My name is Abby and I am 73 yrs old. March 2009 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I was devistated. I was told my best chance would be to have my bladder removed. That was very hard for me to come to grips with. So I got on the internet and found help. A wonderful lady contacted me and gave me some very good advise and put me in contact with a bladder cancer survivor near where I live. My new friend is my "angel warrior". She helped me through some very tough times and has given me advise that is pricless. Having gone through this she knew the questions I should have been asking but had not even thought of. I spent a year going through all the normal treatments, Chemo, etc. Finally in March of 2010 I had my bladder removed. I can't tell you how afraid I was.I chose the Ileal conduit because My husband passed away in April 2005 and being alone I thought this was best/safest way to go. Now that the surgery is behind me and I am on the road to recovery I am glad I did it. It has been just about 5 months since my surgery and I volunteer one day a week at my local senior center, one day a week I babysit my great-granddaughter, one day a week I bowl with the seniors. When I was told I had cancer I thought my life was over but that is not the case. Life is different but not over. I can never thank my angel enough for the help she has given me and she still supports me today. If I can do this at my age then I have hope that someone out the reading this will have a little faith that they can do it too. God bless!