BCG -- is it really an option?

Well with a Ta or T1 and high grade bladder tumor its either going to go away with treatment with BCG or come back...you'll know pretty quickly so its not like you're going to have a bazillion treatments of BCG...if it comes back still at high grade consider the cure

tinyurl.com/34yogpo
pat

Well...not wanting to sound negative but to some degree it's a crap shoot; my mother-in-law was dx'd w/superficial BC in her early 50's (back in the mid 70s); getting at that time something similiar to BCG...over the years, the doctors continued to treat her with chemicals and some minor surgery; yes it was painful and there was lots of scarring but she was able to keep her bladder until she was 80 years old and finally had to get an RC as there was hardly anything left of the bladder.

Me, strangely enough, I was dx'd with a more aggressive bladder cancer, invasive into the bladder, in my late 50's, a few years ago. I feel fortunate that since mine was labeled by the surgeon as a "renegade" cancer, I didn't had to struggle with a decision about what to do, felt I had no choice but to have mine removed.

If you have the best surgeon you can find, study all the info. and options avilable, ask lots of questions, I'm sure you will determine your best course of action. Whatever you decide, I pray you will be at peace with your decision as that is so important to your mental well being.

GKLINE wrote:
And then some! I'm happy to report that I was able to bicycle 160 miles during our week in Tuscany. More miles than I expected, not as many as I had hoped.

And to everyone else: please, I want to hear as many opinions as possible!

Kimberly

You are going to get it for that question. Many will respond and they will all be different.

One thing is for sure. We wait for the second TURBT results before we settle on a course of action. I had a 2nd TURBT and the margins were not good so 6 days later I was in for a RC bladder removal.

Every option has drawbacks. Keep us in the loop and we will surely have SOME opinion to help you.

I AM jealous of your Italy trip.though. I hope you ATE your way through the country.

George

Hi everyone! I'm back from Italy, had a nice opportunity to forget all about what was going on in my bladder, and returned to home to some amazing weather for this time of year. Yesterday, however, was a return back to reality with a jolt. I had my pre-op appointment for my follow-up TURBT next Tuesday. My doctor discussed the various scenarios: clean margins, possible leftovers, etc.

Then we talked about BCG. When I got my initial path report, he suggested, based on the tumor (superficial) and grade (high), that a second TURBT and BGC was the sensible route to take. Yesterday, he indicated that BCG is pretty rough on the bladder, can lead to scarring, reduced bladder capacity, incontinence, and flying monkeys. Okay, I made the last one up, but I'm questioning whether the BGC is the way to go.

Pros: Doctor said that my type of tumor has a 50% or better chance of recurrence. BGC could reduce that risk.

Cons: Scarred, messed up bladder, possibly for no reason if I fall into the category of "lucky enough to have only had one occurrence, and now we're done." Gee whiz, I'm 49. I don't know if I'm ready to beat my insides up that drastically.

He suggested an option of waiting until my 3-month cystoscopy to see where things are. I could always do the BCG at a later time.

Should I stop worrying about this today, go enjoy the sunshine, and wait and see the path report from next week's TURBT?