(continued)

I was then taken to a room with its own separate toilet/dressing room. I was asked to void again, disrobe to my socks and don the fashionable hospital gown, and then to take my place on the examination table.

I was laying there with my hands behind my head. The nurse told me to fold them on my stomach; it makes it easier and more comfortable to emplace the catheter. She told me I would be feeling something cold as she sprayed disenfectant at the entrance to the urethra. She then told me to open my mouth and breath in while she inserted the catheter. I was surprised at how that helped; although it wasn’t really uncomfortable when the doctor did it for the cytoscopy, I could barely notice it this time (although I expect  that another factor in that is that the catheter probably wasn’t as large in diameter as the scope). She let me know when it was going by the prostate, at which point I immediately felt a need to void, which she warned me would happen, but it went away and she completed the insertion.

She pressed on my lower abdomen a few times to eliminate any remaining bladder contents, then attached the BCG bottle. I was surprised at how small it was, only about the size of a couple of shot glasses or so; she said it was an ampule and some odd milliliters, but that didn’t mean anything to me. It only took a couple of minutes to instal. She then instructed me to open my mouth, take a deep breath and exhale, and before I knew it the catheter was out.

I was then left in the room to do the rotation routine. 15 minutes on my stomach, then one side, the back, the other side, and again for a total of two hours. I broke out my Dell PDA, listened to Diana Krall on Windows Media and read a book (fiction, called "Intuition") on Microsoft Reader about the foibles of medical research. The nurse checked on me periodically, and about a half hour before the time was up she put a couple of cups of bleach in the toilet. She told me to void at the end of the two hours and not to flush; they would do that after I left.

When I was done I did as instructed, cleaned up with antibacterial wet-wipes, washed up and dressed. The nurse told me that at the future installations I would be able to leave and do the rotations on my own when I got home. I told her my commute is about 1 1/2 hours, so she said I could stay at the hospital and continue to do them there.

For the first 6 hours after voiding after an installation, the instructions are to sit while voiding, and to then put a couple of cups of bleach in the bowl, let it sit for 15-20 minutes to deactivate the BCG, then flush.

That was it. I felt no side-effects that I am aware of, although they told me that flu-like symptoms, including a temperature up 101 degrees, would not be unexpected, but to call if any fever gets higher than that.

So, one down and five to go. I will continue to post them, but only to note any symptoms that develop from the accumulating effects of the treatment, and anything unusual that might occur during the installations.

18 September 2006

Had my last immunotherapy instillation, today. Went as normal, no problems, and still no side effects. At the end of the 2-hour rotation period, I finished everything up, and made my cytoscopy appointment – it will be on 14 November. So, next report will be then.

(continued below in the 15NOV06 post)