Patricia: Hi! My name is Patricia. I am from Santa Monica, California. I have been told my mom has the bladder cancer involving the wall of her bladder. Will she have to live with the urine bag her whole life?Christopher: Patricia, it's a very important question. There are many ways to rebuild the urinary tract after the bladder is removed for bladder cancer. One of them involves rebuilding the bladder using intestine and then cut in as to your internal anatomy that remains after the surgery that allows you to urinate as it is before the surgery. Another way to do that is to create a small opening on the abdominal wall and that opening is continent. It holds urine and you are able to put a small catheter into that and drain the urine that way and that way you don't need to have a bag. There are several ways to rebuild the bladder after a bladder cancer surgery and only urologist can tell you which is appropriate for your mother.