NEW BLADDER FOR A DAME

WHEN scientist dame Mary Archer was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010, aged 65, she opted for a new treatment at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge, where she was then chairman of the nHS Trust. dame Mary, who is married to former Conservative politician Jeffrey Archer, told Good Health about the procedure in an interview published on december 4, 2012. ‘THE morning after my son William’s wedding in October 2010 I noticed a small amount of blood in my urine. The following morning it happened again. Through recent work at Addenbrooke’s I knew it was probably one of two things — an infection or cancer.’

Tests at the hospital revealed a 7cm tumour on her bladder.

‘I did have a few moments of “why?” The risk factors for bladder cancer are smoking, drinking heavily and being male and none applied to me.’

The tumour was removed. But follow-up investigations six weeks later detected more suspicious cells — these were highly aggressive — and were treated with immunotherapy, using a drug to stimulate the immune system to fight against abnormal cells. Six weeks later the growths returned. ‘It was a real threat to my health. We had to stop the cancer spreading outside the bladder, which meant removing the bladder altogether, and soon. I wanted to avoid having a stoma bag.

‘I had learned about ileal orthotopic bladder substitution where part of the lower bowel is used to reconstruct the bladder. At the same time they do a full hysterectomy including the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries to remove the chance I may get gynaecological cancer at a later date.

‘After the six-hour operation, I couldn’t use my new bladder until it had healed, so I had two catheters. I had to learn how to use my new bladder. As there is no message from your bladder to your brain telling you it is full, you have to learn to recognise a stretching feeling in your pelvis as your bladder fills up.

‘There was a lot of trial and some errors, but 18 months on it does as good a job as the old one.’