My Mother just went through her 2nd TUR and....

Vikki I looked up on a conversion chart and you Moms bladder can only hold a 1/3 of a cup of urine and Pat made a comment to you about that. That is only 79 cc's and I'm not positive everyone bladder capacity is different but let's just say the norm is about 500-800 cc's some can hold more. I would definitely ask the Dr. what is up with this why is she only holding such a small amount. Best Wishes, Joe

ddoyle, Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I am sorry to hear of all the discomfort you are going through and glad to hear that no cancer cells were found at last check It makes me feel more at ease hearing from you: "continuing inflammation would indicate that the BCG had "revved up" my immune system to fight the CIS cancer cells" I hope this to be true in my Mom's case also. She seems to be feeling well better than in a while? Seems odd though since what the Dr. did was a biopsy. I am not going to question her feeling well too much...I am just so glad that she is ;D

Pat, Thanks, My mom seems to think what ever they put in there with the catheter has helped her feel better as far as frequency of urination. She says 3 times over night 8 hours instead 18 times :o give or take. I live in Hopatcong, NJ.

TheWifeAgain, "A blood clot the size of a tennis ball had formed in the bladder" WOW :o That must have been totally scary! I am glad and amazed they were able to resolve it quickly and non-intrusively (if that is a word?) Thanks for responding to me. Yes, it appears it was some sort of calming liquid and for my Mom it seemed to help.

Thanks everyone again. I feel so much better having people to chat with. A bit less stressed and more informed.
Thank you,
Vikki

Vicki,

I've read your posts about your mom's treatment and her experience sounds very similar to mine. I too had a TURB to remove a Ta and CIS, followed by six BCG treatments. I also experienced extreme reaction (inflammation, burning, urgency) from the BCG. The doc called this severe inflammation "bullous edema", meaning redness and puffy swelling, with bleeding. I had a couple of cystocopies and another TURB just a few weeks ago and the pathologist report said "favor dysplasia" meaning that he THINKS the irregular cells and inflammation are dysplasia, which is abnormal cells which may or may not be precancerous. No malignant cells were detected but the inflammation and bleeding were severe. No specific treatment was recommended at this time. I'm scheduled to have another cystoscopy on Nov. 16 which will be two months after the TURB. In addition to no cancer, another positive indication, according to my doc was that the continuing inflammation would indicate that the BCG had "revved up" my immune system to fight the CIS cancer cells.

Of course each case is different but it sounds like there are a lot of similarities between your mom's case and mine.

They could have been running bladder irrigation (saline from a bag runs into the bladder via a catherter). The doctor makes that decision at times if there was a lot of bleeding or a large area of resection to prevent a blood clot from forming. I'm sure there are also other reasons but I know in my husband's case that was why. They sent him home after his second TURBT and we ended up in the Emergency Room because he was in severe pain. A blood clot the size of a tennis ball had formed in the bladder. He was admitted and they ran continous bladder irrigation for two days. It's possible your mom's doctor was being proactive--which is a good thing.

Vikki...after the TURB, dependent on the doctor really, a catheter is left in the bladder for drainage......I find this varies greatly from surgeon to surgeon. My surgeon took it out immediately after surgery as there was no blood and i was able to leave within about l/2 hr after removal. Other surgeons will leave it in 3 days..some even keep you in the hospital. So there's nothing unusual about that.
The usual procedure after BCG treatments is to go back in for a poke and peek..a cystoscope to see if anything has grown back. If it has then a second TURB is scheduled but its unusual for another CT scan unless he did the first one without a dye contrast. I have no idea why he's ordering another scan.
What part of the country to do you live Vikki?

I talked to my Mom again today and basically asked her all these questions I am asking you. Her answer was: 1st. It has been 5 weeks since her last BCG treatment and she says that although the Dr. said it was not typical (the irritation and swelling)it was not really of any concern ??? Ok but I don't understand. 2nd After the TUR she had a catheter with something going in as well and the usual urine coming out? What is that about? She didn't seem to know and just accepted it. 3rd. My Mom told me that the Dr. stated that she would be having another CAT scan prior to having the TUR done and not afterwards?? My Mom seems to think that since she is planning to move to the US as soon as this is somewhat resolved that he just wants all of her records to be up to date. Nice, but somehow I don't buy it. I believe my Mom thinks that just I don't know that to be true.

Thanks,
Vikki