Raising Awareness About Bladder Cancer
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-02/raising-awareness-about-bladder-cancer
Bladder cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. and one of the most expensive to treat. Each year, more than 60,000 new cases are discovered and 14,000 Americans die from the disease. Guest host Susan Page and guests look at efforts to spread the word about bladder cancer.
Guests
Sandra Steingraber
biologist, author and bladder cancer survivor. She wrote "Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment."
Dr. Mark Schoenberg
director of urologic oncology, The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Diane Zipursky Quale
president and co-founder, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.
Comments
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Hi Diane,
I am writing you about your Bladder cancer awarness that you are having on Aug2,2010.
My Mother just passed away about 7 months ago with Bladder cancer.
She was fighting this Bladder cancer for 10 years. She was a fighter and she always said cancer is not going to take me.
We never heard about Bladder cancer until my mother had it. We did searches on it once we know that she had bladder cancer and there isn't much info. out there.
My mothers family made surre that she got her last wish before she passed away. Her last wish was to go down to Elpaso,Texas to see her Grandson before he got deployed.
When we went down there to Texas in Dec. she got sick down there and end up in the hospital for a day. The doctors told us down there that we should not take her out of the state of Texas and my mother said forget that we are going back to Wisconsin.
Her doctor in Wisc. told us not to fly her back. So we rent a car and drove back to Wi. We made sure that she was comfortable all the way back. When we hit the Wisconsin line about a hour into Wisc. we had to stop and get gas and we checked on her at the gas statiion and she had passed away.
We know that she was still alive when we hit the Wisc line because we stopped to rest at a rest area and she was wave at us all.
It was a very sad time for our family at the time.
We went to Texas on Dec12 2009 and she passed away Dec19 2009.
I am so Happy that you are doing this Bladder cancer talk show to let people know that yes this is out there.
Thank you for reading this.
BRENDA GOERS
I have heard that bladder cancer is almost always associated with smoking. Is that true? If so, is there evidence of how much smoking, years of smoking, years since quitting affects a person's chance of developing bladder cancer?
Hello,
I had a non-cancerous bladder tumor removed when I was 27. It has been almost 9 years, I have recovered well and my treatment was relatively simple surgery. Every doctor I have seen (about 4-5) for treatment and follow up visits has remarked about how unusual it is to have had a tumor in such a young woman and one who did not have a history of heavy smoking. Believe me, this is not the way one wants to be unique.
Could you please ask your guests if my situation was actually that unique? Was some light smoking in college enough to lead to this problem? Had had quit completely by 24. Once you have an occurrence, even a benign one, how likely is that to lead to cancer later? My only other "risk factor" is that I am a graphic designer and have some mild exposure to paints and aerosols.
I appreciate any comments. It has been very hard for me to find any information about younger people, non-cancerous tumors and what that might mean and my doctors don't seem to have much information for me either.
Thank you.
Karen
Good Morning,
My daughter (25) has dealt with interstitial Cystitis. Is this the begining of Bladder Cancer or different. Cystitis is also not a well researched disorder.
Cysoscopy done. We are off elmiron and now taking Gota Kola which creates mucus membrane qucertine and passion flower and other herbs which have helped more so. Urologist have scoffed at us and we have been on our own since. My duaghter is doing well watching diet and lifestyle. We were told that it is enviromental. She never has smoked had been vegetarian and lived in south america during her senior with MSU
Sincerely always searching
Michele Berry
3692 Loon Lake Road
Wixom MI
248 624 0546
berry3692@sbcglobal.net
I am a 53 year old man, 5 year survivor of stage 2 bladder cancer. Mine was invasive, so it required removal of my bladder in May of 2006. I also underwent a difficult 3 month course of chemo prior to the operation. I now have the neo-bladder which is made from part of my intestine. I always wondered how I got BC. In April of 2008, I got a letter from the military informed me of my exposure to tri-cloroethylenes and other dry-cleaning fluids while in the Marines and stationed at Camp Lejeune. I have since found I was also exposed to benzene at the same time.
This is truly an environmental cancer. I had never smoked, ate well, exercised, I was exposed to chemicals that are known to cause this.
Mike
Orlando Florida
I worked in an Aluminum foundry for a total of 15 years and for about two years of that dipped castings into a dye penatrant called Zyglo (my callouses glowed under blacklight for about two years afterwards) and poured molten metal on and off for about 7 years. Is that exposure I need to be concerned about?
