How does radiotherapy affect you

Hello Bobs wife  A warm welcome to the online Prostate Community - although I am sorry to find you here.

So thanks for filling in his profile - that's a great help. As your husband is going down the HT/RT/Brachytherapy route I am going to "tag" our Community member Alpine Wanderer . I am sure he won't mind - he's just started his Brachytherapy and I am sure he will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

As for Hormone and Radiotherapy, we all get different side effects (You can read my journey down this route by clicking on the icon of the beach). We ALL get the fatigue so your husband will need to keep as fit as possible. I am going to put a couple of links below to two cracking publications from Prostate Cancer UK:

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/hormone-therapy

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/radiotherapy-for-advanced-prostate-cancer

These are a great bed time read and should answer most of your questions. On a personal note I am 2 years down the HT/RT route and I feel great.

WE are a Community and YOU are a member - Ask anything you want  - you will get answers - It's a journey and it has it's ups and downs - BUT your husband has a positive attitude and a supportive wife - that's half the battle.

Best wishes - Brian.

Before the prostate cancer I was lucky enough to have bladder cancer, which was treated really in fairness well by surgery, followed by chemo  and then radiotherapy..chemo was tough but radio I thought was easy, the hormone treatment I have now are a jab every 3 months and enzalutamide tablets daily nothing to it .. just a case of hoping for good news every time I see the consultant 

Hi Bobs wife,

I can see that Millibob has tagged me, and he’s correct- I am indeed on the same curative pathway as your hubby. First of all, let me say that you’re oncologist is certainly “on the ball” - I would say that Bobs diagnosis is definitely pointing him down the “Brachytherapy Boost” route.

I would advise you to study my bio to see my journey so far. Then you can come back to this thread to ask any questions.  Try not to worry too much  - believe me, the diagnosis stage is by far the worst bit and you’re pretty much through it.  Let the hormone therapy put the cancer to sleep whilst you wait for brachytherapy and then radiotherapy. Watch the videos that I have in my bio - they show the stunning success of this triple therapy.  I have been on the Hormone therapy for over four months and I have only minor side effects that do not impact on my quality of life.  Brachytherapy was 6 weeks ago - again, only minor side effects.  I’ve just had my 9th radiotherapy (14 to go) and I feel fine. Walked 10km today, chopped loads of logs for the fire and washed both cars! So fatigue is subjective (I’ll be knackered by 9pm though!).    AW

For more detailed information on how I’ve got on, go to the “diagnosis and treatment “ section and look for the following thread:  

Surgery or Radiotherapy?  Decision made!
AW

Thanks AW - I knew you would be happy to help.

Thank you so much. I’ve had a read through your profile and all sounds so familiar which is good well you know it’s not good but helpful to know. My husbands 1st psa on 2/11/23 was 13.4 had mri 2 weeks later biopsy 1 week later followed by bone scan a week after biopsy so all results would be available at the same time. I am very impressed with just how quick this was all discovered but shocked at the diagnosis still.  His biopsy they took 16 cores and 15 contained a lot of the cancer.  We discovered that his psa is now at 16.4 which was worrying.  After 2 weeks on bicutamide he had the injection on Friday prostrap (I think) he is a little emotional but that’s my Bob anyway haha I just wanted to reply before I watch the videos in your profile but thank you so much for all the information and it’s left me feeling a little more positive than I was.

Let me know how you feel after viewing the videos. I did a lot of other research, but it was these videos that really sealed the deal.  AW

We all get some some side effects some get them all some get a few and they also vary in degree.  I kept going to the gym and exercising all the way through my treatment HT for 9 months followed by Radiotherapy (RT) for 4 weeks.  My stats were PSA 13 Gleason 7 (3+4) and T2N0M0.  Though T3 disease could not be ruled out because at MRI the tumour could be seen to be pressing on the back of the prostate and to ensure that any possible escape of cancer cells which could not be seen on scans the Urologist suggested that this was the best route as the Rt would "mop up" any escaped cancer cells.  I am convinced that staying fit and going out and being sociable - other than with the men I met at the cancer hospital helped me stave off the worst of the fatigue as I didn't really have much - though if I sat down after lunch I quite often nodded off in the chair for an hour.  I hardly noticed the hot flushes and didn't have any mood swings at all.  The radiotherapy only gave me one night of disturbed sleep from urination - I swear my head hardly touched the pillow that night!  but didn't have any other side effects - this happened as they predicted it would about half way through the month of RT.  Other people may have some bowel problems around that time and of course, it can last longer.  That was back in 2015/2016 and since then I am cancer free with undetectable PSA.  My younger brother was diagnosed at the same age as me and went through brachytherapy and sailed through with no problems whatsoever just 3 weeks of problems with what I can call unscheduled urination before they got that under control with medication.  He is no on no medication whatsoever and also has had undetectable PSA since so he's going on to 5 years with no problems post brachytherapy - his stats were slightly different I can't remember his PSA but his gleason score was 6 (3+3)