Risk and Learning Help Please

@ckmerc - I am not a medical professional and cannot provide medical advice. First of all - I am wondering if you should consider a 2nd opinion. As you may know, Bladder cancer can be very aggressive and many times the first sign is blood in the urine. I personally did not have that but was diagnosed with aggressive BC anyway. If you are concerned enough that this may be something more serious that your doctor is telling you, for your own piece of mind you may want to consider the test. I am disappointed that your doctor basically left this entirely up to you though. Possibly another doctor could look at the test results that you have had so far and give an opinion. I wish I could offer more but understand your concern. You need to do what is best for you and what will make you feel more confident in your current medical concern. Keep us posted and good luck with whatever you choose moving forward. Linda Urbanski ( moderator, Bladdercancer.net team member)

great feedback and appreciate it. I guess I was expecting the Dr. to provide the "recommendation"...he kept saying I was in the 10% bracket and low yield risk. Also...just learning (today) that my father had the same thing and it was not BC I found interesting.. not sure if microhematuria is inherited. (non specific cause I mean)

I will likely get the tests done...I just found it interesting he did not make me aware of the test result in the recent Dr. visit. Just curious...how was your BC discovered?

hi. Like Linda, I am not medically trained. However, I would say since you are getting mixed messages and no clear answer, I would ask to be referred to a urologist to discuss it further. Then you can decide if you feel it’s best to have further investigated. If the doctor you are currently seeing is a urologist, then getting a second opinion may well be the best course of action. Wishing you well. Let us know how you get on. Laura, Moderator, BladderCancer.net

I appreciate the recommendation, Linda - thanks. Linda's tip sheet is a great reference. Contact her directly for a copy.


I AM the poster child for Neo and recommend it without reservation for those who need a bladder removed. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Testing is relatively easy and not that expensive (with insurance), so by all means, see more doctors and get more data. A blue light cystoscopy is an easy out-patient procedure that puts a camera directly into the bladder for a close look. Mine were done by the surgeon at the clinic. Walk in, walk out. Nothing to fear.


I had zero symptoms. My cancer was discovered by chance a year ago by a radiologist looking at a hip scan. An invasive procedure called TURBT was done shortly thereafter and confirmed the BC, but I waited another six months doing (unsuccessful) treatment before having the bladder removed.


Creating a neo is not easy, so don't be afraid to ask HOW MANY your surgeon has done. Practice makes perfect...and my Dr said he does 50 per year. No problems in recovery and none since surgery six months ago (except the ongoing unhappiness in my digestive system, which is entirely manageable and relatively free of discomfort).