Hi Diane,
I am a 63 year old woman who was diagnosed with bladder cancer 2 years ago. I have been a flight attendant for 43 years. Everytime I smell jet fuel I think I know how my cancer developed. I have had one reoccurence after 2 years of being clear and I am now starting to take steps with my diet to help keep my immune system strong. Has anyone done any research on what diets can prevent re-occurence.
Thank you for your attention.
Candis Mason
My husband is sufferring now from invasive bladder cancer. He had chemo followed by bladder removal in Dec. which was followed by radiation.He has an ostomy. He now shows cancer in his lungs and liver. What treatments are available now?
Hello Susan and Guests:
My mother was diagnosed with bladder cancer and given 6 months to live. That was 30 years ago: 2 urostomys later, she is still as active and alive as ever.
My mother has been treated at the University of Michigan. Her first ostomy lasted a little over 25 years. She was the longest living patient with her first ostomy in the UofM urology department. All of her friends she met in the early years succumbed to the disease.
Despite the relative obscurity of bladder cancer in the American public consciousness, my mother has found much support from her doctors, nurses, and fellow patients. My father has been exceptionally supportive. While I applaud the efforts of your guests to get bladder cancer awareness out there, the bladder cancer patients I have met have coping and support systems that are extraordinary in the face of such an intrusive and mysterious disease.
Rob Johnson
Youngstown, Ohio
The American Cancer Society has new informaton out now about bladder cancer survivors (of which I am one) regarding genetic predispositions to bladder cancer in people unable to eliminate chemicals as easlily as others.
They also mention a latency period of 30 to 50 years !
I smoked in my 20 as well as worked with paints and solvent as a silkscreen printer...I developed the cancer at age 46
Thank you for reading my email ... Dan Rather and Michelle Gillian covered this water contamination issue at Camp Lejeune.
Your guest spoke well about it.
I was exposed 25 years prior to my diagnosis.... Thank you for having your guests speak on this.
To all guests on today's show:
The issue about public awareness about the high incidence of bladder cancer in this country is NOT simply a matter, as one of the guests put it, the 'yuck factor.' It's more the sociological and political appropriation and championing of certain diseases by politicians, academics, activists, etc. Case in point: breast cancer and AIDS. Well funded and popularized diseases because they're both linked to sexual behavior, gender, etc.
Sex sells, even at the cost of people suffering and dying daily from many other 'non-sexy' diseases. Why oh why is there a breast cancer stamp at US post offices, and not general stamps for all cancers, heart disease, MS, etc., etc.
Susan Goldberg
I'm a bladder cancer survivor, Dr. Schoenberg's patient, in fact. My wife chronicled our journey and published it as a book of poetry, Bladderville, available from BCAN. A number of bladder patients and their families have found it useful.
Is urine cytology ever used in routine physical exams for early detection of bladder cancer, or is it done only when a person has symptoms? Thanks in advance for information on this.
Great show! Imazethapyr is a herbicide, not pesticide. Used primarily on soybean crops, which are, in turn, used primarily for animal feed, one has to wonder of the concentrating affect of the food chain, on this chemical ending up in our diet. Each step in food chain concentrates toxins 10 fold.
Diane,
My mother, who will be 71 in a few months, has been battling bladder cancer for 5 years. She has had 10 surgeries to remove tumors and numerous rounds of BCG, the chemical used to treat bladder cancer (the bladder is the only self contained organ in the body so it take this treatment, but on the plus side is it does not go through the entire body like traditional chemo). My mother is healthy, not on any other medication, and not a smoker so we were surprised to hear she had bladder cancer. That she is thriving five years after diagnosis seems to be quite a milestone and the team at Southwestern in Dallas can be credited with that miracle.
Of course, blame it on smoking.
Many years ago, one of the first claims I heard of a connection of a chemical with cancer was that bladder cancer might be caused by the artificial sweetener saccharine.
I have not heard any more about it.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
I was listening this morning and actually did call in. Your guest stated that one reason, possibly, that this particular cancer does not get the attention it should, is that it is 'Yucky; Below the belt." With all due respect, I would have responded to that by adding that as a 58 year old female), earnestly seeking health and living as natural a life-style as is possible(in a chemical world), I have always reasoned that God provided me with every resistance to health's opposite, which, put in the simplest terms; exists only in the mind. Dis-ease is a mental state, which when corrected through spiritually elevated study, has the absolute ability to heal any dis-ease (regardless of evidences). May I remind your guests that just outside of Cambridge, MA's Harvard Medical School, lies Boston's Spiritual School teaching the SCIENCE of Christianity. I and hundreds of thousands of others prescribe to its scientific proof, which heals from the mind to the body (in that order). Your guest's husband died even after prescribing to all of the excellent medical care he had. I am very sorry he did not seek a higher more spiritual approach first. It would be very inspirational and educational to consider including a Christian Science Practitioner, when airing such studies. Its like the cigarette smoker, who finally quits smoking after 35 years and one day says, "I can't believe I actually smoked all of those years...when all I had to do was stop." Out of the mouth of babes. Anyone seeking more scientific evidence than they are getting from the medical field's trial and error theories, might invite their consciousness to a Wednesday evening testimonial service in any Christian Science Church. Or pick up a copy of Mary Baker Eddy's, Science and Health, with Key to the scriptures, from any book store. Thank You and may God bless you, too.
