Hi Colleen,
TURBT done on Thursday. Urologist said he didn't believe the suspected areas had grown in the three weeks since cytoscopy. Report said that multiple biopsies were taken and multiple lessions were resected. Question - one, two, many, multiple? How much is "multiple" in doctor speak? Report also summarized that the cytology did not say malignant, but was suspicious given the T4 UTUC that resulted in the radical NU.
Interesting that I had three cytology tests (Aug 2021, Nov 2021 and Dec 2021) that all reported "no evidence of high grade urothelial carcinoma", even though by December 2021 about 1/2 my kidney had been taken over by the "unnamed" UTUC. In February 2022 the biopsy said muscle-invasive high grade urothelial carcinoma. Note , that based on some internet searching, it looks like cytology results are not really accurate for UTUC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8415726/ "However, as our molecular understanding of UTUC matures, we are learning that UTUC and UCB may, in fact, reflect distinct biological entities—an epiphany crucial to improving outcomes in patients with UTUC."
I have an immunotherapy (Nivolumab) session on Thursday and a monthly consult with my Oncologist. I hope that she will provide information on potential future treatment eventhough the biopsy results may not be available for another week (or 2). Personally, I think that it is "Cancer Round 2 - the Bladder Episode" and that they really shouldn't waste time going through the standard steps. It ate up my kidney in 7.5 months. It has been 8 months since the kidney was removed. Am I racing the clock to the next major surgery? It has a significant head start.
@lrwants2know, you have a lot of good questions for your upcoming consultation with the oncologist. Keep asking questions and ask again until the answer is clear to you. Do you usually bring someone to your appointments to help be another set of ears and note taker?