Newswise — As a career coach & motivational speaker Dean Karrel is used to giving advice on how to get a job or how to secure a promotion. What he doesn't typically talk about - how to battle cancer - until now . In December of 2021, Dean, an instructor of 15 courses on LinkedIn Learning with 1.
5 million global learners, was diagnosed with non muscle invasive, high-grade bladder cancer. He was treated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), a liquid immunotherapy drug that's given directly into the bladder to stimulate the immune system to attack the cancer cells. “It was keeping the cancer at bay, but unfortunately, it was not going away,” explains Dean, who was told that he was at risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of his body.
“That’s when I started to do a little research and found a surgeon by the name of Dr. Mutahar Ahmed with Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey who has pioneered some of the most successful urologic procedures, especially complex robotic surgeries,” says Dean. Dr.
Ahmed eventually told Dean that to get ahead of the cancer, he would need a radical cystectomy to remove the whole bladder. “I’m typically a very upbeat person but this really was lousy news and I was not happy,” says Dean who was facing the realization that with no bladder, Dr. Ahmed would need to create another way for his body to collect and pass urine.
The most common way is through a surgical opening in the wall of the abdomen that a pouch is applied.
