TaG3 - 6 of one, how much of the other?

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Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:14:04 +0100

Jim,
� You sound like you are dealing with this very well...so when does the path come back?

I hope you have a good Dr in San Diego...If you feel like "champus" ing out,
(that's what they call it in the Marines)..I know a really fine bladder cancer specialist here in North Carolina....

� Good to hear from you...

Rosemary - Rosemary

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Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:05:09 +0100

Thanks, Chris and Rosemary, for your support and comments. I understand and share your concerns about the residue/recurrence issue. I am going to ship back stateside to San Diego for a while to have my treatment taken over at a Naval hospital there. There's nothing like military medicine, by the way - within an hour of making calls I had an appointment for the first working day after I arrive, which is twelve days after the TUR (my uro wanted me to start BCG in about that time-frame). This, even though I am not presently technically authorized to be treated at that facility (although I will be by the time I arrive).

Here's one for you, Chris. Once, in Kuwait, I was being seen by a Navy dentist who was in-country from a visiting ship. He mentioned that he had started out in the Navy, got out and worked in the civilian community for a while, then came back in. When I asked him why, he said that the private practice he worked in put incredible pressure on the dentists to produce cash flow. For example, he was encouraged to give fillings to people who needed caps. That way, the clinic would make a few extra bucks on the filling, which would fall out after a few weeks because it was the wrong solution in the first place (they only got away with it because it was plausible to the layperson patient), and then they'd get the business for the cap anyway. In the Navy, he said, it was just about the dentistry. Interestingly, my wife had an experience just like that with a supposedly highly regarded civilian dentist shortly after I retired.

That anecdote serves neither to uniformly cast doubt on civilian health care, nor to uniformly bestow blind confidence on military health care, but it was something that I hadn't expected to hear, and that I found interesting. There certainly are enough checks and balances, from HMO-style cost-benefit calculations on the one hand to the constant threat of litigation on the other, not to mention the generally high quality and motivations of people in this line of work, to ensure we are all in pretty professionally driven and focussed hands. But it does support the idea you've voiced of trying to look at all aspects of what might be influencing the construction, analysis, and reporting of research. - jhs

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Thu, 13 Jul 2006 18:51:49 +0100

Hey Jim,

This sounds pretty familiar...I do wonder tho, how your Doc knew that it wasn't residual...my doc said that getting it all the first time is very hard to do...

Waiting for the path is pretty tough...hang in there, Buddy...I'm rooting for you.

Rosemary - Rosemary

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Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:27:56 +0100

Sorry to hear about the recurrance Jim. �I wonder how they can tell if its a recurrance or residual? Especially when its on the same site as the original tumor?

In my case I believe I went in 2-3 weeks after my original TURB and started my 6 induction BCG treatments without a re-TURB/biopsy. �Of course you know that on my first 3 month check all was clear. �So that BCG stuff can really work.

It also sounds pretty positive that its still that one site in your bladder that is affected. �Thats what confuses me, the uro claims it isn't redisual, then why are these two mini-tumors growing on the same site and not somewhere else in the bladder? �I guess I am a skeptic about that.

I think its good news that the tumors were in one spot, hopefully thats the only area in your bladder where they can grow and the BCG can kill them dead. �Also remember that although your tumor is a fast growing G3, it was also a non-invasive Ta

My experience with each BCG treatment is that it puts you out of comission for about 24 hours. �I mean you can still do stuff, but for at least 6 hours afterwards I preferred to be near a toilet with my can of bleach, and sometimes felt a little woosey/slight fever. �I was generally getting frisky with the wife 2-3 days later though �::)

I forget, did you get dosed with Mitomycen-C or some other chemotharapy agent immediately after your intial TURB? Makes you wonder if that could have made a difference..

Have a good time in the states on your vacation! �If you get near Washington State give me a hollar. - Christopher

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Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:00:44 +0100

Thank you Rosemary, for your good wishes, and you too, Chris.

I put the notes about the TUR as a continuation in my second post, above. In brief, I already had a recurrence, with a couple of "mini" papillary tumors on the site of the base of my original tumors. The pathology report will be out early next week, but we expect it will come back Ta and G3 for the tumors.

This obviously reflects the aggressive nature of my G3 cancer, increasing my chances for both recurrence and progression, but, largely because of the Ta side (which my doctor remains convinced will be once again confirmed by the pathology report) will probably need to get through the first round of BCG therapy to see if that has any positive effect regarding recurrence.

I'll let you know what the pathology report says. The experience so far just confirms for me the benefit of early diagnosis and aggressive attention to therapy on the part of everyone - doctors, patients, and family and friends. - jhs

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Tue, 11 Jul 2006 18:10:44 +0100

Good luck tomorrow, Jim...hang in there.

Rosemary - Rosemary

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Tue, 11 Jul 2006 15:30:18 +0100

Thats what you get for eating Turkish food.

Jim, don't read too much into the blood in your urine. Remember I was testing my urinine dialy with urinalysis strips (bought on ebay) and on several occasions tested positive for urine in my blood (micro-hematuria). �I flipped out and started bugging my urologist. �He told me to throw the urinalysis strips away... �And he was right, I had NED on my first follow up cysto.

They yanked my catheter out a few hours after my first TURB, I wouldn't have been very happy if I had had to go home with it.

Well, get this over with and get that BCG to mop up any remaining cancer cells. - Christopher