Hi Renny, 

I'm so sorry to hear your husband's bladder cancer may have been caused by the radiotherapy he had for his prostate cancer 19 years ago but it's good to hear that you now have dates and times for his BCG treatment.

I and the rest of the Cancer Chat community really do hope it is successful, and I'm sure some of them will be along soon to offer their support and advice.

You can find out more about your husband's diagnosis and treatment on our website but if either of you have any questions or would just like to talk things through with someone then you're welcome to get in touch with our team of cancer nurses on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

Best wishes to you both,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thankyou so much it's good to know i can talk on here as we have no children and our parents are not here any more. So we are on our own with this journey. 

The sick feeling in my stomach wont go away thinking i am going to loose him. He is a very fit 81 year old, eats well, sleeps well. So i just hope he gets through the BCG with not too many side effect. It would brake my heart to see him in pain. I will keep you posted. His first BCG is on the 28/5 

Renny

Like you and your husband we have no children and no parents We will have been married 54 years in a couple if weeks My husband is 80 in Nov and is fit and active 

My husband  was diagnosed with bladder cancer  6 years ago and had 24 bcg treatments which cured the cancer 

Side effects lasted no longer than 24 hours painful urination and a headache for a few hours after installation 

However after blood in urine at the beginning of the year investigations showed a very small tumour in the ureter which the surgeon removed Unfortunately removal of the kidney and ureter isnt possible as the other kidney has low function due to previous kidney stones

Our consultant thinks we should just let things take their course Neither of us are happy with that and have made our views clear  We do not subscribe to the comment made that my husband has had a good innings He survived Covid after spending  7 days on a ventilator and got his fitness back and rode his bike again He had 23 days in hospital in total

I'm researching various options At the moment we are waiting for the multi disciplinary team report They asked that the pathology done at the first hospital be examined by their pathologist They are a major university teaching hospital

My feelings mirror yours exactly 

I sincerely hope your husband's treatment is successful and he like my husband has minimal side effects 

Not sure if I can post about another site but Macmillan bladder cancer forum has been a great help Lots of people there have had bcg treatment 

Best wishes 

Wilbert 

Hi Wilbert,

Thankyou for your email. So pleased to hear your husband got through the BCG mostly unscathed. This thing they found in my Ronnies uretha from the biopsy, came back unresposive but they checked the urin round it and found cancer cells so he is going for a dye ct scan in june to see if it has grown etc. The consultant was so matter of fact saying " if it comes back as grown then we will have to take the right kidney out and the uretha. Shame as his kidneys are ok. But i think they are bothered it will spread to the kidney but if there taking it all out anyway.? just dont get it. All this was said to us when we wasnt expecting anything they told us. So it all went over our heads. It wasnt untill we were led into another office and met Ronnies cancer nurse that would be giving him the BCG  it dawn on us. Another thing that is worring me is if we will get home in time for him to keep the BCG in him as we live 50 mins away from the hospital. Just sick of all the worry. Take care and lots of best wishes to you and your hubby.

Renny

Hi Renny

It seems that kidney and ureter removal is the standard treatment However I was told if a trial reported in the Lancet that showed good results with tumour removal only followed by chemo The type if which depended on kidney function I intend to raise this with our consultant No way are we prepared to have John written off on grounds if age 

We were fortunate as our local hospital where John had the bcg is only 20 minutes away However on a couple of occasions we had to visit a hospital 55 minutes away Thenurse gave us a cardboard urinal in case if emergency but luckily we made it home May be worth mentioning to the nurse administering the bcg 

Dont know if you have been told yet that you need to put thick bleach into the lavatory and leave for 20 minutes before flushing

Joh  had to keep bcg in for an hour altho I have seen posts that required2 hour retention 

Good luck and a big hug

Wilbert x

Thanks for the info.Yes i know about the bleaching i even bought Ronnie some of those hospital gloves just incase he would get the BCG on his hands. Yes i read on here that the americans are told to only keep it in for 1 hour ? I have been talking on her to man called Danial and he said that he didnt drink after 8 the night before so that when he went at 10 the next morning ( same time as my Ronnies appointments) he had no fluid in him and he said when he got home he drank 3 glasses of water and it helped with the burning feeling. Also i read that a small spoonfull of bicarb in some water helps with the burning. So getting all good tips for Ronnie. The cancer nurse asked how long it took to get home and i said about 50 mins and she said oh he will be fine he will be able to get home and release it in our house. What would your John have done if he was to have taken short on the way home did he carry some bleach with him. Did he drive cos i dont so thats another thing to worry about. I was of a mind to ask if Ronnie could stop in the hospital for the 2 hours and let it go in the clinic i bet they wont let him but i will ask any way. I have read on here that they can take a small tumer out of the ureter without taking a good kidney out have you read anything about that.

Renny

Hi Wilbert

Just got back from the hospital and what was supposed to be a stay of 3 hours for the first time was all of 15 mins. Ronnie was in and out in a flash no pain at all and we managed to get home before the 2 hours were up. They told him to drink after 1 hour but still try to keep it in for 2. Did your David have to do that. Just waiting know to see if he has any pain when he goes for the first time.

Hope your keeping well and your David. Let me know of any more news on the uretra.

Regards Renny