General Discussion

If you search BCG treatment you will find information like this https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17908-bacillus-calmette-guerin-bcg-treatment

Typically I would have a cystoscopy and if a tumor was spotted. I would then have a surgery via the urinary track and the cancer was removed. The pathologists would determine the stage and grade. What they find will likely determine the best treatment.

After a healing period I would then go to the urologist and BCG was inserted into my bladder via a catheter. I was asked to hold the BCG in my bladder for several hours. It was difficult to do sometimes. I was supposed to relieve myself only in a toilet and to add bleach to kill the BCG. Infusions were done weekly for six weeks.

After three months they took a another look inside my bladder. They saw more cancer and we started over with a surgery. The pathologists said it was a lower grade (aggressiveness) this time. After healing, I had and additional six weeks of the infusions and then had a cystoscopy (a look inside) in three months which was clean.

I then did a maintenance BGC regime where I had single infusions spaced at increasing intervals.

This has been going on since 1995 and I had several surgeries and courses of treatment. I still have annual looks in my bladder, but haven't needed a surgery since 2012 (I think) and haven't had BCG for roughly ten years.

There was no radiation as treatment for my cancer. I did let them try a chemo agent in my bladder immediately after a surgery, but my understanding is that trial was not successful and it was discontinued.

Please feel free to private message me with questions or concerns. I'll try to relate my experiences directly to you.