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DiscussionProtocol for maintenance therapy with BCG
Bladder Cancer | Last Active: Aug 12 7:38am | Replies (26)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "I am starting my first bcg in Monday. How did the first 6 go?"
My first 4 were uncomfortable, but not terrible. However, the 5th and 6th were horrible. Both of those seemed to coincide with a UTI discovered after the 5th, but only started an antibiotic 2 days before the 6th, too late to reduce the pain of the sixth. A month later, I was scoped and had a biopsy. Results were no cancer, (thank you God) but I had developed "chronic cystitis & features of cystitis cystica". Haven't met with the doc yet, but my research suggests this may require modifications to the BCG maintenance treatments to address these new complications. These seem likely to be caused by the irritation from BCG. Bottom line...BCG offers hope, but it's got its downside. If you are having difficulty with the treatments, you may have to accept some pain, but make sure you give feedback to your urologist and oncologist. BC treatments are a rapidly progressing field. If you feel your doctors are just shrugging off your discomfort, get another opinion. Your doc may be resistant to discussing modifications they are unfamiliar with.
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First four were no problem at all. The fifth was the beginning of the side effects. And they get progressively worse, at least for me.