New Here - Hello - Husband struggling with radiotherapy preparation

I sympathise with your husband, facing appointments with dread that he won't be prepared properly are only likely to make the problem worse. I've no idea if it would be effective, but maybe changing treatment time to later in the day if possible will improve things? Might be worth asking as I recall during my 4 weeks of radiotherapy visits to the toilet were more frequent in the morning and became more normal towards midday.

Hopefully the radiograper can be constructive with help.

Thank you excavator i will make enquiries with the hospital. 

I know each hospital can be different but at the one where I had RT myself  the same as the others had to finish drinking our water most 20 mins and those that had to drink more 30 mins and we were told if there was any delay with the machine so we didn't have a false start. An hour is quite a time. Best talk to a Nurse they are very understanding and helpful. 

Dear Mrs SS,

Sounds very frustrating and stressful for your hubby and yourself on top of everything else!

My hubby just completed 4 weeks of Radiotherapy and had similar problems in the beginning. He was drinking 2 litres of water but not at hourly intervals and so he was dehydrating in-between drinks, so check the intervals between your hubby’s water intake and check the volume of water he drinks each time. My hubby found he was able to hold his wee better when he drank 150 mls instead of 200 mls each time. The recommended water amount is 350 mls to be taken 45 minutes before the treatment time, drinking this volume an hour before could be why he cannot hold his urine as that is too long.

I also encouraged my hubby to drink 150 mls of water when he woke up to offset any overnight dehydration. This was an hour before the required 350 mls. 8 am is so early though, not sure if this will work for your hubby. My hubby had 8:45 am appointments most days.

Re his bowel not being empty at times, remember he needs to take the laxatives at nights and the morning enemas 2 hours before his treatment time in addition to him not eating foods that generate high faecal matter such as leafy green vegetables or broccoli (anything with cellulose which we cannot digest)

Hope this helps. Let me know how he gets on.

Hello MrsSS, 

                       sorry to hear your husband is struggling aith his radiotherapy. I have just finished 6 weeks and my times were different each day. I had to drink the 500mls of water 45 minutes before the treatment and the enema 2 hours before. The radioologist told me to telephone an hour before to see if they were on time and they would tell me to drink the water if on time or to hold a while if not. I had a 40 mile round trip so when I got there I was straight in as it was a 40 minute journey. Not sure if your husband has a travel but the system worked for me. I made sure I laid on my left side on the bed to administer it each day and always worked. Being a nurse maybe helped as enemas were a requisite of the job. lol. Hope he can work things out. As mentioned a chat with the Radiology team would be of benefit.

With best wishes, Graham. 

Thank you this is most helpful we will try monitor the water intake as at the moment he just drinks the 2 litres throughout the day with no exact plan 

Many Thanks 

Hi Mrs SS,

 I must have missed this a couple of days ago. This is a very interesting read as I start my radiotherapy in April. I too struggle to take in fluids, I’ve got one of those bottles with markings down the side to help you. I struggle to drink one a day. I know you can drink other fluids as well. I never go anywhere without knowing there’s a toilet nearby. I’ve even brought a Radar key. I will certainly try to increase my fluid intake in preparation for my radiotherapy.

Thanks for your post.

Tyler

I sympathise with your hubby just gone through it myself and had 2 occasions when had to be taken off the Linac and had to drink more. My appointments were late morning or in the afternoon I would ask if his appointments could be later, I always did my micro anemia about 30 minutes before leaving home and had a 20 mile ride to the hospital and arrive about 40 minutes before my appointment then I would drink my 750 ml of flavoured water and if appointment was on time never had a problem if it was late I would offload a little which I know is not easy good luck with the rest of treatment.