Last Radiation Session

Hi John

Good news that it's all over.   Tiredness is a problem during treatment , I remember during my RT  but I kept busy  working part time and doing some exercise which did help.

However I suspect that it's the HT that makes it worse, hopefully u will feel better when the effects of RT wears off in a few weeks but to feel back to normal u may need to wait for the HT to finish.

I didn't have the HT, perhaps someone will post who can advise u better

Regards

Steve

Hi John, that is a long time but at last the job is done. I got very tired after the first week of radiotherapy (I had 20 sessions totalling 55 Grays as a salvage treatment so this was on top of surgery)

I was also on hormone therapy and although the extra tiredness from travelling to and fro for radiotherapy plus the radiation hammering my insides disappeared. I still suffer from a level of fatigue which I think HT is responsible. But I do function on 8 hours sleep plus occasional nap.

It will get better and you will get to a point where you will be pretty much able to do what you did before.

Like you I fear what will happen now HT is stopped but it’s the only way to truly find out of the RT/HT combo has worked.

All the best,

Hi

When I finished my RT they have a bell that you have to ring when you've finished your last session, you may have seen them on the odd news item, came out of it pretty well but effected my stomach so I suffered a bit about eight or so months later, but slowly clearing up now two years later.

joe

Hi,

Had 37 zaps of radiotherapy and it does make you tired, really tired some days.  Radiation can affect the cells in your bone marrow which produce blood cells including the good guys, white blood cells, that fight infection.  Chemotherapy can also affect this.  Once the treatment ends your body will start to recover.  I found the hormone treatment alone made me tired so difficult to know for certain if it was the radiotherapy or the hormone treatment or both that caused the fatigue.  

Anyway, once all treatment stopped, within 4-5 months I was as back to as 'normal' as I would ever get.    

Regards

Hi John.

I hope that by now you will have rung the bell. The mental stress of the treatment every day can also be very tiring, so it isn't just the RT that's causing it. Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of your life and, with the RT behind you, you can look forward to the future with a new perspective.

I only had 20 treatments but by the end I was pretty whacked. The week following RT I was sleeping about 15 hours a day. However, I soon got back to normal and the fatigue has now gone. It's almost ten weeks since I finished RT and I'm back to gardening, rowing and walking several miles a day and managing with about 7 hours sleep a night.

I will probably be on hormone treatment until October 2020 but that hasn't given me too many problems either. I take Evening Primrose Oil and Sage capsules to combat the hot flushes and take Tamsulosin once a day to improve the flow. I don't know how long I will have to take the Tamsulosin, but my GP says it could be for life. I will ask the oncology consultant at my follow-up appointment in early June.

Lads,

Thanks very much for your replies. We have no bell to ring in Dublin once your finished. It is a little bit of an anti-climax. However, before you leave the building you see the consultant's clinical nurse. She took my bloods so that they can get a reading of my PSA for what is Day 1 of post radiation. I was also given a appointment for 3 weeks time with the Urologist. He'll put his little camera up to make sure that there is no damage to the uretea (ouch! ouch! ouch!), If there is, then he'll put a type of stent in that stops me from leaking. On the same day I'll see my Oncologist and he check my bloods to make sure that his HT injection and Aberiterone is still working. I'll see him every 4 weeks from now on. At least nothing will sneak up on me again just like the prostate cancer did.

I was on HT for 18 months and Arbiraterone for 9 months before the RT began and I had got used to the fatigue and hot flushes. But the sleeping tiredness I had during the radiation was incredible. When I'd finish for the weekend on Fridays I'd be just exhausted but by Monday morning I'd be starting to feel grand and then the whole cycle would start over again. What you are saying about the cells sounds very logical. Once I am resting and sleeping they are regenerating themselves. Anyway I'll be seeing my Radiologist in 4 weeks. He wont let me back to work for at least 4 weeks. He told me that he'll decide when he see's me. 

Thanks,

John

Yep. No bell here either. I would have enjoyed ringing it, even though I had only 20 sessions. Fractions! I gave one of the female radiologists a hug as I left and she just looked embarrassed. Oh well. All the best. 

There is a bell at St James, Leeds.  It was rung almost every day being such a big cancer centre. 

I didn't give the lady radiologists a hug though.  The two male staff were fascinated by a picture of the interior of my car at that time so gave it to them and they put it up on their wallboard.  I also gave them a box of very aptly named Heroes.  

Oh and I sneaked out without ringing the bell too.......

Lads,

It's 2 weeks now since my last radiation session. Although I still have the tiredness and am sleeping in excess of 12 hours a day, I'm now able to play 18 holes of golf on Tuesdays and Fridays with no major strain. I think the daily walking exercise I did during my treatment is now standing by me. I got big hugs from my radiographers when I finished but that may have had something to do with the boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts I gave them in gratitude for what they done. It cant be easy for these girls to be pushing a semi naked 64 year old on whats basically a table. 

I'll be up at the hospital most on next week. They're doing a MRI and Dexa bone scan on me on Monday. On Tuesday the Urologist is going to have a look inside the prostate and uretea to make sure that the little valve that stops me from leaking is not damaged. Not looking forward to that but it has to be done. On Wednesday I'm with the Oncologist. He'll be checking my bloods and deciding whether I go back on some Chemo. I'm on oral chemo at the moment. On Thursday I have the Psychologist and she just talks to me to make sure that I'm mentally handling everything. On Friday I have a full set of blood tests because the following Monday I'm back with my Radiologist for his assessment.

A word of warning for anybody that hasn't started radiation. When I had the Planning session when they scanned me and put on the tattoos, the clinical nurse gave me a whole list of do's and dont's. Apart from the importance of filling your bladder, no fizzy drinks etc. she said that I should go to the dentist to get my teeth checked before I start the radiation. I didn't go because I'm terrified of the dentist and anyway, the way I saw it was that as I wouldn't be getting radiation to my head it wasn't necessary. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. I got a toothache to a back molar yesterday. I went to my dentist and she said that I had a small fissure in the tooth and it had got infected down to the root and would have to come out. She asked what medication I was on and it was when I showed her and explained them to her, she realised that I'd had radiation. She explained that she cant extract until my team confirm that my white blood cells have returned to normal. Seemingly those cells control and prevent infection and if she pulled now I could end up with major infection. Anyway, she put me on antibiotics and strong painkillers. They seem to be working now. The bottom line is that you should get your teeth checked before you start radiation.

Worrying about the future prevents you from enjoying today,

John

Hi John,

Good to see the golf is keeping you active.  This is my brother's exercise too and keeps him awake.  I think this is probably one of the most important things to help with treatment.  The white blood cell count will recover shortly and you'll be fighting fit again.  

My teeth are not good - like you I hate dentists - but despite the state they are in, no problems after radiotherapy.  Phew!

I had all sorts of advice by doctors, radiologists and nurses about what to eat, what not to eat and so on and tried a few of them.  Realising they made no difference to my health but seriously depleted my pocket money, I knocked them all on the head.  I returned to my unhealthy 'eat anything diet' as for me, quality of life is far more important than worrying about not drinking cranberry juice!

Regards