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  • BCG maintenance complications

    Posted by sapie on December 18, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    Hello fellow BC friends
    Nine months ago, I was diagnosed with a T1G3 bladder cancer. I did the 6 weeks BCG treatements without any major complications. I am schedule to have 3 weeks of BCG every 3 months for 2 years. I did my first maintenance in september without any problems also. This month after my first BCG instalement, I had some bleeding a few hours afterward. My doctor decided to give it a rest for one week and reduce the dose by half for the rest of the treatements. Anyone here had a similar experience?
    Thanks

    slabman replied 16 years ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • slabman

    Member
    December 23, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    Sapie, looks like you and I are on the same schedule…..with the same diagnosis too! I’ve had the initial 6 treatments of BCG, followed by two maint. rounds. No bleeding, but it did trigger a bad arthritic event which I just got over from. So just keep in mind we all react differently to this. You might discuss with your Doc the possibilities of taking a break from BCG for a 3 month interval, ala Dr. Lamm’s protocol. Might give your bladder time to heal?


    Bob
    T1 G3
    Age 66
    DX April 2008
    TURB April 2008
    Last BCG (#15) April 2009
  • lady-jane

    Member
    December 18, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    I have had 2 rounds ( Jan-Feb/08 and April-May/08)and never experienced any bleeding or other complications. I am scheduled to begin another round of treatments soon. I will be more vigilant this time since I am so much more aware of my BLC thanks to this fantastic support group. No more living in the fog for me.

    I hope your OK sapie my friend.

    Let me know if I can do anything for you from my city.


    Ta Grade 1
    6 TURBS
    15 BCG
    dx Jan 07
  • Guest
    December 18, 2008 at 3:01 pm

    I had bleeding after every dose during my initial 6 doses. Along with blood clots. But only for the remainder of the treatment day and sometimes on the next day. My doctor said it was an indication that the medicine was doing what it is supposed to do – making the bladder shed the lining where those nasty cancer cells are hanging out.

    Hope the reduced dose clears up your bleeding. Lots of statistical data supports the effectiveness of lowered doses.

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