Unexpected Twists: Bladder cancer and metastatic urothelial carcinoma

I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2014 and dealt with both TURBT procedures and BCG for quite a while. One day a piece of cancer blocked my ureter and I required a robotic surgery to cut and reimplant the ureter into the bladder. I was instructed to begin chemotherapy after this by my oncologist, but I decided to go to Sloan Kettering in New York for a second opinion.

Unexpected Twists

They told me not to do chemotherapy which wound up a big mistake as I took their advice. After suffering from small intestine problems for months I finally seemed ok. In April 2019 I noticed a big lump on my side. Turns out that the Robo surgery had dropped some cancer pieces in my body. Upon doing a scan and a biopsy I found out that my cancer had metastasized in several different areas of my body. I started on chemotherapy which turned out to be very successful as all cancer disappeared for 3 months. Slowly some of it started to come back and I have tried immunotherapy, radiation, and new treatments as they have become available.

Uncertain Road Ahead

I still have cancer and I am trying a new chemotherapy this coming week after several previous rounds of treatments. I still have my bladder but the worst part is most of the cancer is on the outside of the bladder surrounding the reimplantation. If I were a gambling man, I would say robo surgery is for the birds as they drop too many cancer bits in your body.

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