Multiple recurrences of low grade nmibc
I am a 74 year old woman. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in December 2016 and I have had persistent Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) since then. I have done 3 series of BCG which were unsuccessful. I have had a series of 6 infusions of gemcitabine. After that I had intervesical therapy of gemcitabine and docetaxel (one right after the other) monthly for 10 months. I have had 9 TURBTS. The last one was 2 weeks ago. I had a period of 9 months with no visible cancer in 2020. But I've had 2 new TURBTS since then with new growths.
Life with TURBT's
My cancer has not progressed and is still considered low-grade NMIBC. I am wondering if anyone's had a similar experience with repeated TURBTS and continuing recurrences. This last Turbt was done under BLUE Light cystoscopy. My recovery period seems longer than with other TURBTS. I am still in pain after 2 weeks and have a lot of urgency and frequency. It is especially bad at night when I wake up 8-12 times to urinate. My urologist tells me that there are others that have similar diseases to mine. He tells me that my cancer is more of a nuisance but that we have to keep removing it so it does not progress. He expects that there are new treatments being developed in 1-2 years and that maybe a new one will work for me. Meanwhile, we have to keep scraping out the bladder to stay on top of the recurrences.
Seeking some Advice...
My bladder is now somewhat inflamed from all the surgeries, so even when I don't have painful urination, I still have a lot more frequency than before the cancer. I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience, especially a woman. I have read that women often have more recurrences than men even though they are not as likely to get it in the first place.
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