Marble, what I meant about the muscle tissue was that it was present in the resection sent for pathology but no cancer was found in it. It's an important note on the path report that they confirm muscle tissue was submitted otherwise there is no way to conclude it's non-invasive. That's one reason, according to my uro, that second TURBS are done (they didn't get a deep enough sample). Other reasons include to verify all the tumor was taken out the first time (especially important if high grade) and simply to get another sample since re-TURBS can conclude a different pathology around 30% of the time (according to my urologist).
I met with a urologic bladder oncologist at an NCI center today, and he was pretty clear that with Ta low grade you definitely don't want to treat with BCG (for the reasons Sara Anne mentioned) and for Ta high grade you do need BCG. It sounds like your urologist is very experienced and it sound like your pathology showed a tumor on the borderline of low/high grade which is why he recommended what he did but still said he'd be willing to do BCG if you wanted. Feeling comfortable with your urologist and your proposed treatment plan is very important so glad to hear you are at that point. As long as you are watched very closely with the regular scopes, they can catch anything that might warrant a change in approach early.
As for me, the next step is another TURB in 2 weeks then BCG after that. I'm nervous about side effects and the shortage I've read about, but will deal with all that when it comes. What you posted about arthritis and someone losing vision is very unsettling
I'm hoping those types of severe side effects with bcg are pretty rare ?
