1. < Prostate Cancer

My Radiation treatment journey

Posted by solesky @solesky, Oct 3 8:30pm

I'm just finishing up my 2nd week of radiation. Radiation was decided when my surgeon didn't want to do surgery due to my prior history, I have diverticulitis and had a 10 inch section of my colon reattached many years ago, she was concerned about cutting through scar tissue and possibly nicking my bowel, she was steadfast against surgery noting the risks and additional 2 hours of surgery time and healing time after, the good thing is my team of Dr's all agreed, radiation was the best option with no hormone therapy. I'm at stage 2 with intermediate growth, 3 spots of (3+4) and 1 at (3+3), my psa was 6.9 about 8 months ago and was tested again about 2 months ago at 7.1.No real side effects yet as it's only been 2 weeks, I have noticed a little discomfort in my lower left groin area and my urine seems to stop prematurely after about 10 seconds and I wait and then continue to pee for a few more seconds that's new, there doesn't seem to be as much volume as there was prior to radiation, so I guess those are my side effects now that I think about it. My Dr. who I absolutely love gave me no restrictions, I go to the gym almost every day and take steams and sauna's, he also said it was ok to bike ride, although I have cut back some on the bike. I'm 73. My Dr. just got back from a seminar in Wash. D.C. I asked him if he learned anything, he proceeded to talk for about 15 minutes about different things and treatments that were discussed there, that's another thing I love about him, he's very thorough and takes his time to explain every detail. One thing he did mention was proton and photon treatments, it was determined from studies that there was virtually no difference in results from the two, in fact they thought photon was actually giving marginally better results, I mention this because I've heard different people mentioning them. I'm having photon treatments at the Cancer Center at Mass. General Hospital in Danvers Mass. On a lighter note, I just got back from a 10 day river cruise in Portugal and highly recommend that, We were going to cancel but all Dr's agreed, go on the cruise and have a good time, and we're glad we did, I will update in a few weeks as things progress, good health to all.

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solesky | @solesky | Oct 7 6:44pm
In reply to @vancouverislandhiker "Solesky - you have a great medical team it appears - you are blessed ! ...." + (show)
@vancouverislandhiker

Solesky - you have a great medical team it appears - you are blessed ! . That is special . Also ,Sound like yoru well on your way . You got that Portugal trip in before you Radiation? How many treatments do you need ? The bladder is always an issue with Radiation , a 'jumpy bladder" can be common at times ...it will subside in months ahead . Sometime Bowel issues too Hang in there , you have this 100% ! I had 22 sessions in Victoria , Vancouver Island , 2 years ago . This was after having the operation 1 year prior to that . PSA did not go to zero , so at 0.14 I got those 22 sessions. Now my PSA over the last two years went from 0.14 , then to 0.11, then 0.076 , then to 0.052 , now as of two weeks ago it is 0.041 . It takes time for MOST radiation to work . God Bless you ! James on Vancouver Island .

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Thanks for the support James and congrats on your great results, I can only hope for numbers like you. All of my Dr's told me to go on the trip and they'll schedule radiation around it, had my spacerOAR put in the Friday I came back from Portugal and the radiation started 2 weeks after that, I've had 10 so far, they told me I would need 28. My Dr. told me they would wait about 3-4 months after radiation is finished before they know anything concrete. Continued good health to you.

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VancouverIslandHiker | @vancouverislandhiker | Oct 8 10:23am
In reply to @solesky "Thanks for the support James and congrats on your great results, I can only hope for..." + (show)
@solesky

Thanks for the support James and congrats on your great results, I can only hope for numbers like you. All of my Dr's told me to go on the trip and they'll schedule radiation around it, had my spacerOAR put in the Friday I came back from Portugal and the radiation started 2 weeks after that, I've had 10 so far, they told me I would need 28. My Dr. told me they would wait about 3-4 months after radiation is finished before they know anything concrete. Continued good health to you.

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Solesky . Sounds like your doing the right things here ! The treatments have given you any side effect? ... I fought them off and went walking everyday after treatments of External Beam radiation ( EBRT) of 22 session - No ADT . . I would drive down to Victoria for the week , get zapped once a day , then stay in the Victoria Cancer Lodge . Wonderful food and a very nice room. Free of charge Nurses would check in on me and a great chef who knew how to cook really healthy meals . I only ate Breakfast and dinner , but they had lunch and snacks too ! Man!! many Prostate guys there ...but all sorts of cancers . My treatments were usually at 11 am , then I would walk for 2-3 hours . Tired , but I did it . Loose bowel and a jumpy bladder during treatments , but fine now . ED was an issue after operation and radiation but 80% back to normal now ! after operation I slowly climbed back to 0.14 , that was after 1 year . So radiation , then waited about 10 months , then it started to work ... now at 0.041 . Not quite "off the scale " , but getting close. My father died of prostate cancer 28 years ago now , I was his care giver ....So I have a lot of anxiety around PC myself . I guess thats normal ? God bless Sir ! Keep us in the loop ! James on Vancouver Island.

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solesky | @solesky | Oct 10 4:04pm
In reply to @bens1 "@solesky margins, in the context of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, refer to the area of..." + (show)
@bens1

@solesky margins, in the context of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, refer to the area of normal tissue surrounding the prostate that is also targeted by the radiation beams. This is done to ensure that any microscopic cancer cells that might have spread just beyond the prostate are effectively treated.

The size of the margin is carefully determined based on several factors, such as the size and location of the tumor, the stage of the cancer, and the potential for microscopic disease. The goal is to maximize the effectiveness of the treatment while minimizing damage to nearby healthy tissues, such as the bladder or rectum.

I had the MRIdian linac with built in mri. My margins were 2 mm while most other non mri radiation machines use 3-5 mm so more healthy tissue is exposed. I have not heard what the margins are for the elekta unity machine.

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Bens, I mis-spoke, I'm not using the Elekta Unity Machine, I'm using a Linear Accelerator True Beam with Hypersight by Varian Medical Systems, sorry for the mix up. As far as the margins go, the short answer is 5mm. When I asked my Dr. he proceeded with diagrams and talked for 10 minutes about past experiences and why they use that, I only wish I could remember everything he said, sometimes he just overwhelms you with info.

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bens1 | @bens1 | Oct 10 4:25pm
In reply to @solesky "Bens, I mis-spoke, I'm not using the Elekta Unity Machine, I'm using a Linear Accelerator True..." + (show)
@solesky

Bens, I mis-spoke, I'm not using the Elekta Unity Machine, I'm using a Linear Accelerator True Beam with Hypersight by Varian Medical Systems, sorry for the mix up. As far as the margins go, the short answer is 5mm. When I asked my Dr. he proceeded with diagrams and talked for 10 minutes about past experiences and why they use that, I only wish I could remember everything he said, sometimes he just overwhelms you with info.

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@solesky thanks for the update. I would be interested if your doctor was familiar with the mirage randomized trial. Margins matter.

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