and moving to a new home was not the highlight of my year. I am looking forward to 2015.

November 25, 2013 - Surveillance #2. Because the holidays are coming up, I wanted to get my surveillance done early in order to enjoy them. More good news. All clear! No recurrences. This time last year I was having hematuria. I can’t believe a year has past. I have much to be grateful for this year, my health, and can face the new year with optimism.

September 27, 2013 - Surveillance #1. It’s been 3 months since the restaging of my bladder cancer and it’s been 5 months since I completed my immunotherapy. This starts my quarterly surveillance. Today I am having a cystoscopy and urine cytology. This is a stressful time for me because I am not taking maintenance BCG. Instead I am having the doctor check my bladder visually every three months looking for recurrences. The doctor told me my bladder looks good and I had a complete response to BCG treatments. Doctor Smith said my bladder looked terrific and to continue with the surveillance every three months. Praise God!

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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