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How Important Is Having A Full Bladder During Radiation Treatment?
My worse nightmare happened right on the radiation table a week ago. I'd drank down two 16 oz bottles of water back-to-back (something I never normally do), encouraged by the techs, trying to ready myself for the procedure. Near 30 minutes later when I got on the table to be pre-scanned, then zapped, my bladder felt full, very full.
Right in the middle of the procedure, I had an extreme urge to "turn on the fire hose" and had to strain fiercely to control myself. Unable to control the urge any longer, I yelled out "I need help!" The three technicians doing the procedure in a different room showed up asking what the problem was. I told them and they gave me a urinal. I walked to the bathroom to empty it and returned to re-do the procedure.
The biggest thing that shocked me about the entire ordeal though, was me being told by the lead technician that my "bladder was not full." She said it in a "disappointing way," as if to say "it was not full enough to do the treatment in a proper way."
If that's the case, it may never be, given that I tend to have "low bladder capacity" that feels like it fills quickly and then wants to empty. I'm afraid the same thing's going to happen on my next round of radiation.
It's my understanding that a "full bladder" helps shield the small intestines from radiation. With this in mind, is it almost absolutely necessary to have one during the procedure?
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I started drinking water 45 minutes before my session and slowly continued during my half hour ride to the hospital. Took 3 or 4 days to get the timing just right. I drank 2 bottles each time.
Twice they called me doing the trip to slow down on the water because the machine was having trouble starting up.
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1 Reaction@brianjarvis Great comment and very helpful. I have been swinging back and forth in my treatments...Not enough or too much water, poor timing beforehand...although wait times in lobby have been fairly consistent. Your comments gave me the idea to do some tests at home ...drink at home and test for the optimal timing. Today I drank 30 ounces right before because the 24 ounces wasn't enough. I went to the hospital and they said my bladder was only half full but they did the treatment "ok" I guess. So, I think I will just do my home testing to correlate volume and timing as I don't recall or find any recommendations from my Simulation that were of any use to me.
It was trial and error for me. The time of day made a big difference as well. Right after lunch was my regular time so I had to watch my intake at lunch. A few times they sent me out to wait for the bladder to fill. I was told once that my rectum was full….and to go empty it, but don’t pee! I laughed and said do I look like Houdini?? What mostly worked was 500 mls about 50 minutes before treatment. It’s not fun, but the techs have seen this too many times. They are sympathetic and know that the timing is not easy.
@pdog Have you had a spacerAORhydrogel inserted? It protects surrounding area so no radiation damage. No later bowel problems. A must!
@cjflyguy
I struggled
With the first sessions getting a full bladder. Expect for the first one which I got off the table and drank more…. It was safe enough to proceed but not ideal.
Turns out I had my simulation directly after my Barrigel insertion. I was full of IV fluids!! No wonder I couldn't not replicate this level of fullness. To their credit drs recommended a new simulation with me having a normal amount of water.
With the new bladder target the remaining treatments were a piece of cake. Only 20-30 oz
needed.
After around 6 treatments had some burning and frequency. Requested Flomax and that knocked it down.
Finished treatment last week. Only getting up 1 trim at night. Some bowel changes but not too bad.
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1 ReactionI finished 45 sessions of IMRT last week. The full bladder routine was anything but for me. Had to get off the table a few times to drink more water and wait for the bladder to fill. Then I overshot a few times; drank too much and started drinking too early. Results were not pleasant. Don’t forget to check on how your medications affect your timing; lasix was a problem for me. I finally got it right a little late in my treatment; 33 ounces starting 90’minutes prior and finishing an hour before the treatment. Had a rotating crew of techs; some more flexible than others in their interpretation of full bladders. For some my being comfortably full was okay and others preferred me feeling ready to burst. I’m happy to be done.
@cjflyguy Yea, that poop but don’t pee thing is something that myself and I suspect most all other men cannot do. So one hour prior to treatment arrival I was instructed to do an enema and drink 16 ounces of water. So I did the enema an hour and 15 minutes prior and drank the water then starting at the one hour point. I do not think that the COE had the water quantity correct, as my urinary tract took a BIG HIT that I am still working on recovery 9 months out from radiation. I followed the written instructions completely and perfectly.
I drink a 16 oz bottle of room temperature water slowly (a couple of small sips at a time) during my 25 minute drive. So far (17 of 28 treatments) so good. One of the side effects of radiation has been feeling like I have to urinate all the time even when I don't have to so gulping did not work (and was a problem the simulation session).
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1 ReactionHa! I had the opposite problem! They took a preliminary picture and said I was too full. I had to go to the restroom and empty some out before they would continue. I also was told to come to the procedure with a full bladder. Not too full though!
@tbgb50
I did almost exactly the same thing you did. Only one time in about 40 sessions I had a problem with my bladder not being full. My drive was about 20 minutes. That amount of water just seems to work with that timing.
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