Radiotherapy

Hi Mike

They can take anything up to forty five minutes for the first one, then a bit shorter on the others, say thirty minutes, depends how good the team are at lining you up on the machine.

Stay safe

Joe

Hello Mike, as your appts. are first thing in the morning this means they will most likely be running on time. During my R. T. the times changed daily and I had to ring the dept. to see if they were running on time  as had a 40 mile round trip to make daily and had to drink 500mls of water 45 minutes before the R. T. so timing was important. A lot of times later in the day they were usually 'running late.'

The planning scan will take the most time before you start. This is where I got my first 'tattoos' lol. (They are only pin head tattoos)

Hope all goes well for you Mike. 

Thank You

Hi Mike D, the guys are quite right RT is nothing to worry about, planning meeting just means to put 3 blue dots on you 1 each hip 1 stomach, the room is quite large and cool, the machine is open not like MRI, depending on how far you are from hospital, you need 10/15 minutes to work, timing you drink so your just right for RT, I never had any problems but every one is different.

All the best Ulls 

Thank You

Hi Mike,

Having just recently finished my 37 sessions I thought I would give you an insight of my experience.

I have attached a photo of one of my weeks. As you will see my times varied from day to day. 
One of the guys I met had a set time of 11 o’clock. 
The issue I had was that you needed to be well hydrated before you start any treatment. 
If you’re not when you drink your 500mls (4 cups) of water it will automatically go to rehydrating your body.

The majority of times I would be out within a couple of hours, however if my appointment was too early I could be there for 4 hours.

 I have attached a pee chart which gives you an indication of what you are aiming for.

 I was asked to practice a couple of weeks before to drink 500mls of water in 10 minutes & to hold it for as long as possible, ideally 60 minutes.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Tyler

Thanks Tyler, 

37 sessions !! Oooft. 

I hope you're doing OK.

Mike

Thank You,

In one sense, I think I've been quite lucky that my appointments are first thing in the morning and at the same time. 

I have my planning scan next week and am looking forward to getting my first "ink".

Hope you are well 

Mike

Hi Mike

They should ask you when you want your appointments, but they can't guarantee you will get what you want.

I allowed 2 hours for mine. As I was 45 mins from the hospital, and didn't want to take a chance, I used the enema at the hospital. This meant I needed to get there earlier than I needed to be.

The other thing you need to factor in - as others have mentioned- is there will be delays. In my 37 sessions, I think the machine broke down 10% of the time. This delayed my sessions and everyone afterwards. The actual procedure takes less than 10 mins.

I wasn't working but can't imagine how I could have carried on working. The RT and ( presumably) the HT will make you very tired and all I wanted to do was crash on the sofa.

Finally, my pet piece of advice, ask for a diet sheet and stick to it religiously.

Good luck

Stuart

Hi Mike,

 I’m good thanks. I had another Prostap 3 injection yesterday.

When you have your planning scan next week make sure that your bladder is not over full. 
They look for just over 200mls in it, unfortunately I had 298mls when I had my planning scan. This meant every time I had my treatment I had to have the same amount in it.

Good luck next week.

Tyler