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I checked into the Oncology ward for the second round of chemo.  Firstly they hydrated my system with IV fluids for four hours.

Then I had the IV anti sickness medicine Emend 80mg and Dexamethason 6mg for another 15 minutes also followed up with a 15 minute IV cleanse.

The Cisplatinum chemo was administered over 3 hours through the IV also finishing with a 15 minutes cleanse.

Then I had IV fluid once more for two hours and then the anti sickness meds were repeated for 15 minutes followed by the cleanse.

After this process had been completed my system was flushed with IV fluids the whole night

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Just dropped in for an update. Had another cystoscopy performed in February and all is well with no signs of recurrence. Next check 12 months. I trust everyone is making progress with their disease and is on the improve.

Married my daughter off on Friday and what a proud father I am.

On the downside my 80yo father in law has just been diagnosed with lung cancer with multiple secondaries and the prognosis is

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My wife joins me in the room while I have my instillments, and she has been wonderful in reminding me to breath (funny how you forget that part when someone is shoving a tube up your penis, and through your tightly clenched sphincter).  This has also helped me discover a couple of tricks to reducing the pain and discomfort.  Though it is hard to relax my legs and buttocks, I have found that breathing deeply helps relax the muscles just a bit.  In fact, taking a deep breath through my nose just as she reaches my sphincter reduces the discomfort substantially.  The second instillment resulted

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Hi everyone,  Well I got my path report back today, it said:
    Papillary urothelial neoplasm of low malignant potential. So in plain english I guess it means even though I have had a recure I won,t have to do the bcg. I have a feeling if I ever have to do the bcg it will slow me down. Now my kids and husband will feel alot better to know it hasn't got worse . I think maybe you worry alot more when it is someone you love that has something.
    Hope everything is fine with all of you. love from

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One year ago today, I had a 75 gram bladder tumor resected. The diagnosis was apparently tricky and I saw terms such as sarcoma, sarcomatoid variant and carcinosarcoma on various reports.

I asked the urologist “Is it survivable.” He looked down and didn’t say a word –
Not the “no” I was dreading nor the “yes” I wanted to hear. Then he said I should go to a major cancer center for treatment and I got the impression that meant a r/c.

Since then, I have had chemotherapy with six different drugs and no objective response to any of them. [The literature I have read suggests that sarcomatoid

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The first instillation of BCG went well. After reading all the information on the BLCWebCafe, I took NO food or drink for a couple hours before, then made sure to drink plenty of water afterward (over 8 ounces each hour). Later in the day I began to feel feverish (without an actual fever), and a bit achy. The next morning I woke feeling much the same, but that feeling intensified through the day, and by midday I couldn't even concentrate. After a good nap things began to subside, until evening when I felt much better. I passed a couple of blood clots late at

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Last post I left off with my upcoming maintenance BCG scheduled for Feb. 13th, 2008. Went in for the treatment, advised the treatment nurse of my persistent irritation in the bladder area, with no specific urinary side effects. The treatment nurse spoke with the oncology nurse, who in turn spoke with the (invisible) oncologist, and they decided to delay treatment again (3rd week in a row). They also did another urine test (that came back negative on Friday, Feb 15th). I asked to see the oncologist, to discuss BCG dose options, and turns out the oncology nurse said that was not possible that

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Now for the surgery part. Dr. Schoenberg went in after fluffy,(for those of you that don't know that's what I call the b.c.) and then I woke up in the recovery room knocked for a lope! They said they we're going to make sure I didn't crawl off the table, lol. I think I am still under the influence because I can't think of the rigt way to spell lope! oh well, Dr.S came to talk to me for a minute ,and now I just wait for the path report. But what I really wanted to know is how soon I could go skiing ! For me skiing first thing is like going to the gym, it's how I try to beat the chronic pain I

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Hi everyone , Well I went to John Hopkins yesterday for my preop talk, I told them that I have a habit of trying to get off the table and leave if I am not knocked out enough !( I guess thats my hiking part kickking in Rosemary !! lol ) They assured me they would not let that happen !! thanks for the forwarning .
  We stayed close to the harbor since we had the rest of the day and night to kill (we live about three and ahalf hours away). My husband and I did the tourist thing and went exploring , I FOUND A BARNES AND NOBLE !! I could have stayed there alllll night, books everywhere ! My

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Well, since last I posted to this part of the forum, a lot has happened, actually --less to do with my treatment (though there is news there, too) than with reasons to live "beyond expectations."

I do have an appointment set up with a metastatic bladder cancer specialist at MD Anderson for March. In the mean time, I'm trying to get caught up with non-cancer medical issues, teeth, blood pressure, etc. I continue to feel well, generally,
but it is hard not to panic everytime I have what could be just a little "normal" ailment. For example, I felt "bone tired" yesterday morning and was afraid I'd

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