Delaying treatments or surgeries to get second or third opinions or to make up your mind what is best for you, can really make a difference in surviving bladder cancer. However, sometimes postponing bladder cancer surgery might prove to be fatal. 

More than 61,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with bladder cancer in the United States in 2006. Although most cases are caught before the cancer has spread, about 20 percent of bladder cancers are diagnosed when they have already grown into or through the bladder wall. About half of patients with bladder cancer this advanced die within 5 years after surgery. Not delaying surgery is a simple thing doctors and patients can do to improve the chances a patient will survive.

Research found that delaying surgery more than 3 months led to a higher death rate. Three years after surgery, the death rate from bladder cancer was 51percent in patients who waited more than 3 months, compared to 38 percent in those who had surgery within 3 months.

In one study researchers found one reason for the delay was that the patients were getting second and third opinions to see if the surgery was really needed. Other studies found delays in surgery because patients had other medical problems. This might have caused the delay and perhaps made them less likely to have a good outcome. But in reviewing the charts, they found that other medical conditions were a problem in only 15 percent of patients who delayed surgery. Just 12 percent delayed treatment because they had trouble making a decision about it. Most of the delays -- 46 percent -- were caused by scheduling problems for tests as well as the surgery.