Salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy

Thanks JD, the oncologist has his most experienced radiologist working with me using the rapid arc system of IMRT. she told me yesterday she is aiming to work within a very tight tolerance on positioning. Like you have said she also told me all guys are different and side effects very variable. Images are being taken before each treatment to move me into best position each day. I guess that happens as standard? 

Getting ready to leave soon for treatment two of twenty.

Ian

Good luck.

It is ideal if the daily image they have is as close as possible to the one that was used to set the markers on your skin. You are then positioned as close to the original on each treatment.

They want the bladder to be as full of fluid as possible to minimise damage to adjacent organs. Drink plenty of water. I was also told to minimise foods that cause wind, again to help minimise damage to surrounding tissues.

Try to follow the same regime of eating and drinking every day. I ate the same things and drank the same amount of water at the same time every day for 33 days. My treatments were always around 1 pm or 2 pm so it was easy to establish a routine

Best wishes

JD

Thanks JD. A routine is very important and I will do my utmost to follow a regular one each day. Best wishes, Ian

Hi Ian hope your treatment

Hi Ian. Hope all going well with RT. Did you have the PSMA Pet scan where they use Gallium tracer to look for secondary cancer. My husband had prostate salvage surgery in October 2016, unfortunately positive margin with reading T3b, NO, MO. Post operation PSA rising steadily. He had MRI and PSMA Pet scan this month, MRI showing something in prostate bed but PSMA scan did not show cancerous in that area. Oncologist and urologist cannot understand what is happening. You made a good point about Pet scan not picking up anything less than 5 mm. Just wondering if your Pet scan was the same as my husband's. Wishing you good luck with salvage RT. Thank you and all the best. Hafez. 

Hi Hafez, thanks for the reply. I had a gallium tracer with MRI in October which showed a tumour on the prostate bed. I then went for a PET F18 Choline scan (no Gallium) in December which only showed a subtle uptake on the prostate but a moderate to high uptake on a seminal vesicle remnant left after surgery. I believe there are new better tracers on the way too which should improve the sensitivity of the PET scan for prostate cancer further. Hope you and your husband are as well as you can be. Best wishes, Ian

Hi All, I am three treatments in out of 20, each dose is 2.75 Grays(55 in total). I am finding today I am passing water from my rectum and feel very windy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I will mention it when I am at the hospital tomorrow for treatment 4. I hope this isn't a bad sign, Best wishes, Ian

Hi 

I am just on my last day of radiotherapy, in the four weeks of treatment I ve only ( touch wood ) had two bad days, the nurse gave me ispaghula husk orange its a powder you mix with water, then drink it quickly followed be a glass of water, it acts like a setting gel in your stomach and stops any diahorrea and helps with seepage.

Hope that helps

Thanks for the information. I will discuss tomorrow at my treatment appointment. 

Ian,

For insurance, try www.insurewith.com - I had a lot of difficulty finding insurance having just completed chemotherapy for prostate cancer but they were very professional and not unreasonable. Good luck, Mike 

Thanks Mike, I'll get a quote from them once radiotherapy is finished.

I hope the chemo worked well for you, Ian.