Hello! I am so sorry. I have been exceptionally busy since I entered my question.
I did not have to have my bladder removed yet. We thought there was also a tumor outside the bladder, so I was treated with IV chemo for an entire year, from May, 2021 to May, 2022. It seemed the chemo had taken care of the tumor inside my bladder, but after the year of chemo, I had a PET scan that showed the tumor had grown. That is why my oncologist stopped the IV chemo and put me back on Lonsurf oral chemo, which I had been on in 2019 and 2020.

My oncologist ordered a biopsy of the tumor outside my bladder, and it turned out to be an abscess! I never had a tumor there. So then she wanted to have the inside of my bladder checked again, to verify that I was cancer free. Unfortunately, I did have a polyp which turned out to be malignant. So now, I'm back to Square 1.

We agreed that I would stay on the Lonsurf for 4 months, then do another PET scan. If the tumor has grown or shows no improvement, she recommends that I have my bladder removed. I am a 13-year survivor, now age 66, and have endured a lot of chemo and radiation, as well as had multiple surgeries. Right now, since I came off the IV chemo, I feel the best I've felt in about 3 years.

Thank you for your recommendation to join the discussion with other Stage 4 members. I will do that, now that I have some time to do so.

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