Chemo treatment

[Cindi54]

Hi @Jennifer66 ,

I'm in Sydney NSW. You're in Victoria aren't you?

Don't get me wrong, my chemo isn't all bad, it's only for the week after the double dose that knocks me around, I can cope and I WILL. I'm determined to stick it out.

It's mainly the Carboplatin that my body doesn't like and the steroids given with it.

I know a woman who had breast cancer last year who had the strongest  chemo and sailed through.

So if one can handle the steroids which help stop the nausea and vomiting, it shouldn't be bad, but I can't tolerate them much as they cause me to have screaming tinnitus in my ears, and make me spin out too much. My treatment has to be tweaked.

It affects everyone differently.

So I hope I haven't put anyone off.

I had a large aggressive tumor in the lining of the right Ureter, up near the kidney , it had broken through into the muscle and fat, but hadn't reached the lymph nodes, the chemo is to mop up any escaped microscopic bit of cancer that may have gone into the bladder .

I don't know why it's called bladder cancer, but that's what they said. I'm going to ask for more details next

Onc visit which will be just before my next big chemo day, in 2 weeks time.In the mean time, my side affects aren't too bad right now so I'll be making the best of it, even going back to my gym for some gentle exercise🙂

Ive also not met any females with this sort of cancer, they told me its rare and may be caused from smoking ( I smoked when I was young for about 20 years, but lightly.) Or it could be just from the pollution we all breathe in.

Did they tell you why you may have got it?

I have a good few questions to ask my Onc next time I see him.

xx💙😘

[Cindi54]

Hi @Jennifer66 

Sorry I hadn't read all your messages when replying then, can you tell me please what your Onc said about it spreading through the body if it's broken through the muscle and into fat?

Thanks,

xx

[Jennifer66]

Hi Cindi54

yes I’m in Melbourne 

As long as you are tolerating your chemo most days that is good 

And like the doctors say everyone is so different 

you have to understand chemo in bladder cancer is so different as only in bladder so if anyone has affects nothing like what you would experience and I’ve never had any effects 

my ureter has not been able to be removed because of the bladder cancer, if the bladder comes out it can be ressected 

I don’t think I ask as much information. As you do, I guess I just need the basics of what’s going on, as I’ve heard many times ‘medical science doesn’t always have the answers’ and as my tumours keep coming back there does appear no answers and exactly why I was to get bladder cancer and ureter cancer

together, I’ve never smoked in my life no family history of cancers that would have any affect completely unlucky but the same for anyone in the same situation 

[Jennifer66]

Hi Cindi54

i see a professor who is a professor in urology, , urologic oncologist, specialising in urological cancer surgery

there are six layers to bladder lining (I think that is right)  my tumours sitting on lining and also tumours pushing into connective tissue which pushes into muscle,  fat is next layer after muscle, once it has gone into muscle it is in your body and bladder cancer once it spreads will go into lungs liver lymph nodes first and treated as metastasis and chemo treated like you would be having. I have been given a timeline if I elect to do nothing 

[Cindi54]

Hi @Jennifer66 ,

Oh my oncologist said that mine hadn't reached lymph nodes, doesn't it have to do that to spread?

x

[Cindi54]

Hi again @Jennifer66 ,

I believe they think mine hasn't spread as a large margin was taken from the involved muscle & fat ( as well as the ureter etc.) and the spread finished well before margin.

I'm not 100% sure, and will definitely bring this up at my next appointment in 2 weeks.

I believed I was lucky and got it in time.... but maybe not.🙁

I guess they don't know everything, and therefore my chemo  (i thought) was a mop up for "in case"?

I'll find out more and let you know.

I'm sorry your tumor's come back.

xx

[Jennifer66]

Hi Cindi54

bladder cancer often attacks lymph nodes first but not necessarily, fat is only a protection layer

Sounds like the ureter cancer is different when you don’t have bladder cancer as if you didn’t have bladder cancer there is nothing to get out of the bladder and that is why you would be having chemotherapy differently as you don’t need it in your bladder