Hi All, First off, my apologies for inadvertently transgressing this site's guidelines. It is the site owners' hard work and responsibility to run it as they see fit, and I should respect that. I did only offer evidence-based info, all from medical research and most from orthodox medical doctors (as anyone will see if they follow the links I gave). However, I am aware that some of this information is contentious for those who think such advice should only come from orthodox qualified medical professionals - and I do not wish to upset anyone. Cancer treatment is a developing field, and what is discovered in one country may take some time to spread to others - even within the same country (not all hospitals even agree that chemo should precede RC for example, even tho' the research and historical evidence is now overwhelming in its favour, done by the research hospitals). Alas, some of this sort of info may only spread by the knowledge of the patients themselves being shared. But I understand the difficulty of this - how to check that non-medical people are giving sound info? For me, it is by always giving the links to the original research evidence so that us patients can make our own minds up and also taking it to our medical advisers. However, back to my apologies at the start - I should not contravene the guidelines of those whose dedication make this site possible. So I thank them for their gracious dealing with my transgression and will now be more discrete. Best wishes to everyone, Ian ... View more

Hi again Kate, I didn't pick up that your Mum was about to start chemo. You and she may wish to know that there are some things that enhance the effectiveness of chemo and reduce the side-effects. Here's my brief summary: Vit.D3 4,000IU-12,000IU daily – enhances efficacy of chemo Magnesium 500mg daily – replaces severe depletion 10 grams (3 scoops) of glutamine powder 3 times a day to minimize the side effects of chemo including neuropathy Vit.A Vit.C – 1 – 5 gms/day Curcumin + piperene – up to 10 gms/day – enhances chemo, especially cisplatin, and reduces chemo damage Co-Enzyme Q10 100mg/day – chemo harms the heart; Co-Q10 helps it Omega 3 oil 5gms EPA – helps preserve muscle in cancer patients on chemo Green or white tea Astralagus - an immune booster ; anti-cancer generally; Aloe Vera – enhances chemo’s effects, enhances apoptosis, improves immune system Milk thistle Bromelain Resveratrol – enhances chemo’s effect Medicinal mushrooms Stay off sugar, sodium (salt) and fruit juices Exercise: as vigorous as possible – walking 30’ day, jogging if poss., and resistance training Best wishes, Ian ... View more

BCa is highly treatable if caught early. But 'treatable' here only means getting rid of the immediate tumour/s and any surrounding disease. BCa is highly recurrent, so a change in lifestyle is worth considering to maximise both handling the treatment and enhancing survival. As to what treatment is best, there are different ideas. But perhaps best to bear in mind that lifestyle is thought to be behind 70% of BCa. There's two schools of thought about whether to have the bladder out right away, or do watchful waiting (I have the latter, even tho' the worst diagnosis - G3/T3/N3/M1 - and in remission this last 30 months, after being told 2+ years ago that I had weeks to live; so there's hope!). The best survival stats to date indicate it is best to have chemo first and then RC (radical cystectomy). However, RC has a 1%-3% mortality rate and up to 50% post-op serious complications. See also: Improving Survival for Patients with Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Dr Ralph de Vere White: An overview of Chemo, RC & survival + new predictive diagnostic with an excellent presentation of the need to do chemo first, then RC with >10 node removal http://www.urotoday.com/37/browse_categories/bladder_cancer/aua_ny_2009__improving_survival_for_patients_with_bladder_cancer__multimedia_presentation10052009.html This states unequivocally that Chemo should precede TURB and RC for maximum survival chance. A major review is that of Dr Bajorin: http://www.asco.org/ascov2/MultiMedia/Virtual+Meeting?&vmview=vm_session_presentations_view&confID=55&trackID=3&sessionID=39 See: Update on T1HG disease - RC or Not RC? http://www.urotoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view_ua&id=222983 2 To reduce the chances of recurrence and probably extend survival: Firstly, exercise - 30'-60' day, as vigorously as poss. I walk about 60' a day; sometimes jog for 30'. There's a mass of evidence that those who survive longer exercise more. Nutrition: move to more fruit and veg and away from meat (especially processed meats - sausages of all types, bacon, etc; white meat if you can't resist). If you can afford it, organic. Juicing once day - a combo of broccoli, cauli, beetroot, ginger, pineapple, cucumber, apple, Brussel sprouts is my preferred. See also: the 'orthodox medico who's found that CAM works' of Dr David Servan-Schreiber (check out his "Anti-Cancer: a new way of life") http://www3.mdanderson.org/streams/MDACCFlvPlayer2.html?xml=publicEd/config/Anti-Cancer_cfg. and http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/topics/FilesDownload_files/IO E%20Guide_V3.pdf ("Integrative oncology is no longer an “alternative” approach to cancer care. Increasingly, prestigious academic cancer centers (for example: Harvard, Memorial Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson, Duke, UCSF) are incorporating integrative oncology within their practice of taking care of patients living with and beyond cancer.") Avoid sugar, fast-carbs (bread - but rye if you can't give up - pasta, potatoes), alcohol, coffee and perhaps dairy products. Supplements: as well as a good background multi-vit/mineral (I use NutriShield monthly packs), Vit D3, then up to 12g/day of curcumin+piperene, boswelia, astralagus, and white/green tea for anti-cancer; probiotics, beta-glucan or similar immune boosting pills, mushrooms and their extracts. See http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/ I take or have taken graviola, spirulina, wheatgrass and pau d'arco tea in copious amounts. My 'rule' is evidence-based supplementation with little or no known side-effects (nothing to loose). I find feedback essential to see how I'm doing and as a motivator - indications of cancerousness by cancer markers (CEA, NMP-22), inflammation, body composition (weight, muscle-mass, fat). Four things I'd add: The orthodox overview is well shown in this and associated vids: http://www.videojug.com/interview/bladder-cancer-prognosis-2#whats-the-average-prognosis-for-someone-diagnosed-with-bladder-cancer And maybe the best anti-cancer website: http://www.canceractive.com/Search.aspx?srch=bladder%20cancer A good overview for women is: http://www.urotoday.com/media/presentations/nmp22/bladder_cancer_and_women_3_3_2010/player.html Check out the latest BCa stats on http://calendar.cancer.gov/aboutnci/servingpeople/snapshots/bladder.pdf This shows that the oncologists don't seem to be making as much headway as their promoted treatments claim - incidents and mortality has been constant for 20 years, despite all the claims and money. For another view on survival rates for BCa http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_3x_Survival_rates_for_bladder_cancer_44.asp Note that all seemingly poor cancer survival rates are heavily front-loaded - that is, quite a few die quickly but a lot live a lot longer than the average. A lot of colleagues here have lived many years since being diagnosed with very bad BC - so it is possible to get by OK. Best wishes, Ian ... View more