1. < Prostate Cancer

Problems with radiation treatments

Posted by shelby29 @shelby29, Apr 7, 2023

My husband is having difficulty keeping a full bladder for his treatments. If it's not full enough they wont do it. Anyone else have/had this problem? They are considering catherizing him so they can infuse bladder with water.

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digger | @digger | Apr 22, 2023
In reply to @rex5789 "30 oz seems a lot...I chug 16 1 hr before...one thing...I'v mentioned this before...do NOT be..." + (show)
@rex5789

30 oz seems a lot...I chug 16 1 hr before...one thing...I'v mentioned this before...do NOT be embarresed if you lose it during treatment...tech's are used to that, and will calmly do a wipe down disinfect...that should give you some comfort...good luck/God Bless edk

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I almost did 1 time I thought about wearing a diaper till I figured out how to manage my water

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narus | @narus | Apr 22, 2023
In reply to @brentbackus "I am just finishing my first week of Proton therapy. I do believe I go in..." + (show)
@brentbackus

I am just finishing my first week of Proton therapy. I do believe I go in pretty hydrated. I usually pee before they start treatment. An x-ray is taken before the proton machine does it thing. If my bladder was not full the techs would notice it on the x-ray that was just taken. No issues so far with not having a full bladder.

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I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs pulling you out of the machine because your bladder is not full. Where I was treated once you climb in they are going to proceed regardless of how full your bladder is. The hospitals main concern was moving people thru treatment at $1K per session and there was no way my bladder not being full was going to stop the process. After treatment I had serious bladder issues had to wear a diaper and they put me on Myrbetriq which helped but was very expensive. I have thought of seeing if the cat scan x-rays are still stored somewhere to evaluate if my bladder not bein full contributed to the issues I am having.
I also battled severe lack of energy after Lupron treatment and found my testorone to be 150. I am doing much better after starting TRT and my leakage issues resolved .
I have found that I need to research and understand my treatment because my doctor certainly does not.

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3 replies
shelby29 | @shelby29 | Apr 22, 2023
In reply to @narus "I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs..." + (show)
@narus

I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs pulling you out of the machine because your bladder is not full. Where I was treated once you climb in they are going to proceed regardless of how full your bladder is. The hospitals main concern was moving people thru treatment at $1K per session and there was no way my bladder not being full was going to stop the process. After treatment I had serious bladder issues had to wear a diaper and they put me on Myrbetriq which helped but was very expensive. I have thought of seeing if the cat scan x-rays are still stored somewhere to evaluate if my bladder not bein full contributed to the issues I am having.
I also battled severe lack of energy after Lupron treatment and found my testorone to be 150. I am doing much better after starting TRT and my leakage issues resolved .
I have found that I need to research and understand my treatment because my doctor certainly does not.

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Maybe things are different now, but in his first 8 treatments, he was taken off the machine 6 times and told to drink more water until it was full enough.

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1 reply
brentbackus | @brentbackus | Apr 22, 2023
In reply to @vp3 "Thanks so much for your response. Leaning heavily towards MRIdian for all the reasons you stated...." + (show)
@vp3

Thanks so much for your response. Leaning heavily towards MRIdian for all the reasons you stated.
Was your cancer on one side of prostate and if you don’t mind sharing your Gleason score.
Thanks so much

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Gleason 3+4. Cant remember the location of the cancer. I do get zapped from Mr. Proton on both sides of my body.

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narus | @narus | Apr 22, 2023
In reply to @shelby29 "Maybe things are different now, but in his first 8 treatments, he was taken off the..." + (show)
@shelby29

Maybe things are different now, but in his first 8 treatments, he was taken off the machine 6 times and told to drink more water until it was full enough.

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Well you have a good hospital that does not put money ahead of everything else. I only started to appreciate this after talking to other people and what they went thru during treatment. Out of the 20 treatments not once did they tell me to drink more water or take me out of treatment.
I was caught off guard when I was diagnosed with cancer and would never opted to get treated at this hospital. I was very impressed with my Urologist as she had a degree from Yale but had no idea what she was talking about.
I have a new doctor at a different hospital so hopefully I will get better treatment there.

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shelby29 | @shelby29 | Apr 22, 2023

We feel very fortunate to be at a mayo hospital, so confident in them. I wish everyone had this option, but understand travel and expense hurdles!

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samidh | @samidh | Apr 23, 2023
In reply to @narus "I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs..." + (show)
@narus

I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs pulling you out of the machine because your bladder is not full. Where I was treated once you climb in they are going to proceed regardless of how full your bladder is. The hospitals main concern was moving people thru treatment at $1K per session and there was no way my bladder not being full was going to stop the process. After treatment I had serious bladder issues had to wear a diaper and they put me on Myrbetriq which helped but was very expensive. I have thought of seeing if the cat scan x-rays are still stored somewhere to evaluate if my bladder not bein full contributed to the issues I am having.
I also battled severe lack of energy after Lupron treatment and found my testorone to be 150. I am doing much better after starting TRT and my leakage issues resolved .
I have found that I need to research and understand my treatment because my doctor certainly does not.

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I was taken off once and after that I made sure that my bladder was adequately full.

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michaelcharles | @michaelcharles | Apr 24, 2023

Struggling mightily with VERY painful bowel after defacating.
Daily Salvage radiation 29 txs completed with 8 more to come.
Irritation from radiation increased by balloon insertion for every treatment.
Last 2 weeks has increased from very irritating to extremely painful. Exacerbated by multiple loose bowel movements, 4 - 5x daily.
Currently trying to inject internally proctozone 2.5 cortisone cream to heal tissue (rx by rad onc dr). External area not significant issue; using 5% lidocaine externally only.
Majority of products researched NOT for use inside rectum.
Anyone have success txing this type of side effect?

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1 reply
bettwils16 | @bettwils16 | Apr 24, 2023
In reply to @narus "I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs..." + (show)
@narus

I completed radiation treatment about 2 years ago and I would not count on the techs pulling you out of the machine because your bladder is not full. Where I was treated once you climb in they are going to proceed regardless of how full your bladder is. The hospitals main concern was moving people thru treatment at $1K per session and there was no way my bladder not being full was going to stop the process. After treatment I had serious bladder issues had to wear a diaper and they put me on Myrbetriq which helped but was very expensive. I have thought of seeing if the cat scan x-rays are still stored somewhere to evaluate if my bladder not bein full contributed to the issues I am having.
I also battled severe lack of energy after Lupron treatment and found my testorone to be 150. I am doing much better after starting TRT and my leakage issues resolved .
I have found that I need to research and understand my treatment because my doctor certainly does not.

Jump to this post

I was taken off the table 5 of 37 Radiation Treatments because my bladder was not full. They gave me a few cups of water and put me back on the table. Eventually, I was able to figure it out myself but it's important NOT to have treatment without a full bladder.

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narus | @narus | Apr 24, 2023

Be thankful you were not treated at Rutland Regional Medical Center. The healthcare system in my area truly sucks. Want to go to the doctor we can get me an appointment next year. My oncologist was supposed to see me every week and was a no show half the time. Near the end of my treatment I could barely walk into the hospital not from radiation but because Lupron sucked the life out of me.

I now have a new doctor at Dartmouth Hitchcock in NH an hour drive from where I live.

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