Your story is sadly representative of why research continues for a therapy that actually works without such horrific side effects. I will NEVER have traditional radiation therapy if/when my cancer returns. In my one and only consult with a radiation oncologist months ago, he said within the first five minutes that I can "count on having urinary incontinence for the rest of my life", if I ever have radiation, and that I may very well have rectal/stool issues as well.
I immediately went home and researched better alternatives. The best is Proton Beam Therapy where the radiation goes "to" but not "through" the target tissue to damage normal, healthy tissue around and beyond it, like standard radiation therapy does. There are far more hospitals and centers of care with standard radiation therapy instruments because it has been the standard of care, as the "only" form of radiation therapy up until the last several years. Like all highly technological therapies, a Proton Beam instrument costs over $1,000,000, and has to be budgeted by the hospital. To compare: I was the Director of Clinical and Anatomical Laboratory Services for about 20 years. All of the various lab instruments that run 24/7 in a Lab and do all of your various types of testing, cost between ~$100,000 to ~$350,000. But radiology equipment like CT Scanners, MRI's, etc. all approach and exceed $1,000,000 - $1,500,000. And that is the equipment only. Often times, massive construction of a CT or MRI suite has to occur adding huge costs. Example: do you all know that under a standard CT scanner there is usually SIX FEET DEEP of a concrete to support the weight? It is like a 6' x 6' x 6' cube of solid concrete. I can't tell you how many times in my career, that I was told that my new, desperately needed Lab instruments would "have to wait another year, because Radiology needs to buy a CT Scanner, MRI, or similar high-ticket item." Try telling your Chemistry or Hematology Supervisor that "we have to wait another year for your desperately needed Lab instrument, because Radiology is getting a $1.2 Million CT Scanner, and blew the entire budget." It made my blood boil.