As did Alan, I offer you a qualified welcome!!
As for BCG, there are lots of different protocols out there. But it has definitely been shown that an induction phase, such as your doctor recommends, AND a maintenance regimen can be very effective in preventing a recurrence of high grade bladder cancer. My uro did the six weeks, then off for three months and then three weeks of treatment, off three months...until two years had passed.
I had my 8-year exam yesterday and ALL CLEAR.
Yes, there are side effects with BCG (not nearly what people getting traditional chemo have, however) and they do tend to get worse with more treatments. The purpose of the BCG is to kick up the immune system in the bladder lining tissue so that it rejects the cancer cells. And as the immune system responds, more and more irritation results. The side effects tend to be irritation (sort of like a bladder infection), fatigue, bleeding, and urgency. If they get too bad it is possible to reduce the dose, even down to 10% of the initial dose. I got through the entire series and was at 1/3 the initial dose by the end.
Dr. Donald Lamm is one of the pioneers of BCG therapy and he is now in private practice. While my uro did not use Dr. Lamm's exact protocol, I find that his web site contains a lot of useful and interesting information.
www.bcgoncology.com/drlamm/
Good luck to you.
Sara Anne