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First BCG

Three months to the day from seeing the doc because of blood in the urine (and 2 TURBTs later), had my first BCG today. Possibly because of the excellent nurses at St Johns, it was efficient and painless. And as yet, not a side effect.

Five more to go, but hopefully my luck holds.

  1. Hi ! That's great your first BCG today went well and you have had no side effects yet. I am sending best wishes for continued success with your next 5 treatments! Come back here to share how it's going... I'll be thinking of you. -Sarah (BladderCancer.net Team Member)

    1. , by now you must have completed your BCG treatment - How are you doing?

      Thanks for sharing your experience. I am somewhat anxious, since tomorrow is my first BCG treatment - yes its 2 month to the day, I went thru the surgery to remove the tumor in my bladder.

      How was your side effects after the BCG treatments? Was it same with all 6 treatments? Did it progressively gotten worse or better?

      I have 6 weekly treatments starting tomorrow. In the middle of these, I need to get my second shot Covid-19 vaccine, which is supposed to have very pronounced side effects of knocking people out with mild fever, and flu like symptoms. Its going to be interesting 😀

    2. Hi Mettur,

      I finished my BCG in early November, and with wanting to visit family, and the surgeon taking vacation, I only last week had a cystoscopy to see what the results are. No pathology report as yet.

      I can honestly say that in the scheme of things I had NO side effects worth mentioning. The only drag was the need to be careful urinating for the few hours after the treatment.

      In fact the whole treatment thus far has been without side effects. The cystoscopy was only day surgery so there was really red urine a day or so later where in hospital post TURB all that is flushed out.

      Good Luck, I hope your BCG is as easy as mine (and I hope both of us have luck with the outcome!).

  2. Greg - Thank you for keeping us updated on your BCG treatments. People seem to be affected in a variety of ways and I am pleased to read that your side effects were pretty non-existent. I am sure that your posts will provide some comfort to others considering the same treatments. A good attitude also seems to reduce stress and you seem to have that also. My very best to you in your journey and I will hope for positive news from your tests. Thank you for sharing.
    Linda ( moderator, author, Bladdercancer.net team member)

    1. Posted this elsewhere, and now here!

      25 February

      Saw the urologist today a month after the cystoscopy. Pretty much “come back in June to start a six monthly cystoscopy cycle for a while to see if anything crops up”! No treatment required, just keep checking to see if there’s any recurrence. I’m not complaining.

      1. That’s nice. Hope you stay that way without any recurrence for ever. Congratulations. Good luck.

      2. Hi Mettur,
        How is your BCG progressing? No side effects I hope.
        G

    2. Hi Greg, I was interested to read your post - in particular the recommendation that you move to 6 monthly observation cystoscopy. I have had a similar path to yourself - TURBT and initial BCG last year - followed by a clear cystoscopy. I was a little concerned that my urologist didn't recommend maintenance BCG as it seemed to be the overwhelmingly accepted path. Spoke to my retired urologist brother-in-law about it, who said he wasn't surprised as there were many differing opinions - often influenced by geographic regions?! (For no good or apparent reason) I am in Melbourne - I gather you are in Tasmania? Perhaps there is an Australian view that maintenance should be avoided where possible? Good luck! Regards, Brian

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