Merrillville resident Johnnie Hall has gotten a green light to continue his busy lifestyle after undergoing the new Blue Light Cystoscopy procedure to treat his bladder cancer at Community Hospital.
“Dr. Yalowitz was optimistic about treating my cancer - all of it - from the beginning and that really helped a lot,” Hall says.
Cancerous tumors were first discovered in Hall’s bladder in December of 2014. In early 2015, Hall’s urologist performed a traditional cystoscopy using white light to examine the severity of Hall’s condition. Eight tumors were removed.
To be sure he was not missing any tumors, Yalowitz decided to perform a surveillance cystoscopy using the latest high definition equipment and Cysview, followed by a Blue Light cystoscopy. This would show Hall’s condition in complete detail.
Cysview® technology delivers an imaging solution into the bladder that is absorbed by cancerous tissues. The FDA-approved breakthrough procedure uses blue light that enables the solution to highlight the tumors and make them more visible. This innovative technology has proven to significantly increase detection over traditional white-light cystoscopy alone.
“Bladder cancer has a high rate of recurrence,” says Yalowitz. “If we are unable to visualize all of the tumors, this may result in incomplete treatment and a higher recurrence rate. The advanced technology of the Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview enables more accurate identification of bladder tumors compared to the standard technique.”
“It’s scary because you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you can’t give up hope,” Hall says.
Today with the support of his family and help of Dr. Yalowitz and the oncology staff, Hall is enjoying activities he has grown to love such as fishing and taking care of his granddaughters.
Click here to find out more about cancer care at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System.
