Prostate External Beam Radiotherapy

Hello badger1234 

I have had 20 fractions of Radiotherapy. There's a planning scan first and then for each fraction it's empty bowel (yes the enema's here!!) and usually full bladder. I found it easy, a great place to socialise. Yes it gave me fatigue and minor waterworks issues but nothing to write home about. The hardest bit is getting there and finding a parking space. 2 years on I don't appear to have any lasting side effect.

Here's a link to - Our Guide to Radiotherapy to the Prostate Gland.

badger1234 said:

Anyone had HIMU as an option please?

Do you mean HIFU?  Yes we have Community members who have had this and paid for the treatment, as it's only rarely on offer from the NHS due to cost and lack of trained staff.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi badger1234 ,  I had 37 sessions (74Gy) and found it fairly easy.  Drove myself and apart from nearly bursting myself on the M3 being stuck in an accident (I carried a milk carton after that) it was all fairly easy.  Boredom was the worst bit as every day was Groundhog Day!  I was lucky with side effects, fatigue mainly but did develop radiation proctitis after a few months and had bleeding from my rectum, which was quite disconcerting to begin with, but became normal after a while.  However, that has healed up slowly and I get very occasional bleeding now (3 months ago).  Hope this helps.  David

Hi badger1234 ,

I am going through this process right now.

Before I started 6 months of hormone therapy which did not cause and significant problems - there are side effects, quite a list actually, but I did not find that they affected me too badly. I was quite psyched up. But there was a definite element of "Oh, is that it?" which will continue because I won't be off this until 2027.

I have got to the third week of radiotherapy and the main side effects so far are the fact that it's like a commute to a job that you really wished you didn't have to do.

It's a bit more difficult for me because I have hurt my back (long standing problem and regular event) so the pain isn't making it any easier. There's also the fact that with the group I am being treated with the average age seems to go down when I enter the room.

As Brian says, it's pretty easy to go through, and he is totally correct about finding a parking space. Now I have the back pain walking may be an issue for a week or even 2, but my family had been pushing me to set aside my pride and allow them to take me, so now I have a bunch of chauffeurs dropping me off at the entrance and picking me up when I have finished, so that's fixed the parking problem.

There is fatigue, but the way I would describe it is that you feel as if you have done a day's work once you are done. 

There is one thing that has amused me.

I'm in the full bladder empty  bowel routine.

The empty bowel is not a problem.

I hydrate myself pretty well, so the full bladder isn't a real problem either, until I discovered your bladder can be TOO full.

Mine is, most days, and I have to go and release some, but not all, of the urine. They give me a little cardboard bowl and tell me to take myself off and and fill it up to the mark they have put in it.

It's quite funny most times, standing in the toilet muttering "stop, stop" to yourself.

All in all, if you choose this way, it is not likely to be a problem.

Thanks for taking the time to explain your journey so far, all comments and feedback are really helpful and supportive, thanks again.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, really appreciated. I would like to avoid that particular side effect, hopefully !!

 badger1234 other than the site of blood in the loo, it wasn’t much of an issue.  Don’t worry, you will be fine.  David

Thanks. How long were you actually in the hospital for each fraction to get you scanned, prepped, in position etc please? Did you have to have any markers put in your prostate first for the radiographer to plan and map your treatment? May I ask why you decided not to have brachytherapy and reduced RT of only 20 fractions?

Hi badger1234 ,

I've had 7.5 weeks (37 sessions, 74gy) with HT starting 3 months before and lasting 3 years in total. I finished my RT on March 2024 and am still on HT.

I was not offered brachytherapy. 

The RT experience was very straightforward, 15-20 minutes per session on the bed of which the actual treatment is about 2 minutes (the rest is prep and pre-scans), you don't feel anything during the session apart from needing to go to the loo as they require a really full bladder. I had a couple times were my bladder wasn't full enough, or ones where it was so full I ended up going before the treatment and had to fill up again. All in all very straightforward.

Planning scan was done about 3 weeks before the start, and I was advised not to cycle or lift heavy weights (that requires bracing)from the scan to end of treatment to ensure things don't move.

Side effects wise I was getting more and more fatigued towards the second month of treatment, and after the end of the treatment had loose bowels for a couple of weeks and urinary urgency which lasted a few months.

I did have a rectal spacer injected before the RT (spaceoar) , it's a small  procedure where they inject a hydrogel which gives a bit of space between the prostate and rectum, greatly reducing the risk of rectal side effects.

Hope this helps, good luck with your treatment.

G

 badger1234 I was about 60-90 minutes from going in to coming out, on each session.  Partly drinking to get my bladder full and waiting then about 15 minutes on the sunbed.   The planning session involved having 3 dots tattooed so that each session I could be lined up reasonably accurately and then the bed moved to make fine adjustments during treatment.  It is all completely painless.  My treatment was 7 years ago and I wasn’t offered either Brachytherapy or 20 sessions.  I wish I had joined this site at the beginning!  David

Rectal spacer procedure sounds a little painful or precarious!! ??