TCC/CIS

I was diagnosed with bladder cancer after having blood in my urine and frequent trips to the bathroom shortly before my birthday in October of 1998. I had surgery to remove the tumor on November 4th, 1998, and had cystoscopies every 3 months for the first two years and then started every 6 months for a year and a half. In May of 2002 I went in for my cysto and was told my cancer had returned. I went in for surgery in June and
the diagnosis is High Grade Papillary Urothelial Carcinoma. No evidence of invasion. Adjacent flat CIS.
I finished 6 weeks of BCG and waited one month, then went in for a cysto. My urologist said there are some red spots in my bladder, and he isn’t sure what they are so I now need a biopsy.
I went to Karmanos Cancer Institute and had a biopsy on Oct. 21, 2002. The doctor e-mailed me that I have some cancer cells in the bladder and that the first six weeks of BCG apparently didn’t work. I will now be starting another six weeks?
of treatment as soon as my bladder heals from the
biopsy. I started my second round of 6 weekly treatments of BCG on November 11th, 2002 at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI. I finished my second 6 week course of BCG on
december 16th. I had a cystoscopy and bladder wash on January 27th, 2003. My doctor was out of town for a while so I just got an e-mail from him on Feb.6th, he wrote that my urine cytology was negative, but he still wants to do a biopsy. I went to see another doctor in Rochester Hills, M on March 24, 2003, and had another cysto. This doctor let me watch on a monitor while he moved the scope around in my bladder. It was very interesting to see the inside while he explained everything we were seeing. He said there was no reason to have a biopsy as apparently the BCG had done it’s work.

I just recently received the final report of the cysto and bladder wash I had done in January of 2003 and it says,”negative for high grade urothelial CA/CIS”!!! I have now started maintenance therapy of one dose of BCG every three months. I feel like I have won the battle, but not the war! Does that sound right? I have learned a lot from the support group. Knowledge IS power. Update on May 26th, 2004. It is now almost two years since I had a recur and my last cysto in April was still clean. No cancer cells!