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Thank you all for your expressions of concern and encouragement.

I had my TURBT on Thursday. Will know the results at the follow-up consult when we get the pathology report. My doc also administered Mitomycin during the procedure.

Earlier in the week, during the pre-op consult, we discussed the implications of this recurrence. He said that if it turned out to be T1 (he is in the camp that considers T1 to be invasive) we'd have to begin consideration of bladder removal. If it remains Ta, then we can look at BCG maintenance therapy, given the particulars of my history with this disease.

I showed

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I guess we have to kind of see the humour in this, huh, Lauren  :P

I went to the GP today, at my family's insistence.  I gave him the whole story of BCG's, arthritis, etc.
He actually said that you (meaning me)  "obviously know more about the responses of BCG's than I do"... because he had no other patients on BCG (figure that!).

Anyway, he X rayed my arm and hands and for some reason, he wanted a chest X ray and he wanted a bunch of blood.  The rash under my breast and in the female area is yeast and I got some medicine for that which cost me dearly.  After a total of $1450.00 later, I wonder

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Thanks, J!

I appreciate that very much!

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Well, I got a good report today.  The Doc says everything looked great.  He tried to show an Assistant in training the spot where the biopsy was done and she couldn't distinguish the site.  I asked, "Is that good?"   The Doc said, "That's very good"

I don't think he bought into Dr. Lamms' assesment of my arthritis.  I showed him the E Mail.  He, evidently, had worked with Dr. Lamm at one time for about a year.  It wasn't like he was disrespectful about it, just a difference of opinion.  I know my body, and [i]I know where the arthritis came from.[/i]

I got the scoop on the stage and grade too.

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Hi all. I was on this site, reading and posting, back in 2004, early 2005. I had my first experience with bladder cancer in June 2004.

Female, age 47 then (50 now)

Single 3 cm tumor, T1 (almost T2a, but dodged that bullet by a fortunate layer or two of cells), grade 2/3. TURBT on June 4, 2004 & quit smoking the night before surgery, haven't touched one since. Re-TURBed early July to be sure the muscle wall was not involved. No invasion of the muscle wall.

Began 6 weeks of BCG, in August 2004, but had such horrible bladder spasms and pain from it, the dose was reduced. Although I managed to make

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Hi Rosemary

Some time ago I posted the message below within another part of this forum and had little to no reply. I read about Selenium through a search of the internet and the potential benefits it might have for bladder cancer sufferers. Recently a local TV network in my town ran a story regarding Selenium which supported this theory.

What is selenium?
Selenium is a trace mineral that is essential to good health but required only in small amounts. Selenium is incorporated into proteins to make selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant properties of

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Thanks for the "lecture" Greg and no offence is taken to your wise words. I guess as a bowel cancer survivor of 10 years I am acutely aware of the need for regular checks and the benefit of these. After all it was a urine test, part of my regular bowel cancer checks that detected the bladder cancer in its early stages. For that I am thankful. I have vowed never to shirk out of my regular checks for the rest of my life. As for lifestyle change, well I did something about this 14 months ago when I moved home away from the city to a place I intend to retire to by the sea. My plan is to retire in

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Thank you so much for your post. :)

It sounds as if your husband and I are on the same schedule!  My next cystoscopy is on December 7th.

I am wishing him the best also, and hoping that you will keep me informed.

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Well, had some bleeding and bloody "tissue" in the toilet.  Not as bad as last time.
The discomfort only lasts for about 1 1/2 hrs.  And this is it for another six months, with a cystoscopy in December. :-X

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I had the 3rd BCG today.

After a lot of questions, and even asking what room I had the treatment in last week, the nurse determined that they probably introduced a 16" catheter into my bladder last week....TOO LARGE! :-/

The Dr. said, "Let's go ahead with treatment.  I'm pretty sure that I'm right about this.  If you have any problems this time, we will reduce dosage on next go round."

So, far...very little discomfort and no blood on first 2 voids....

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