I began earnestly seeking to know why people suffer, when God is-well, God! God created people in His own image and likeness, so I began to reason and to research God.My fervent desire to 'crack this case', brought me from congregation to congregation seeking to learn the answers to such complicated questions...and after a very long and hard study, gathering information, I finally rested upon what made perfect sense.I had that aha! moment!What I learned, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and continue to test is this-Test it for yourself-advertising mogels know that they must convince your brain; your mind, which persuades your body to act 'for' or 'against' products.We know the power of persuasion.We also know the power of suggestion & brainwashing?In simple terms-I learned and tested, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the seed we permit into the mind, is the seed which will manifest upon the body. Radically changing the seed; radically changes the physical condition of the body. That simple. We have been sold a bag of goods... because we have put ourselves in a place of vulnerability.Right back to 'original sin'. 'Radically change the belief (and scientifically), you radically change the evidence'.With this in mind, I went about each day open to the possibility that every single ailment and every single discomfort stemmed from an erroneous belief about who we are. About who we are in relation to our maker.Time and time again, I concluded that once we know who we are, absolutely, we begin to witness change, consequently.My study continues. God blesses good ideas. When we have the ability to choose one means of healing or another, why wouldn't we choose the absolute?
Good seed. An eye for an eye, may quite possibly mean 'a thought for a consequence'. Think about that.
We reep what we sow.
Diane,
Thanks for having this focus about bladder cancer on your show. I am an 81 year old male survivor of BC after being diagnosed 2 years ago with stage T1- high grade BC . I received the BCG treatments mentioned in a previous comment. This BCG treatment involves the introduction of a live bacteria into the bladder that causes the body's own immune system to fight this introduction as well as fighting the BC at the same time. This treatment does not work for everyone, but thankfully it worked for me.
To those that presently have BC, or are caregivers for someone who does, there is a tremendous site that is a great support group, just google "BCAN" and you'll get to it. I am the third member of my family to contract this disease and lean more toward the genetic predisposition as the primary cause.
Please note that the ONLY symptom for BC is blood in the urine, so get to a urologist as soon as possible. Thanks for letting me share this.
Sideman
Good Morning,
I listened to some of your show on bladder cancer. I am glad to see it getting some attention. My wife passed away 6 months ago today from this disease. She bravely fought a two and a half year battle but the cancer spread to other vital organs and could not be controlled. It is an aggressive cancer if it gets outside of the bladder.
She was always frustrated about how little awareness and research there was on this type of cancer. The standard of care has not been researched nearly as much as breast cancer and other "more popular" cancers - yet your show stated that bladder cancer is the 5th most common form of cancer. We always felt that her treatment options were severely limited - especially since insurance companies will not pay for treatments that have not been researched. Unfortunately the standard of care did not work for her - cystoscopy, BCG infusion, and standard chemo agents.
And yes - she was a smoker at a younger age although she had quit over 10 years before being diagnosed.
Please continue to bring attention to bladder cancer and the need for more research - particularly for women as it is becoming more and more common among them.
Good Morning,
I listened to some of your show on bladder cancer. I am glad to see it getting some attention. My wife passed away 6 months ago today from this disease. She bravely fought a two and a half year battle but the cancer spread to other vital organs and could not be controlled. It is an aggressive cancer if it gets outside of the bladder.
She was always frustrated about how little awareness and research there was on this type of cancer. The standard of care has not been researched nearly as much as breast cancer and other "more popular" cancers - yet your show stated that bladder cancer is the 5th most common form of cancer. We always felt that her treatment options were severely limited - especially since insurance companies will not pay for treatments that have not been researched. Unfortunately the standard of care did not work for her - cystoscopy, BCG infusion, and standard chemo agents.
And yes - she was a smoker at a younger age although she had quit over 10 years before being diagnosed.
Please continue to bring attention to bladder cancer and the need for more research - particularly for women as it is becoming more and more common among them.