If you have been diagnosed with bladder cancer:

• Recognize that fear is natural, and know that it can be overcome.
• Slow down the decision making process.
• Ask yourself this question: Do I have trust and have confidence in my doctor?
• Recognize that your physical body needs love and attention, but so do your mind, heart and spirit.
• Recognize that life is a journey, and so is dealing with cancer.
• Inform yourself about the disease and options for treatment

If you have symptoms that suggest bladder cancer, your doctor will give you a complete physical exam and order lab tests. You may have one or more of the following procedures:

Physical Exam
The doctor feels the abdomen and pelvis for tumors. The physical exam may include a rectal or vaginal exam.

Urine tests
The laboratory checks the urine for blood, cancer cells, and other signs of disease. The most common urine test for bladder cancer is a urine cytology, similar to a PAP smear.

Intravenous pyelogram
The doctor injects dye into a blood vessel. The dye collects in the urine, making the bladder and kidneys show up on x-rays.

Cystoscopy
The doctor uses a thin, lighted tube called a cystoscope to look directly into the bladder. The doctor inserts the cystoscope into the bladder through the urethra to examine the lining of the bladder. The patient may need anesthesia for this procedure.

The doctor can remove samples of tissue with the cystoscope. A pathologist then examines the tissue under a microscope. The removal of tissue to look for cancer cells is called a biopsy. In many cases, a biopsy is the only sure way to tell whether cancer is present. For a small number of patients, the doctor removes the entire cancerous area during the biopsy. For these patients, bladder cancer is diagnosed and treated in a single procedure.