Hubby had bladder cancer, how it was to care for him
My husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer in Oct. 2008. He had his tumor removed but had to have his bladder removed in Dec. 2008. Three months later another tumor was discovered in his groin. He endoured three months of radiation therapy and weekly chemo. Learning to deal with a collection bag took weeks to regulate. Fast forward 2 years (2010) and he had lost control of his bowels and dealt with "accidents" several times a day. Also developed a hernia that was pressing on the stoma, this had to be removed and now has no other choice but to have a colonstomy. Now he was dealing with two collection bags. This lead to multiple UTIs, blockages, hospital stays. He could leave the house because he was scared of having an "accidents". In Feb 2014, he went into renal failure and started dialysis, 3 times a week for 4/5 hours each treatment. Needless to say he was either tied to a machine or to the house. He couldn't do any of his normal activities. The dialysis was not effective and his health continued to deteriorate. On Oct. 3, 2014, he decided to stop dialysis and on Oct. 12 he past. All during these 6 years he was up beat, kept his sense of humor, help raise the spirits of fellow patients. He suffered terribly, was embarrassed many times. So many people found him to be a inspiration. It was very hard to watch him have to deal with this terrible disease. Please rethink or closely monitor the radiation, this was the treatment that did the most damage and lead to a very difficult 4 years. May God watch over all of you and keep you cancer free.
