BCG intravesical therapy

I was finally diagnosed with
I was finally diagnosed with bladder cancer, carcinoma in situ (CIS), in January 2012. I do not have any tumors that can be removed. The CIS looks like red velvet spots on my bladder wall. This is after about a year and a half of being treated for urinary tract infections that I never had. I am getting BCG treatments from a general urologist who found the cancer after I was referred to him from my gynecologist and the hospital walk-in clinic after several months on non-stop pain starting in August/September 2011. I also am working with a bladder cancer urologist in Hartford CT (who was trained at Sloan Kettering NYC) and had CAT scan that determined the CIS had not spread. They decided that the 1st and only course of treatment at this point is BCG. I started my 6 week treatment program on March 23, and have had 2 treatments so far. I have not experienced any pain in my bladder. In fact, I think the pain that I had for the CIS is gone since getting these treatments. I have had no pain when urinating. I am also on Ditran, which I have been taking since December 2011, so this may also help with pain. My treatments are on Friday afternoons, and I do not have any pain on Fridays. On Saturday and Sunday, I have noticed that if I exert myself too much I have lower back pain on the left side (my CIS is on the left side of my bladder wall). But I just wanted to let you know that I have not experienced any pain when urinating - in fact, since starting BCG, the pain I used to have is gone. Good luck!
(P.S. - I should add that at 57 yrs old female and have never smoked or worked around chemicals. It was determined that this may have caused from second-hand-smoke.

greyfox2012 said:

BCG
BCG id the easiest treatment I've ever had. So what if it burns a little when you pee...beats the alternative.

BCG treatment
I am 72 YO male diagnosed with CIS in April 2012. Had a papillary bladder tumor excised last June. CIS found by cytology testing of
urine as follow-up cystoscopies last August, Sept, and Dec were "negative" for any visible tumor. Have had 5 BCG treatments. Side
effects of urgency, frequency, and pain for approx. 8 hrs only on day of treatment. No side effects thereafter until next treatment.
Will hope to have negative cystoscopy in July and then undergo follow-up BCG treatments as recommended by my urologist. I am
an extreme fitness fanatic and have had no interference with my usual activity level - so far. I have none of the possible exposures
for bladder cancer causes except second-hand smoke. My wife was a heavy smoker - but not in the past 25 yrs. I should mention
that the pain I experience the day of BCG treatment is 5 out of 10 at worse: however. my pain tolerance is quite high, which has
gotten me into trouble in my younger athletic years.

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HalBo said:

New diagnosis, first BCG

I am 54 years old, a male in generally good physical condition. Late last fall I started noticing blood in my urine after a hard workout at my gym, it alarmed me as this never happened before. Over a couple of months it happened several more times but only after a strenuous workout. Never the less I located a good urologist and went for a checkup. A urine sample showed some trace of leukocytes and blood. I was sent for a CT scan that showed two shadows in my bladder. A cystoscopy following showed at least nine polyps. Shortly after that I scheduled a transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT). All tumors were removed. The pathology showed stage 1 carcinoma with no intrusion into the muscle tissue, however it’s a high grade carcinoma.

Last week I had my first Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment. I'm scheduled for a total of six and then we'll go back in and take another look. The catheter is much smaller than the ones I experienced in the previous procedures so that was a bit of a relief. It only took about 5 minutes to complete. Later that day I experienced fever symptoms and a minor discomfort when urinating. That all passed after a day. No missed work. My second treatment is this Friday.

Prognosis is good. Only time will tell. I thank God for showing me this monster growing in my body before any serious damage was done. 

Progress

Hello

I have similar situation to you. I had CIS which Uro removed and today completed BCG 5, one more then Uro will look inside in a few weeks!

How are things with you?

Regards

Ted