Homepage – Forum › Forums › Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer › Newly diagnosed in Kingstontown › Reply To: Newly diagnosed in Kingstontown
HI Shar!
Welcome to our site but sorry that you have need to be here. Congrats on surviving breast cancer. That’s no small feat. I’m sorry to learn of your hubby’s BC. CIS can be a bit tricky but the route he will follow will depend on the pathology results from the surgery. Samples will be taken from the surgery and sent to be analyzed. The results usually take 10-14 days. The surgery is called a TURBT (Transurethral resection of Bladder Tumour). Make sure that you get a copy of the the results and the doc should explain what is next. If te cancer is superficial and not invaded the bladder muscle BCG is a possible followup. I had papillary tumours with a few CIS spots and BCG has worked well for me. A TURBT takes a few days to about a month to fully recover from. It is done by the doc inserting a resectoscope up the urethra and the tumours are cut or cauteried out. He should avoid heavy lifting for 4-6 weeks as the removal leaves open wounds on the bladder wall. Rest with short walks and a good diet are the best way to heal quickly. How soon he goes back to work will depend on how he feels and what his duties are. If his job does involve lifting then he should talk to his supervisor about restricted hours and duties for about a month. As for the BCG the side effects vary from person to person. Some people have few effects and work through treatment. I was not one of those. I alwys felt like I had a good dose of the flu. I booked the day of treatment off and the following two days so I could rest and recover. He will have to followup with regular cystoscopy exams for life. The usual schedule is every 3 months for 2 years, then every 6 months for two yeasr and then annual for at least 10 years although most docs recommend for life. This schedule could vary a bit depending on how things go. The important thing is to always know what the next step is by asking the doc. Good luck for Thursday. Let us know how things go.