First SBRT session coming up

@jrs619 My radiation cystitis hit a year later, with back to back UTIs and hematuria. I never had leakage, but I did have my detrusor muscle go into overdrive and leave me afraid to go far from the house, even with pads or absorbent briefs on.

Eventually, Myrbetriq helped the detrusor muscle relax (it took 2× the initial dose), and dietary tweaks calmed down the irritation. I titrated off Myrbetriq after a year.

3½ years later, things are almost back to normal now, except that I go to the bathroom a bit more frequently and get up 1–2× most nights. But I managed a redeye to Europe OK.

Counterintuitively, the biggest help is drinking lots of water. You'd think it would make incontinence worse, but it actually dilutes irritants and flushes them out of the bladder.

@surftohealth88
Thanks for your response

@northoftheborder
Thanks, glad your problem is finished with thanks again.

@n227rv The machine used for my SBRT was the Varian Ethos LINAC which is CT guided with real-time AI adjustments. In addition to the prostate, two adjacent lymph nodes were also targeted.

@northoftheborder

North : )) - I forgot, did you have SBRT ot IMRT ? Thanks 🌺

@retiredboomer71 Boy, that is good advice. My first treatment yesterday was delayed and then delayed again. I went through two sequences where I filled up with water but then couldn't hold it and had to void. Luckily by the time they came for me I had finished my third intake of water and my bladder was just right.

@cadaddy That's the same machine they use for me yesterday.

@surftohealth88 My record said SBRT, but a later oncologist suggested it was wrong, and they changed it.

Regardless, 60 gy in 20 fractions.

I have completed 4 of 5 days. Here are some random observations. First, the machines are, well, machines and they might have issues. At MSK in NY they use the radiation machines for patients who are getting radiation in locations from head to toe, so the machines are in constant use. On Day 1, everybody was backed up, which made for an hour plus delay for me getting started. I have tell you that I couldn't hold a full bladder that long, so I went through two cycles of voiding to empty and drinking to refill. Second, don't tell the staff you're emptying or they might put you to the end of the line. Just pay attention to your bladder and manage things yourself. On Day 3, I was on the same machine when it stopped twice and rebooted. That's when I realized why everyone was backed up on Day 1. Day 3 for me took nearly an hour, including a walk down the hall to another machine - a very uncomfortable session. Third, the staff may have you drink 12 oz of water before the session, but then leave you for 45 minutes so your bladder fills. For me, the water shoots through from mouth to bladder in about 20 minutes, so I learned to calibrate how quickly to drink and by Day 4, yesterday, I was comfortably full for the session. Fourth, the prostate is getting pretty worked over by the radiation, although you will not feel anything happening during the treatment. My urethra was being compressed by swollen prostate tissue, which caused some urinary discomfort. I found ibuprofen helped reduce swelling along with Tamsulosin 0.4 mg once a day. (The RO recommended twice a day if necessary.) Fifth, the prep instructions direct a self-administered enema an hour before the procedure, which makes everything much smoother. One of the first things the staff looks for when the imaging starts is for the presence of a bolus in the rectum. If a bolus is present, the patient has to get off the table and have an enema to clear the rectum. Sixth, it is an odd world, isn't it, where we have to think about things like bladders and rectums? Finally, while in the waiting room I see other cancer patients with no hair sitting in wheelchairs waiting their turn and I realize that things could always be worse.