When your dash to the bathroom should mean a dash to your doctor

When Eugene Morris started experiencing sudden urges to rush to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he put it down to drinking too much fluid late in the evening.

But as the nights progressed and despite having cut down on his liquid intake, the frequency and urgency showed no sign of abating.

Initially the Kildare man was more irritated with the problem than concerned and didn’t visit his GP for several months – which resulted in a diagnosis of an unstable bladder and medication to sort the problem. But this didn’t work as there was a much more serious condition which went undetected for over a year.

“Back in late 2000, I noticed a real urgency to urinate all the time,” says Eugene who is married to Siobhan and has three daughters. “I wasn’t really worried but it was annoying so when I finally went to the doctor, I was glad to get a diagnosis and medication. But despite taking it for several months, there was little or no change.

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“So I went back to the doctor again – a couple of times – and each time I was given a new prescription and told to come back if it didn’t work.

“It didn’t, so I was sent for tests and after the consultant put a camera into my bladder, he noticed something unusual and said I would need a biopsy – but even then I didn’t twig that I had a serious illness.”

After the biopsy, Eugene, who works as a carpenter, was shocked to discover he had cancer.

Shocking

“When I was told that I had ‘carcinoma in situ’ I had no idea what that meant and had to actually look it up,” admits the 51-year-old. “It was shocking to discover that I had cancer but apparently it was contained. So I had treatment which involved a live drug going into the bladder to kill off the cells, but after the six-week course, we discovered that it hadn’t worked.

“This was devastating and they decided that I needed another course, which was incredibly painful, particularly when passing water.”

But all the pain was worth it as further examinations revealed that the treatment had worked and the father of three was cancer free.

However, this reprieve didn’t last and over a decade later, his yearly check-up resulted in the news that the cancer was back with a vengeance.

“After the successful treatment, I was checked every year and each time the news was good,” he says. “But in November of 2014, I went back for what might have been my last check-up and they discovered that the cancer was back but this time it was much more damaging as there were also tumours in the tube leading from my kidney, which may have been there for some time as they were difficult to spot using the camera and only showed up in a scan.

“Further tests showed that I also had cancer in my lymph nodes and bones – I thought I was a goner – the news was so bad and I really couldn’t believe it.”

Eugene was admitted and immediately put on a course of chemotherapy. But as the dose was so strong, he was unable to take the last session. However, despite this, the medicine worked and he is now fit and healthy again – and very grateful to be alive.

“I was very young when I first developed bladder cancer and still only in my late 40s when I got it back again so I was deemed strong enough for a really intense course of chemo,” he says. “It worked really well but I was so ground down by the last session that I couldn’t take it – but luckily it had done the job and the cancer was all gone – and there has been no sign of it since.

Long hard road

“It was a very long hard road and I am so grateful to be out the other side of it – even if I only now have one working kidney (one stopped functioning due to illness and subsequent treatment). Because I was only 36 when I first presented with symptoms, no one thought I could have had bladder cancer as it’s usually associated with older people, but it goes to show that it can strike anyone at any time, so it is really important to keep pushing to get checked out if you know something is wrong.

“I am doing really well today and am so happy to just be here and in good health – it’s been fairly tough but I’m just getting on with life and making the most of every day.”

Arun Thomas, consultant urological surgeon at Tallaght Hospital, says bladder cancer is often difficult to diagnose but blood in the urine is the most obvious symptom that something is wrong.

“Anyone that sees blood in the urine should always seek medical attention to make sure there’s nothing serious going on,” he says.  “Other symptoms may include bladder spasms, burning urination and increased urgency or frequency of urination, but these often overlap with other conditions that are unrelated to bladder cancer.”

The expert says treatment depends on how advanced the cancer is but the earlier it is diagnosed, the better.

“Treatment depends on the stage,” he says. ” In non-muscle invasive bladder cancer where the cancer has not grown into the surrounding muscles of the bladder, patients often undergo surgery to remove the tumours.  They may also receive insertion of drugs or chemotherapy into their bladder.

Patients are then placed on surveillance to make sure the cancers don’t recur – 75 per cent of patients fall into this category.

“The other 25 per cent are diagnosed with a more aggressive form which is considered life threatening. In this group, patients often undergo more radical treatments such as removal of the entire bladder and nearby organs in combination with chemotherapy or chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“Early detection is important, therefore never ignore blood in your urine and seek medical advice if you ever pass blood in your urine.”

ABOUT BLADDER CANCER

Bladder cancer was the fourth most common cancer in Ireland for men and the 12th most common for women.

It is a disease that occurs when cancer cells develop in the lining or the wall of the bladder. Patients can be diagnosed with one of two types of bladder cancers: non-muscle invasive (in the lining of the bladder) and muscle-invasive (within the deeper muscle of the bladder).

It occurs more frequently in older men and women with approximately 60 per cent of bladder cancers diagnosed after the age of 70 years. (The risk of developing bladder cancer up to the age of 74 was one in 212 for women and one in 72 for men – National Cancer Registry).

The leading risk factor for bladder cancer is tobacco smoking. Almost two-thirds of bladder cancers in men and one-third in women are considered to be due to smoking. Patients who smoke who stop smoking can significantly reduce their risk of developing bladder cancer.

Passing or finding blood in the urine is the most common symptom in bladder cancer patients and occurs in more than 80 per cent of cases.

[   mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/bladder-cancer/ ]