Since the end of February I had 3 turbt surgery and bcg treatments for 6 weeks and had to have my kidney removed between bcg Had my fourth turbt surgery 3 weeks ago pathology report came back and doctor called me today and talked about bladder removal trying to figure out if any one had luck with bladder chemotherapy
Morning Chuck, sounds like you have had a difficult few months. I was diagnosed with Bladder Cancer Eight years ago. I went down the Chemotherapy/ Radiotherapy route. I have had two superficial recurrences which were quickly and successfully treated. I have flexible cystoscopies twice a year following BCG Instillations (15) As an aside I have recently had a kidney removed following a Pet Scan. They discovered a tumour which is not associated with my Bladder Cancer and advised removal. During the Surgery I underwent a flexible cystoscopy- All Clear! I would explore all the options available to you. You will get responses on this forum from people who have had bladder removal and others who have had alternative treatments. How’s life going with only one Kidney? Good luck.
I had chemo and cystectomy 4 years ago and so far so good. Usually these days they give chemo before operating to shrink the tumour so they can keep it inside the bladder, hopefully having made it smaller through the chemo. So there is less chance of cells escaping during bladder removal. (In the past it was op first, chemo second though if a late diagnosis I guess they may do it that way round still).
They're very experienced in treating Bladder Cancer these days.
Never heard of chemo only.
Suggest you look at the Macmillan online bladder cancer booklet. It's very clear.
Hi, welcome to the group. When you say bladder chemotherapy, do you mean the BCG? That is usually called immunotherapy, as opposed to chemo which, for BC, is generally associated with surgery or radiotherapy.
Success depends on your definition! Many people will say BCG has worked if there is no recurrence after the initial 6 doses, others will say it is clear for a certain number of years, others mean a complete cure. BCG is always a bit of a gamble, but there are other treatments to try if BCG is deemed not to be working.
Hopefully you will be able to have a face to face meeting with your consultant to ask questions and explore all the options, pros & cons, risks & benefits. Hope all goes well for you.
Must had heard him wrong when he started with cystectomy my brain fogged out and couldn't understand nothing after that .Going to pick up paperwork on the options this week.He order a pet scan and consultation with him right .Glad to hear people had good results after bladder removal
I know that feeling. When I had my first proper appointment with allocated consultant, as soon as he said mine was aggressive & I might need bladder removal, I felt sick and hardly registered what came next. As things turned out, I actually chose surgery. That was 15 years ago - don't expect to live long enough to match 50 years!
What a ride you have been on, sorry it's been so had for you. Plenty of here to give you advice re bladder removal and pros and cons to that and a conduit or neo bladder etc.
But as always chin up chuck (sorry had to be done) I'm sure you will find ways to deal with whatever happens and what route you decide to take.
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Much love and hope to everyone past future and present.
I also hate autocorrect and hope people can make sense out of my posts when it changes half the words I type.
