Brachytherapy

Hi Granny55

Phew i bet you feel very relieved to have got through that stage. I felt very overwhelmed at the thought of brachy, for me i was an inpatient for 4 days and had 4 brachy treatments. I went to the hospital the evening before and they did further checks on my bloods and decided i needed two blood transfusions, so my first evening and overnight i had the blood transfusions before being prepped to have the applicator in situ the following morning. From midnight the first evening until i had the applicator removed on the morning of my discharge and was advised not to eat and didnt, i had a fluid drip and a morphine pump and had to lay flat for the duration. Your bowels are emptied and you have a catherter. It was tough, but i remembered the end goal, its the best chance of completely removing the tumour, and although 4 days (3 days for you) feels like a long time not to move, time seems to pass very quickly. There are lots of tests, scans etc taking place every day and for me i was taken from the ward down to have the radiotherapy sometimes twice in one day. The things i learnt from my experience are

1. If possible try and have visitors every day who can advocate for you, your pretty vulnerable and it makes a huge difference to have someone present who can support you

2. bring water bottles dont need a screw top, i found it hard to drink from there paper cups even with a straw and found it much easier with a water bottle that i could suck

3. Make sure you have a phone charger and headphones, i survived listening to books via audible app and podcasts. 

4.I found sleeping tricky but that was due to back ache, there was very little discomfort from the treatment itself - i asked for more pain relief, you know your body better than anyone else, dont be afraid to ask.

5. The team were all really lovely and during treatment i had an assigned nurse with me to keep me going/keep me company

You have got this granny55, it will be over before you know it 

Thankyou very much for your honest reply . I suffer with a bad back and guess that’s making me more anxious than the treatment itself . I’ll take on board everything you said . I hope all is going well for you .

thankyou val 

I'm doing really well thank you Val. Regarding you back if you haven't already I would let them know once admitted, it is the ward staff who manage your pain whilst admitted and they should have a protocol in place specifically around pain management. You have your self administered pump for morphine but I was given additional injections intravenously of morphine during my stay. Physical recovery was relatively quick for me so hoping you have a smooth rise too x

ride not rise!!!

Hi everyone 

I have just finished brachytherapy  .this is what I was dreading most due to the fact of laying flat . Unfortunately the anaesthetic made me sick for a few hrs which was awful laying flat . The treatment it self was not painful and also having the rods removed was ok . I had to have 5 units of blood given prior to my brachytherapy, the treatments had just shot my blood to pieces . So just wanted to say to anyone who is going through this it is doable . I can’t believe I’ve got through this treatment and the only thing now is the 12-13 weeks to have an mri scan ! . Please keep positive and do what your body is telling you and don’t over do it . Thanks to everyone for listening and giving me advise etc . Val 

Hi Val

You've done really with everything and getting through all your treatment but I’m sure you’re glad it’s all over now. Just look after yourself and recover from everything you’ve been through, and I hope you get very good results from your mri scan when it’s time for that. Keep us posted and let us know how it goes, but thanks meantime for coming back with such a positive update.

Sarah xx

well done Val that is great news, what a trooper! hopefully lots of R&R for you now, wishing you all the best with the MRI when it comes