Prostate radiation. I'm at 18:28 sessions; I've got questions

Never had the warm pain but the rectal discharge started about day 14. More mucus than anything else. Goes away a few weeks after completion. That said, when I need a bathroom, I need it now to this day! Finished radiation Oct 2025. You can expect increasing lack of energy going forward as well. That also improves a few weeks after completion. Hang in there. You got this.

I didn't have any pain but as @mjp0512 said, there was(and still is) a bit of mucus leaking every once in awhile. Not terrible but it does happen. You should be ok going forward! Good luck my friend.

@mjp0512 & @dpayton I've not had mucus, rather, just plain poop. (And maybe there's some mucus along with the poop, I've not examined it closely enough. I do not expect to. :>)) Not much, but it does leave a streak on my underpants. I need to soak, scrape it off, and use cold-water washing before sending it off to the laundry basket. After aquablation, I was wearing shields in my underpants if I didn't make it to the toilet in time. Now I've got the shields placed a bit lower to get any leakage.

And thank you both for your comments. Of the many things that were presented to me before this started, this one was never mentioned.

here is what I did during radiation: bought some cheapo wash rags at Wal Mart and put them in seat of my undies- a few times I leaked just a bit...but the wqash rag saved the day...just tossed it if it was too much ( happened 2-3 times)..otherwise, just got in shower with undies on and rinsed everything out then put in regu wash.

I did have some significant fatigue first couple of weeks- radiation + ADT..but played thru and things did get better.. the ADT and radiation fatigue is real..but somehow if you get up and bike or walk or whatever, it retreats quickly...just be sure you were your small towel in your britches...so you dont get called 'Old Man Dirty' when you stroll thru Starbucks..;=)

@xahnegrey40, ADT? I’m not familiar with that.

Funny thing happened with wearing the pads in between my cheecks: the adhesive firmly glued itself onto my underwear. I could not peal it off. Fortunately, a bit of WD40 broke the adhesive up in seconds, but now my underwear smells like WD40. So, I did a preliminary wash and left them in a bowl to soak before they get formally washed this weekend. The poop was easier to clean up than this!

Ah the joys of getting older, 😂😂😂😂

ADT is the androgen deprivation ( blocking ) therapy- the cornerstone of prostate cancer treatment

Leakage is somewhat normal. I had both blood, gas and stool. After the end of radiation, I had more problems in that area and then at 9 months full blown radiation proctitis with bleeding like a "period" (wife's words) rank gas, and bowel incontinence. Be mindful of increasing symptoms and get the help you need if it progresses. I went to a GI, got cauterized and currently on Mesalamine for 3 months. Ask for help and it they don't respond, DEMAND it, even if you threaten to not get back on the table until they treat your symptoms which is what I had to do. During this journey I found I had to be my own advocate. I have found my providers either burnt out or just don't want to deal with side effects.

Yes, photon (x-ray) radiation can cause temporary burning, reddening, of tanning of the skin (& slightly beneath the skin) because of the way photons are administered. (See attached chart.)

In order to hit the prostate with the right amount of radiation, the radiation has to start at a higher energy level so that over the distance to the prostate it’s down to the right amount of energy (grays). This can impact the dermal layers.

Also ask them how they’re avoiding hitting any of your nearby internal tissues and organs with radiation.

> With my 28 sessions of proton beam radiation, I never experienced any painters to the radiation.

The fact that you’re soiling your underpants during treatments means that they’re overshooting your prostate and hitting tissue and organs they shouldn’t be hitting. Side-effects will happen if not down exactly right.

> With my 28 sessions of proton beam radiation, I never experienced any type of rectal discharge.

As for your poor energy levels and tiring easily, these may also be due to them overshooting your prostate and hitting otherwise healthy tissues and organs. They may have warned you about these, but if done right, it shouldn’t be happening.

My radiation treatments were relatively uneventful.

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.

@rlpostrp That was a very irresponsible thing your RO said. I had surgery AND photon SRT and have no urinary incontinence.
Don’t know what the future holds since there are never guarantees with any of this PCa treatment.
And there are some men - even on this forum - who are struggling with SE’s from proton treatment. It’s great, it’s another tool in the box, but by no means a panacea.
Phil