Two weeks post Radiotherapy - the future looks bright!

Hi everyone and time for me to give something back to this wonderful courageous Community and share my experiences  of the past 6 weeks!  Special thanks to the Community Champions including Alpine Wanderer who gave me some really helpful tips on Parking and side effects.

So I am in the G9 Club (see my profile) and have now completed 20 fractions of RT at the fantastic Peterborough City Hospital.  Have to agree with the Champions and others - it`s the monotony and routine that get`s to you - and the small delays to appointment times which can be a challenge.  You just accept it because you know it`s a means to an end and the Radiographers are dealing with so many people and also technical issues with the LINAC machines.

I found the prep relatively easy after a few sessions and quickly learnt not to fill the bladder too much until I was sure of the time of the session,  After week three I was sailing and apart from going for a pee more than usual and wind even though I followed a strict diet - no greens, pulses and drinking at least 2 litres of water every day.  I`m still doing that but slowly re-introducing all the taboo stuff like onions, baked beans and a glass of wine or two at dinner time.

Week 5, after treatment finished the sides started to peak - big style.   The team warned me what to expect and I had the full Monty!   Bowel Urgency/Frequency and something called Tenesmus - a feeling of wanting to go but you can`t.   This was followed by Cystitis (painful wees) caused by RT not infection.  I was now up 5/6 times in the night and going to the loo very often during the day - the toilet paper shopping went off the scale   I was also knackered!

Then - three days ago - things started to change for the better.  I  was given some suppositories to help with the Tenesmus and took Ibuprofen in the evening and on the last wake-up circa 5.00am.  The last two nights I have been up just twice and sleeping like a baby in between!  I feel like a new man!  I haver fought the fatigue through dog walking and generally pushing myself to do more exercise including mowing the lawn and just staying active.   I would normally rest when I returned from the sessions which were all in the afternoon so that my Rock (Missus) could come with me and be my chauffer too.   She`s been amazing - we all know this is a couple`s challenge and I love her to bits!

I now have my forward plan for a curative pathway and next steps will be a review with Radiographer next week followed by a F2F with my Oncologist 6 weeks later.   I will need a PSA test before the next meeting and then continue with RT for the next 3 years with 3 monthly bloods in the 1st year.  I am an optimist by nature but I feel as though the worst is over and we can look forward to a "new normal" and continue enjoying our lives .

I guess the key message is - listen to your body, talk and listen to your RT Team, soak up as much as they can throw at you, eat and drink healthily, keep as fit as you can, and, above all, keep smiling -

I hope this helps those facing the next part of their journey and I will continue to keep up to date with all that`s going on here and keep the positivity going when I can!  All the best everyone - the sun is shining now too