Bladder full or bladder empty?

Ah - a good question. 90% of RT to the Prostrate is given with a full bladder. 
The rest is given empty bladder empty bowel. I was at The Christie in Oldham which was empty bladder empty bowel. Just before you went in you had to answer the question “Have you been”.

Me being me I asked and the answer was that most radiologists like a full bladder as it lifts this away from the prostate and thus less chance of damage. The empty bladder team like it collapsed so they can see the prostate on the CT scan before the prostate gets zapped.

I hope that helps.

Best wishes - Brian.

In my case, at NGH and almost 99% of people around  me, it's full bladder/empty bowel and reason given is to protect damages. The fuller-bladder and empty bowel is, the better, I will suggest you ask question about why empty/empty and effect of radiation direct contact with your bladder cells

I would have thought that a larger full bladder was more likely to be pressing down on your prostate making it more difficult to treat the adjacent gland.

You'll be lying down during treatment and not standing or seated, I always have around 375 to 450 ml full during treatment with empty bowel

I would have thought that regardless of the position you're in, a small empty bladder was less likely to interfere with treatment. 

Whichever is the better procedure, it is strange that one hospital appears to uses both systems.

My hospital was The Christie in Manchester. A specialist cancer trust and the 4th best cancer hospital in the world.

I was more than happy to accept the radiographers explanation and have no post RT side effects 2.5 years down the line.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello All

Not sure if this is correct but told to think about bladder as a ballon no air it says full of air it expands so the base kind of lifts up which makes the bladder taut kind of makes sense, O/H had prostate removed and was still required to have full bladder (having to drink 2 litres and hold on to it ) each time 33 radiotherapy sessions in all to the pelvic bed + empty bowel and wasn't required to administer an enema.He did suffer with damage to the bowel but did recover after a few months.There were other men who were not required to drink who hadn't had a Prostatectomy.

Says not says!

predictive text again

Sags!

Hello Ann (Ann33) 

It looks like everyone does it slightly differently than everyone else. Thanks for your post.

(If you need to edit a post - click on the "More" button at the bottom of the post - I am always editing my posts!!).

Best wishes - Brian.