Hello!
My dad, who just turned 86, had TURBT two weeks ago. The doctor called him Friday to tell him he would need BCG treatment for six weeks. I don't have a pathology report, but I know it was a high-grade papillary tumor. When he called to make his appointments, they told him he would start July 17th! That seems way to long to wait to start the treatments - I am concerned he would have more cancer by then, and they aren't even planning to check before starting. Since I am new to researching this, I am hoping someone can let me know if waiting three months to start is ever normal. The most I read while researching is three to six weeks. They offered he could call back to see if there is a cancellation - who would cancel cancer treatment?
My dad has two extremely large diverticuli, making his bladder hold over twice the volume of a normal bladder. I am not sure how they even did staging as his tumor was located in a diverticuli. I am happy to say they did get clean margins. I wonder why the set up treatment, but didn't offer him a chance to talk to his doctor about the amount of BCG used and if that would be adjusted for him. Also, my dad does self-catheterization due to prostate issues, and urine backing up (causes his kidney's to be inflamed). He needs to do this six times a day. It would be nice if they wanted to talk to him about how he handles this before starting. I am sure the doctor won't be there for his first treatment.
Again, thank you for reading this, and I look forward to some answers about when others started there BCG . I live in Michigan, and so does he, but he saw a urologist in St. Louis while visiting my sister. I would be happy to have him stay here and go to the University of Michigan for treatment, but don't know how easy it would be to get him started here.
