Finished 8 weeks of IMRT yesterday - summary report

You went a long time between your prostatectomy and your salvage radiation. For me, it was 3 1/2 years before I had to have salvage radiation following surgery. 2 1/2 years later, my PSA started rising, and I was put on Lupron. That really is the standard of care when you have a second reoccurrence. You went so long between surgery and radiation that you’re probably gonna still have a long time before anything happens. I was a 4+3 and mine is still growing slowly.

I was 66 when I had the radiation and had almost exactly the same number of sessions as you had. I had no side effects at all no fatigue no urinary issues for about five years. Then I started having incontinence problems.

One time I had too little liquid, drank some and proceeded with radiation.

You have a long future to look forward to.

@jeffmarc Thanks Jeff. Yes, the ten years before relapse and no change in PSA for 3 months after initial rise above detection are all in my favor. I’m optimistic, but as you also know, once you relapse, your perspective does shift a bit. Constant vigilance and regular PSA testing is the way forward.

Congratulations!

Thanks for this, Melvin. I start radiation tomorrow and have been a little apprehensive, but what you shared gives me some confidence. I appreciate it. Best wishes to you!

Best wishes! The first week or two can require making some adjustments along with some anxiety, but it gets better and more routine.

One additional thought. Because of my short drive, I would slug down my water before leaving the house. I’ve talked to other guys who would leave and arrive early so they could drink the water at the clinic, then wait 30 minutes or so for their bladder to fill up. Whatever works.

M

One thing that I find really helpful is a clamp. The staff will give you one no problem at Mayo. And you can wear it during treatment. Basically, this allows you to go #2 without going #1. Or just hold urine when you are about to burst, but you're up next. I mean just during that 10-20 minutes before treatment, not at home or anything.

Some photos below from Mayo JAX. Yacht rock for about 2 minutes then you're done.

@smoore4 I just tie mine into a sheep shank, keeps it out of the water ( cold and deep) then let go after radiation ! ;=)

@xahnegrey40 Ouch. I can't do that. I'm Irish. :O) !

@smoore4
The clamp sounds very painful and I would worry that it would cause serious injury. I had a long drive to my 44 treatments so timing a full bladder was very difficult. Several times I just had to urinate right before treatment. There must be a better way.

@melvinw Interesting! Your RO considered .11 PSA BCR time to act. Of course, they also a detected a small, palpable nodule. My RO considers .05 the threshold of detectability. When my PSA reached .13 last May we were talking about radiation but decided to wait one more PSA test in 3 months time. At that point it dropped to .09 and stayed at about that level (.11 now) for the last 6 months. So now we're waiting to see if it rises before a PSMA, etc. Perhaps I should ask him to be more pro-active.
PS Your "full bladder empty rectum" advice is appreciated. I'm sure I'll need that when I'm ready.