I had the last BCG treatment this morning in this initial round of six that they call the induction phase. It is not the most comfortable of regimens, take my word for it. Now I wait two months and get another blue light cystoscopy in the operating room. If they find cancer, all bets are off.
If they don't find cancer cells I start getting the immuno-therapeutic agent every month or so for a year or two. I have no idea what is going to happen here but I know that thanks to a doctor willing to listen, we gave myself a fighting chance to save my bladder.
The first two urologists didn't give me a chance in hell, Juma said it was not a matter of if but when the cancer returned. Because it was a high grade in the wall. I don't blame him for being honest. If anything I blame myself for not staying on top of things after my urologist died.
Don't be an idiot like me, if you are over fifty you need to get a colonoscopy and you need to pay attention. Women need to get regular mammograms too.
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I don't know exactly how the
bcg exactly works. It is supposed to foster white blood cell production that attacks the cancer but I believe that the actual operational details are still something of a mystery.
"We are not quite sure how BCG works for bladder cancer. It seems to encourage cells of the immune system to grow and become very active in the bladder lining. These cells probably kill off any cancer cells that might grow back or have been left behind. This is called immunotherapy."
I look at my bladder like a big magical alembic at the moment, hopefully transmuting the nasty visitor and vanquishing it with the help of my newfound elixir.
Anyway, all arcane hermeticism aside, I am in a waiting period and will be for the foreseeable future. Greisman told me way back when that he should have taken the whole kidney out in 1985 when he had the chance. All it took was one hidden cell for the disease to return 25 years later.
Brain to bladder:
transmute!
1 comment:
I am a firm believer in using magical means to attain a cure as long as that method supports the medical approach. One doesn't want to discount what reason and science can do but at the very least adding the magical or faith or whatever your approach is to the mix is probably going to enhance the whole thing. Some say it can tip the balance in one's favor. I am pretty sure it can just as I am sure the magicians and alchemists of yore would have been happy to augment their practice with modern tools. Fortunately there is no requirement for goat heads in any of this.
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