I was told I had early signs of diverticulitis but Dr couldn't be sure whether or not it was caused by radiotherapy or my age as most people have some as they get older apparently. Not heard of anyone getting this from radiotherapy but I suppose it could happen.
It began with inflammation of the bowel,led to constipation, to inguinal hernia, to repair surgery, to chronic pain and diverticulitis. R T also led to I inflammation of bladder and frequency of urine esp at night.
Well I guess R T saved my life so will not complain too much. It was over 4 years ago!
Wow! What a catalogue. I have had to hernia repairs so know how painful that can be - funnily enough last hernia was about 2 months before prostate cancer diagnosed. I had sigmoidoscopy and could see the colouration on the rectum which showed where the RT had caused inflammation. Thankfully, not had your problems. Are you on any medication for the frequency? It is a pain having to get up frequently in the night. A good night for me is 3 times but often 5 or 6 times but RT made little difference for me as I had bladder problems before PCa. I also had bowel problems which have possibly got a little worse since RT and this is not unusual I suppose considering where the RT takes place. I had 3 fiducial markers (gold seeds about the size of a grain of rice) implanted into the prostate before RT to try and ensure better targeting of the RT to avoid as much collateral damage to surrounding areas as possible. There is no way that I can say that this helped but although I do have some problems they are not too serious. I hope you manage to find the right medication if you haven't already, to help you have a good quality of life.
Yes. I am at the blood clinic now, with a one hour wait. PSA bloods for urology next week. Six months more then a last appointment with the oncologist. If all is well, discharge to the GP.
It's good to talk with someone who knows what it's like.
