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What are the conditions where you receive bladder chemo installation?
I have just completed the 6 GEMDOCE weekly treatments and am awaiting my cystoscopy to see how things went.
I hate to be negative, but I do have a concern that bothered me more each week.
Where I am having the treatments locally, I spend an hour and a half atop an examination table. I is extremely uncomfortable. I am expected to "rotate" every so often, and trying to turn while connected to a catheter and perched atop an elevated exam table is both difficult and scary. It causes discomfort with the catheter and since I am placed on a paper sheet, as I try to turn, it "tries" to stick with me!
The chemo is administered by a nurse, and I haven't been able to see the oncological urologist throughout this process.
I had visited another facility (Shands Hospital) which provides the treatment/installations in a room with a single hospital style bed.
Could anyone share how their own treatments have been handled? I plan to speak to my oncological urologist about this when I have my check-up and it would be good to know if there are others experiencing this in a more comfortable environment. This is a new'ish' facility and I cannot see why they couldn't provide something more comfortable. Even the cat scan "bed" would feel safer since it is lower down.
Thank you for any input. I have trouble thinking that I will be the first one to complain about this at this facility. I would love to have some examples of something better from this group. If I have some examples of more comfortable environments, perhaps it could spur some ideas where I am being treated. It will be less frequent now that I have had the six-week treatment completed, but still, it seems like it could be so much better.
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Deb,
Thank you for sharing this. I've been kind of hard on myself about being so tired, and my six once/week treatments were over at the end of May. I've done some other reading, but hearing someone here talk about 5 months of effects and finally starting to feel better helps me to not feel like such a 'complainer.'
If I go out of the house on day 1, on day 2, I am shaky and too tired to do much. I will feel OK while I am out, but the price is too high the next day. I will often fall asleep without being able to stop it. I still run my own business and do that with Zoom sessions, so now that is just about all of my activity.
As a board member for a community service organization, I serve as a liaison to members about our upcoming activities, but I know I cannot afford the energy to attend any events I am promoting.
I'm getting comfortable with the word "no".
I think we all should be comfortable with "no" to what is too much for us, and "yes" to putting our needs first!
Hi bethcamp I'm Diane I also had bladder cancer I did have the BCG chemo treatments if I recall correctly I had a numbing prescription I got at drug store took with me nurse applied waited 20 minutes doctor installed went home I did have to hold urine and rotate on bed every 20 minutes then after I void in toilet 2 gallon bleach waited 15 minutes then flush every doctor has there own way of doing it but I was very comfortable doing it at home I just had the cather with installation didn't go home with it. Just remember stupid question are the ones never ask. And I had alot lol wish you the very best