Community Views: Support From Family and Friends During Bladder CancerBladder cancer can be an overwhelming journey. Having support during bladder cancer treatment eases the burden. Sometimes, loved ones may not know the best ways to offer support. They are... By Editorial Team 3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Losing More Than Just a MonarchToday has been a strange day. A day as a nation in the UK we will never forget. A day when we lost so much more than a figurehead or... By Laura MacKenzie3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Paramedics and UrostomiesOn January 8th, 2023, I was involved in an accident. Shielded by the car to my right as we turned left at an intersection after receiving the green arrow, I... By anitac4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments8 comments
Intimacy After CystectomyI am a sex-positive person. I think education and conversations surrounding sex and intimacy should be normal. I am even more passionate about these conversations being part of all the... By Brittney Tellekamp2 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Fallout From a Failed Chemo InstillationThe ride home from Mom's first chemo instillation was heavy. We had done everything within our power to prepare her for this day, but it felt like a failure of... By Charles Anthony Ulloa3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Being BraveYou're so brave. I'm so inspired by you. You're doing so great. You are so strong - blah, blah, blah. I have heard all of this and pretty much every... By Brittney Tellekamp3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments13 comments
Starting an In-Person Bladder Cancer Support GroupI was shocked when I was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2014, as are many others. Online sites were my salvation and certainly showed me that though this form... By Linda Urbanski4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Radical IndeedAfter most of 2020 dealing with nuisance symptoms like urgency and producing small foreign objects when I, then a major symptom; About 12 times a day I was having what... By jamzm1 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
My Dog Knew I Was SepticWe can all agree that our pets are very intuitive. They just seem to "know" when something is wrong and, in their own way, try to help. Early on in... By Brittney Tellekamp3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
Helping to Shape the Future for OstomatesI have to say. I often feel so privileged for the rewarding opportunities having been through a bladder cancer journey and becoming an ostomate has brought me. Of course, like... By Laura MacKenzie3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
A Letter to Newly Diagnosed MeLet me start there. You are so beautiful and have an inner strength that will change lives, even if you don't know it yet. You have suffered in silence, with... By Brittney Tellekamp2 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Walking Back Into the WardAlmost 5 years after I left the ward where I was post-surgery, I walked back in here tonight. Tonight, as the workday was drawing to a close for many Glaswegians... By Laura MacKenzie3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Who Is Nurse Anita?Nurse Anita, aka Anita Nurse, aka the Stoma Whisperer or the Stoma Doula. I'm all of those things, but mostly I consider myself a healer. I just happen to have... By Anita Claire Prinz, RN, MSN, CWOCN3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
Not Another Coloring BookLet's get in the time machine and go back to September 2019. I was freshly healed from my radical cystectomy, starting to get acquainted with having a urostomy and grappling... By Brittney Tellekamp2 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
26 Year Old with Bladder CancerStarting in early October of 2022 I had a bout of hematuria which mostly presented itself as blood clots in my urine and orange pee at the end of my... By Kirk Espeland2 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments34 comments
Happy to Still Be Alive!In Jan 2017, I turned 68. In 68 years, I was pretty healthy, with 4 operations in all those years (3 after age 65), nothing out of the ordinary. In... By soulmates923 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments4 comments
5 Years Clear!The 1st of November 2017. This is a date I will never forget. A date that will always have great significance in my life. A day I will continue to... By Laura MacKenzie3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
Cold Weather Ostomy HacksThere I stood at my bathroom counter, a third failed bag in the trash, and staring daggers at my stoma. Nothing I did could get my ostomy bag to stick... By Brittney Tellekamp3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
High Grade Urothelial CarcinomaI slipped on the ice (Christmas Eve) and fell hard. Within the hour, I noticed blood in my urine. The blood was present for 2 days. I went to the... By CyndiMayo1 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments13 comments
Living With a Retracted StomaToday I am looking at the impact of living with a retracted stoma. If your bladder cancer treatment plan includes surgery to remove your bladder, known as a radical cystectomy... By Laura MacKenzie3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments