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Bladder Cancer

People who are close to Elizabeth Cropper know that she puts other people's needs ahead of her own. As a volunteer at a school for handicapped children, Elizabeth helps feed the students who cannot do so for themselves. When her own health began to fail, it was her daughter, Tyra, and son, Tyree, who made sure she sought medical attention.

After noticing blood in her urine, Elizabeth visited her doctor on several occasions, who could not make a clear diagnosis. Finally, she went to a large Philadelphia city hospital where she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The doctors there recommended surgery followed by chemotherapy. "My children and I wanted a second opinion," recalled Elizabeth.

"We knew we should get a second opinion. And we knew it should be at Fox Chase."

Her daughter, Tyra, recalled, "We knew we should get a second opinion. And we knew it should be at Fox Chase because they are the cancer experts. After losing our dad to lung cancer, we didn't want to leave anything to chance."

Elizabeth met with David Chen, MD, a urologic surgeon who specializes in miminally invasive robotic surgery. She thought, "Going into treatment, I felt that God was first in my life and had all the power in his hands. Dr. Chen had all of God's gifts and is an extremely talented surgeon. With the power of God, Dr. Chen's gifts, and my prayers, I knew I'd be all right."

Dr. Chen suggested Elizabeth first see a medical oncologist, Gary Hudes, MD, who administered 3 courses of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, which was followed by surgery. Tyra and her mom were pleased with this treatment plan.

Her next stumbling block was insurance. At age 64, Elizabeth had retired from her job at a nursing home and had no health insurance. The other hospital suggested she wait until her 65th birthday for treatment so that she would be eligible for Medicare.

"Fox Chase helped my mother apply for medical assistance so she could be treated in a timely manner."

"We couldn't wait 4 months until her birthday," said Tyra. "The cancer was growing and we needed to start treatment immediately. The people at Fox Chase helped my mother apply for medical assistance so she could be treated in a timely manner."

"Because Dr. Chen used robotic surgery, I felt pretty good after the procedure and only had to stay in the hospital for a few days."

"He was fantastic," said Elizabeth. "Because Dr. Chen used robotic surgery, I felt pretty good after the procedure and only had to stay in the hospital for a few days. The nursing care was terrific. All in all, I had a very good experience at Fox Chase."

Her daughter added, "My brother and I had already lost one parent to cancer. Our mom is all we have left. We had to take her cancer care seriously, which is why we went to Fox Chase. Between their care and our strong faith, we knew everything would be okay. We are very fortunate to have her here with us!"

Elizabeth continued, "You don't know how you will ever get through something like cancer until it actually happens to you. I believe you have to go through the process. When it happened to me, I had faith in the Lord and that was all I needed to get through."

Learn more about bladder cancer treatment at Fox Chase Cancer Center.