Thought It Was UTIs

Hi all! My name is Amanda and I'm going to school for secondary education!

I want to teach high school social studies and history; I had 2 semesters left before this whole cancer charade, so hopefully I can get back on track soon! During the summers I work 10-hour days as a summer camp teacher, so I've been either not working or rarely going in for a few hours to help out.

During the school year, when I'm not in my own classes, I work at the same school where the summer camp is located, as they have an after-school program. So, I work with the same kids year-round which is so fun. I miss them so much! When I go in lately, I'm bombarded with hugs and it's the sweetest thing ever.

Blood in urine, but no infection

Anyway, I am in my late 20s and I've had quite a few urinary tract infections (UTIs) over the years. Back in March, I was on vacation to Seattle (where I actually got engaged!) and, of course, the fiery pees of hell began. It was so bad we had to figure out how to get antibiotics from a pharmacy while across the country (Apparently Amazon does that. Who knew?).

That continued and I immediately went to urgent care when we got home because there was a bit of blood in my pee. They took a sample and said it was not a UTI. I'm like, oh. Perfect. At that point, I got in contact with a urologist.

More blood meant more tests

She suspected I had interstitial cystitis because of the UTI symptoms and no infection. So, I'm like, “Great! How do we treat it?” Of course, there are no treatment options. Sick. AZO was still my ride or die solution. We set up a cystoscopy (which I was TERRIFIED for because I had never had anything like that done) and a bladder ultrasound.

A few days later, I peed literal dark red blood. I called my fiancée into the bathroom and was like, "Uhhh, I don't think this is what it's supposed to look like." LOL. So, back to urgent care. Another pee test: This time it confirmed a UTI. So, I got antibiotics, thank god.

Ultrasound revealed a lump

The ultrasound showed a lump, so a cysto was the next step. A few days before the appointment I called and asked if I could be under any kind of sedation, but she said no. I took 3 Ativan and cried through it, but we got it done. My fiancé said the tumor looked like coral reef and the urologist said it looked very weird. Glad they had fun. LOL.

Healing from the cysto was the worst part of all of this (So far. I start chemo in 2 weeks.) I've had painful UTIs, I get migraines, I've had a lumpectomy and my coochie felt like it was on fire for 3 days. I felt like I was peeing out tiny hot pins and needles for 3 days. I was constantly sitting on an ice pack, and I would dread going to the bathroom. Not fun at all.

Next came a biopsy

After that, I had to get a new doctor because mine left. The new doctor did a transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) about 3 weeks ago now. I was totally chill for this because I knew I was going to be knocked out, and I'd been through a similar process before with the lumpectomy.

However, 10 minutes before the procedure, the anesthesiologist came in and said, "Oh. by the way, we're just going to keep you awake since the tumor is so small. The doctor thinks she can get it all out in about 15 minutes. We'll lightly sedate you though." Like...um....NO? Immediate tears. My fiancé knew what was happening and before he could even say, "No. We're sticking to the original plan," the guy was like, "Oh. You're really nervous. Nevermind." Like, who wouldn't be nervous?! That's always the hardest part of anything medical for me. Doctors treat you like a patient or a statistic.

Diagnosed with bladder cancer at last

Anyway, post-TURBT, my tumor ended up being non-invasive type Ta, so I consider myself (so lucky) I caught it early. My doctor recommended 6 weeks (1 dose per week) of chemo, which I start in 2 weeks, and I'm anxious and scared to get that started. I have so many questions about it because my doctor didn't really explain anything other than to say we're just doing this as a preventative measure.

As chemo starts, I have developed another breast lump

After chemo, I get another cysto, for which I will be adamant about getting some type of sedation because truly the first one was traumatizing. Then another cysto in January, and then annually for 10 years after that. AND, during all of this, I also found a second breast lump. So, I might have to go through another lumpectomy.

Eager to move on with my life

I just want to enjoy being engaged, have fun planning a wedding, finish school, and actually get to finish summer camp with my students. I'll have to give an update after chemo starts!