Hi. I was diagnosed with MI bladder cancer in June of 2024. I'm a 55 year old female. You’re right. It is scary. In the past six months I've been through 3 mos of chemo and today marks exactly 5 weeks since my bladder removal/neobladder surgery. It's certainly not easy, but you can absolutely do it, too. I would suggest allowing yourself to lean on the people around you. They will help you get through it. All my best to you!!

Hello @louw and welcome to Connect. My husband has dealt with invasive bladder cancer for 5 years now. Initially he had surgery and chemo to remove a small diverticulum off the bladder where the cancer was found. Lymph node removal at that time showed one positive node so the chemo was done, as well as Gemzar in the bladder. Continued recurrence and a failure on BCG and Keytruda ended up with a radical cystectomy and prostatectomy with Neobladder creation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He did not want a Urostomy so this was his choice. He has experienced many complications due to this surgery but now that all have been dealt with, he is happy with the outcome. He does self catheterize 3 times a day. He was 69 when he had this surgery. Others with this surgery have had better results but perhaps scarring from his initial surgery was an issue.
I recommend researching your options and forming questions for the surgeon. You want a urologic surgeon who has done many of the procedures. Referral to a large specialty center is an option. It is a big surgery with a week or more of hospitalization. It can produce a cure, though, and that is what is most important.