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Patient Stories

Patient Stories

Patient Stories

  • Adam's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Alan and Blyden’s Story - Kidney Transplant
  • Alex's Story - Pediatric Partial Nephrectomy Surgery
  • Barbara's Story - Cancer of the Ureters and Kidneys
  • Barry's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Bill's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Bob's Story - Same-Day Robotic-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Carey's Story - Robotic Prostate Cancer Surgery
  • Ed's Story - Robotic-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Eddie's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Gaston and Luis' Story - Kidney Donation
  • Dexter & Charlie's Story - End-stage Renal Disease
  • Daniela's Story- Urinary Incontinence
  • David's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Dwight's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Ilija’s Story - Kidney Cancer
  • John's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Jonathan's Story - Testicular Cancer
  • Ken's Story - Surveillance Rather Than Prostate Surgery
  • Lance's Story - Kidney Cancer
  • Mark's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Michelle's Story - Overactive Bladder Syndrome
  • Sally's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Adam's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Alan and Blyden’s Story - Kidney Transplant
  • Alex's Story - Pediatric Partial Nephrectomy Surgery
  • Barbara's Story - Cancer of the Ureters and Kidneys
  • Barry's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Bill's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Bob's Story - Same-Day Robotic-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Carey's Story - Robotic Prostate Cancer Surgery
  • Ed's Story - Robotic-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Eddie's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Gaston and Luis' Story - Kidney Donation
  • Dexter & Charlie's Story - End-stage Renal Disease
  • Daniela's Story- Urinary Incontinence
  • David's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Dwight's Story - Prostate Cancer
  • Ilija’s Story - Kidney Cancer
  • John's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Jonathan's Story - Testicular Cancer
  • Ken's Story - Surveillance Rather Than Prostate Surgery
  • Lance's Story - Kidney Cancer
  • Mark's Story - Bladder Cancer
  • Michelle's Story - Overactive Bladder Syndrome
  • Sally's Story - Bladder Cancer
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Adam's Story - Bladder Cancer

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Bladder Cancer Patient Story

Bladder Cancer Surgery

Adam Schaffer will never forget Thanksgiving Day 2007, when his then 6-year-old son accidentally kneed him in the groin during a playful bout of wrestling.

A few hours later, Schaffer’s stream of urine was the color of blood.

Adam Schaffer

Adam Schaffer, Bladder surgery patient


Dr. Mark Litwin

Dr. Mark Litwin, Professor & Chair, UCLA Urology

The next day, it was an even deeper red. Schaffer saw a urologist, who ran tests at a community hospital near Schaffer’s San Fernando Valley home.

The results confirmed that Schaffer had bladder cancer.

A surgical team removed a tumor hanging off a vein that had more than likely been ruptured at impact when Schaffer was wrestling with his son.

Following the surgery, Schaffer’s wife, Liz, asked the urologist if he had biopsied the muscle around the bladder to make sure the cancer hadn’t entered that area.

She knew that if it had, it could have led to the lymph nodes, which can act like a highway system in facilitating the spread of the cancer throughout the body.

The urologist responded that he had not.

The Schaffers sought a second opinion from Dr. Mark S. Litwin, professor and chair of UCLA Urology, who suggested a biopsy.

Sure enough, the cancer had invaded the muscle – and appeared to be very aggressive.

Dr. Litwin placed Schaffer on BCG, a vaccine-like drug designed to activate the immune system to kill any remaining bladder cancer cells.

Fortunately, the cancer had not yet spread. At 50, Adam Schaffer is five years cancer-free.

He is forever grateful that his son’s accidental knee to the groin alerted him to a cancer that might otherwise have spread silently – and for the second opinion he received at UCLA Urology.

 

Our Bladder Cancer Mission is You You

 

Patient Story
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The UCLA Department of Urology provides treatment for urological conditions of all kinds and is committed to providing the highest quality of patient care. We take great pride in being able to share a few of our patients' stories with you.

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The Department of Urology at UCLA is one of the most progressive and comprehensive urology programs in the country. Our faculty members work side by side with research scientists for new cures and treatments for bladder cancer.

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Our goal is to provide you with fast, easy access to the physicians and services at UCLA. For assistance in determining which UCLA urologist(s) may have expertise to help you, please call the Urology Appointment phone number:
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