Blood in Urine - Won't Go to Doctor!

[Carol 1]

My husband has noticed that he has some blood in his urine, but he won't go see our doctor.  Is this always a sign of cancer, or could there be some other problem that would cause this?

His father died from colon cancer and you'd think he would let me make a doctor's appointment but he won't.  Any suggestions on how to get him to take that first step will be greatly appreciated.  He's stubborn - but I love him and want him to get HELP.

Carol

[Ash Tewari, MD, M.Ch.]

Cancer is not the only condition leading to blood in urine .Blood in the urine or hematuria in the adult can have many causes including bladder or kidney cancer, stones,  infections , enlargement of the prostate, arterio-venous malformations etc.

You should inform your husband that gross hematuria i.e. visible blood in urine should always be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.

This answer is not intended and does not substitute for medical advice- the information is for patient education only.

Follow-up with a urologist is essential.

[MLWTR]

This is just speculation, but I'm wondering if he won't go to the doctor because he thinks it's cancer and a death sentence and feels the treatment would just be painful and useless. If this turns out to be the case, it might help if you let him know that the vast majority of causes of hematuria are not serious and not cancer. He might be more willing to go to the doctor if he realized that there were plenty of things that could cause this symptom that are easy to treat or don't need treatment at all. Here's a link to a site that describes some of the causes of hematuria; perhaps it might be useful to you in helping your husband: http://www.duj.com/hematuria.html

Good luck.