What are the odds of recurring non-invasive CIS/Dysplasia Upstaging??

Good luck on the 3rd. I wish you the best. I don't have that much experience as I have only finished my 1st 6wk round of BCG and omg the last 2 were pretty rough. I go for my 1st 3 month cysto July 31st.

Again I pray you get good news on the 3rd.

-tate

I had my 5th TURBT in 14 months yesterday. They found and removed a papillary tumor and what appeared to be CIS in the bladder dome. All went smoothly. We are going to try reduced (10%) dosage of BCG and perhaps interferon --- depending on what the biopsy results are which we expect to have on July 3rd. Will keep you posted.

David Doyle

Dave your in a tough position here and it appears you are getting close to decision time from what your Dr. says. Now you have cystos that showed papillary growth and what appeared to be CIS with no invasive. But at the same time besides the wear and tear on the bladder there is the possibility of invasive. I followed your posts and you have had plenty of BCG treatments and cystos all with the same results. I guess what I am saying please don't wait till it is too wait as none of us wanna lose our bladders. Good luck with your decision with whatever it might be. Joe

David,

Please do not wait too long - my dad had non-invasive recurrences and opted for the BCG treatments and then Mitomycin after not being able to tolerate anymore BCG. His doctor advised RC repeatedly and did not want him to wait. The cancer did not wait and we lost him. If only I'd have made him listen earlier!!

Debi

Tim and Joe,

I appreciate your wisdom and experience. Joe, I completely identify with the "living my life in 3 month chunks" and "the beast at my shoulder". Since I cannot tolerate the "drenching" after my horrid experience last year with BCG, that may complicate matters...

And, as Joe stated in his response, there's some rationale out there to support waiting if one is looking in that direction (and hoping that one is not risking too much!)

I guess we each have to come to terms with our personal situation on our own schedule. Will see what happens after the 6/27 TURB. Thanks again and I'll keep everyone posted.

David

Dave
If they're on the forum you should be able to find them with some clever searching. I know they are there too. FYI my illness never progressed to invasive. I had 14 years of scraping, burning and drenching with chemicals. Having the cystectomy for me wasn't just about saving my life. it was about moving forwards and escaping the limbo of uncertainty that comes with recurrent disease. I still have an iota of that now but after I'd recovered from the surgery it felt like id begun a new life and a weight had lifted. my life was no longer measured in 3 month chunks and i could start planning for the future and do my work properly again. of course there's a part of me that wonders if I could have made it through without the op but I think I would always have felt the beast at my shoulder. If you can live a good life with that going on, then all power to you. I completely respect where you're at. it's just a gamble. I bounced around for quite a while making my decision. it's a process.

T