In addition, I started my own walk for bladder cancer on May 5, 2012 in Rocklin, CA. You can still donate in support of this at my fundraising website: www.alishawing.stayclassy.org. Thank you for your generous support! :)
ABOUT ME
I was first diagnosed with non-invasive bladder cancer in October 2008.
Around December 2007, I began my road with bladder cancer by having symptoms such as lower abdominal pain and blood in my urine. I went to my OB/GYN because I thought it was related to my endometriosis and I had also had a C-section when I had my son in 2005, so that had caused some lower abdominal pain as well. My OB/GYN thought I had a bladder infection or a urinary tract infection so he gave me some antibiotics. After a week or two, the bleeding went away from what I could see, so I figured that's all it was. Well, a couple weeks later, the bleeding recurred. So, I went back into my OB/GYN and they tried to give me a different type of antibiotic, thinking that maybe the first type of antibiotic wasn't working. So, I went home and took those for about 1 week. The same thing happened as before, the bleeding had stopped temporarily, but started back up again. This time, I knew that something wasn't right, so I called my primary care physician and went in for a full physical and he ordered a CT scan and a MRI. I am thankful now that I have such a thorough doctor! After the test results came back, it showed that I had a "mass" on my bladder, so that is when he referred me to my urologist.
Around July or August 2008, my urologist performed a cystoscopy on me and sure enough, it was found that I had a bladder tumor. I asked him if it was cancerous and he said, "Most likely." I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was 33 years old and engaged to be married to my 3 year old son's father and had been planning our wedding. My whole world just seemed to stop right there. I didn't quite know what to do at that point but cry. I was so scared and I know now a lot of those feelings were feelings of the unknown and not being aware of what exactly I was facing. However, I finally had an answer to all of the symptoms I was having approximately 6-8 months later.
I had my first surgery (TURBT) in October 2008. My urologist told me then that it was non-invasive and superficial; however, the tumor was pretty large. I was in a lot of pain after the surgery and it took me a good 2-3 weeks to completely recover from it.
I had my second recurrence of the bladder tumors and had my second TURBT in April 2009, just one month after my husband and I had gotten married and went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. I had gotten a clean cysto report when I went for my 3 month check-up in January, so that gave me peace of mind for our wedding and honeymoon. I was really disappointed that the tumors came back.
I had my third recurrence of the bladder tumors in January 2010. My third TURBT was in February 2010. This was just a couple weeks before my husband, who was only 40 years old, had a massive heart attack and had to receive a 6-way bypass. It was such a stressful time for both of us and I was just recovering from my last surgery when he had his heart attack. Needless to say, I started bleeding again, which I believe was due to the stress of what had just happened to my husband.
My 4th recurrence came in August 2010 and I had my 4th TURBT in September 2010. I had been noticing that the longest I had gone between recurrences was approximately 7 months. I knew that if I could get past that, I would be doing much better and maybe have hopes of beating this thing.
I just had my 5th recurrence in April 2012. I am scheduled to have my 5th TURBT on May 10, 2012. It had been 1 year and 7 months since my last recurrence so I was disappointed more than anything because I had gotten so far. I had just been moved to the 6-month cystos instead of every 3 months, so it is disappointing that I will have to go through this whole process again.
MY INSPIRATION
My Great Grandmother is my hero and role-model. She faced and fought this disease when she was around my age, which is most likely the reason I am dealing with it. She was such a sweet lady and was a great example of a fighter and lover. She was married to my Grandpa for most of her life and was very loyal to him. I admire her and both of them for the lives they lived and everything that they went through. I have been told that I have the same determination, sweetness and spirit that she does and I just feel honored that she was my Great Grandmother.
Aside from my Great Grandmother, God, my husband and my son are all the inspiration that I will ever need. I know that God has a plan for my life and I am trusting him for that. My husband has been such a great support system for me and he has always been there to take care of me and pamper me when I have had my surgeries. And last but definitely not least, is my SON, my miracle baby who will always be my baby boy and he will always be my reason for living and fighting this until the day I die. Words cannot express how much he means to me and I want to always be the best mom that I can be to him. I am thankful that God blessed me with such a beautiful child and I will always be thankful, even if he is the only one that God allows me to have.
