Debby’s Story

Site created on March 8, 2018

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Mom started having some problems a few months ago with bleeding.  She didn't think much of it but decided to go to the doctor just to get it checked out.  The doctor decided to do an ultrasound to check on things and found a mass in her bladder. After that they set up an appointment with the urologist who would go in with a scope to see what we were dealing with.  I'll never forget getting the call at work after her appointment.  Usually our phone calls are light hearted and we laugh.  All I heard was crying.  She explained to me that the doctor said he has seen this before and it's cancer.   She didn't know what else to say.  I didn't even know what to say.  We were all shocked.


Fast forward a couple weeks - on Monday, 2/12, she went to get a biopsy of her uterus to make sure there were no cancer cells there.  During that procedure they inserted a catheter and removed it before releasing her for the day.  That night she noticed something was wrong.  She ended up in the ER the next morning because she hadn't been able to urinate all night.  Once they got there they inserted another catheter and it was nothing but blood, a LOT of blood!  Even the nurses had worry on their face.  They flushed the bladder all day and she continued to bleed.  The doctor decided to transfer her to Holy Cross Hospital.  It was a very long day as we didn't get transferred until that night.  Tuesday we were hoping for a surgery time to go in and get the tumor.  Tuesday came and went.  Finally on Wednesday 2/15, she had surgery around 9pm.  The surgery lasted two hours.  The doctor came out and explained that the reason for the bleeding was because the catheter on Monday nicked the tumor.  He also indicated that this was the biggest tumor he has ever seen in the bladder and he could only remove 75% and even the 25% that was left was still in the top 10 biggest that he has seen.  It took him over 30 minutes to get all the clots out of her bladder. We were dreading telling her the news that he was unable to remove the whole tumor during that surgery.  He said that they didn't have the proper equipment to keep going and that he would transfer her back to Kaiser to finish up the tumor removal.  But what he did that night should stop the bleeding.  Wrong!!  She continued to bleed over night and through Friday until her next surgery.  


Friday 2/16 - Discharged from Holy Cross to go back to Kaiser for surgery.  We sat and waited again and when he came out to tell us how it went, we felt relieved.  He said he was going to keep the original surgery date of 3/8 to go back in to scrap the bladder and make sure he got everything.  She was released the same day and came home with the catheter.  What a fun weekend that was.  She slept in the recliner, Dad slept right by her side on the couch.  


Friday 2/23 she went for her post op appt where she would learn the results of the tumor. The doctor came in and confirmed his original statement of it being cancer.  Mom was really hoping that he was going to come in to say it was benign.  He told her that now he would have to go in on 3/8 to get some samples of the muscle.  If it is in the muscle it is a "game changer".   


The waiting really began that day.

Newest Update

Another long day

Journal entry by Tiffany Allnutt —

Sorry it has been a while since updating everyone. Summer was calm and quiet. Mom completed her BCG treatments- she handled them like a champ! She went in for another biopsy afterwards and there weren't any active cells. The next follow up showed a few spots but the doc is certain they're from the treatment. We are back here today for another procedure to biopsy those spots and to collect samples from random areas of the bladder. We got to talk to the doc for a while before they took her back and she got some clarification on some questions but still feel good about a positive outcome. 

The doc came out to speak with Dad and I and he informed us that he found another tumor. He removed it and took some other samples. Now we wait for the pathology results. 

After today she will have a treatment once a week for 3 weeks every 3 months. Then she will get checked every 6 months for a few years. 

The cancer fight continues but she is a warrior! Please keep her in your prayers.
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