RT Nerves

I am sure someone who has been through the treatment will be able to provide a bit of guidance and good luck, will be following your updates. 

Good morning.

I am six months on from completing 37 days of radiotherapy.

It takes a couple of days to get into the rhythm, and then it become routine.

There is no pain and, in my case at least, managing the right level of bladder fullness became much easier as time passed.

The only problem I encountered was wind in the third week. I was advised to drink peppermint tea to forestall the problem.

That worked.

I probably overdid it, because I now loathe peppermint tea with a passion. 

I turned up about 30 minutes before my appointment, and sat and waited. I was called in, bladder checked (ultrasound), and then waited a little longer.

Quite quickly after that I would be summoned, be arranged on the table, and the treatment would commence.

All you have to do is lay there watching the machine go round. No pain or sensation at all.

When you are done the staff re-enter the room, lower the table, allowing you to get off the bed, rearrange your underwear and clear the space before the next one.

The radiotherapy was no bother at all. Side effects were minor. A little extra fatigue which helped me avoid household chores for a couple of weeks.

My only problem was that I damaged my back in a completely unrelated incident about 2 weeks in, which made the journey and getting on and off the table more exciting than it should have been.

Now all of that is past, and I am back to normal. 

Normal for me that is....

We were both in such a state of nerves before the radiotherapy, also. That was wasted energy! Our oncology staff were wonderfully professional and reassuring! My husband grew to absolutely hate the enemas, though, and did suffer with some bloating part the way through. Just tell your team about any problems and they will come up with a remedy eg diet , fluids etc. The biggest problem for us was the daily drive and parking difficulties. I did the driving and was exhausted! My daughter took over the chauffeur role for week 3 and that was a big relief. We did not think my husband was up to driving at the time.

Spot on from Steve there ,I finished a week ago and once you get used to the bladder situation it's a doddle I also drank peppermint tea and had a good walk before my appointment.     All the best 

Hi KJ911,

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being easy & 10 being a nightmare), I would score it as a 1.  The RT team are extremely friendly & experienced & will soon put you at ease & then it's just becomes a daily routine & before you know it the 4 weeks are over.  Even the enema is more of a faff than anything.

As for parking, well that's another matter & I reckon counts as an 8 or 9.  Unless there is a dedicated car park with plenty of spaces it's a case of using the general public ones.  We always ensured we were there at least an hour before my appointment times which meant there was plenty of time to find a space & was far less stressful (husband doesn't drive so no option of just being dropped off whilst they parked).  One bonus though was that parking was free for cancer treatments so worth checking with the team when you are there.

Best Wishes

Brian

Don't get over anxious about radiotherapy for most people its a very quick and painless procedure. After the first session you will wonder what all the fuss was about.

You will be supported by your radiotherapy team and consultant through the whole process and there is always someone close by to help out with any queries or difficulties.

You will also meet up with a cohort of patients who are going through the treatment with you. Its great to socialise and exchange experiences through the 4 weeks of treatment.

You will need to get into a routine to make sure your bowel and bladder are in the right state for treatment. After a few days treatment you will get to know what you need to do to prepare yourself.

For me I would get up and have a natural bowel movement. I would then use the enema to completely empty my innards. I would not drink until I got to hospital and I would then take about 350ml of green tea and about 30 minutes later I was ready for treatment. I had all my treatments in the morning which suited me. Its worth thinking about what time of day is going to suite you best.

When my treatment finished I really missed the comradeship of fellow patients and support from the hospital team.

All the best for your treatment. Rob

Thank you all, I had bad moment this afternoon. My wife just has to look at me and she knows, her support always ends with "You will be fine".

As everyone on here comments - the unknown is always the most difficult to deal with. 

Thanks for all of the support and I expect to be commenting in weeks to come as to how it is going. The staff thus far have been fantastic. Also parking hasn't been too bad at The Freeman either.

completed my RT May 3rd. Once you have had first session and know what the following sessions will be like, its a doddle.  Like some one else mentioned you will get to meet and chat with a lot of men in same position as you. First question will be how many more sessions have you go, it soon turns round with you only having a few and new ones just beginning the journey.

My self I did have a few long lasting side effects, I'm still not upto full energy levels and still some nights needing to get up for toilet upto 5 times, but thankfully they decided they would stop the HT injections,  I found these very painful,  mainly when injected in left side.

Thankfully as far as they can tell at this point has been successful with last PSA 0.01, just 6 monthly PSA checks now .

Good luck to you and hope you have a good outcome and don't worry too much about treatment 

I found the 10-15 mins actually having the RT a nice quiet break after doing battle with the trains and buses to get to the hospital and then worrying about which train I was going to miss after the RT. I would disagree with Buzzers - I would give it a score of zero - a total non event !

You'll be grand I guess as I write this day one is done so now you know how it goes , you'll get into the swing of it and get carried along then it will be DONE its all a bit of a ride but many of us have have come through it very well sure you will too Best wishes David.