Compiler's SRT Adventure

Congrats, Mel.  I've appreciated your journal.  Hope I never need it, but if I do, you've given us all a road map.

Good job, Mel. I imagine that emotions are somewhat confused right now. Get back in that zero club!
Paul

Thank you, David

Mel

Congratulations Mel. Glad you've got it all done. Now lets hope that the beast has hit the dust.
All the best to you in the years ahead.
Mag

Thanks all. Just a bit of an overview now that it's all over.

(Or at least I hope the SRT SE are all done -- we know this is the gift that keeps on giving).

Overall, this was a strange journey for me. Sorry, but it just did not fly by. I prefer to NOT think about this PC but this part of the process would not allow me to forget. I was counting each day and that in itself prevented things from flying by. In fact, it just made me focus on PC way too much even beyond the SRT. You can tell that from my other postings.

My SE did not follow the "normal" pattern. In retrospect, I think I did okay. Some SE came very early. In fact, the worst ones came early. The miserable burning in the bladder was most pronounced early on. My main suggestion to others is to make sure you drink plenty of water and finish it all 30 minutes before ascending the table so that it all gets to your bladder (I know it's uncomfortable as he$$, but it beats the burning after the treatment). At this instant I still have some anal irritation and significant fatigue. Hopefully, that will subside. The RO said things might get worse this week but then should gradually improve. It could be 1-2 months before the fatigue is totally gone. Still, I did not have diarrhea (one instance and the RO said if it was due to the SRT it would not have been one instance -- I tend to agree), nor major hemmrhoid problems, nor any bleeding. There was some nausea early on; it kind of went along with the burning bladder. There was also a mettalic taste at that time. It might just have been my body reacting to the shock of the radiation adventure. My appetite has not been great either but not too bad.

Anyway, enough said. I've tried to be absolutely 100% honest about all aspects of this. It means at times being a whiney wimp, but what the heck -- that's reality.

I hope this thread has been helpful and will be helpful as others make this journey. I did not mean to engender fear in others. I only meant to convey the truth, whatever it turned out to be. It also helped provide me with a little outlet to express frustrations and other thoughts/feelings.

Thank you all for your comments and encouragement.

I'm glad it's over.

Mel

Thank you again Mel -

As I said, I am 2 weeks behind you and it was nice to know some of the problems/solutions you had. Here are some of the issues i had -

Week two - cramping pain on both sides - usually within 2 hours post treatment. RO said it wasn't related to the treatment - I kept saying BS.

Week three - constipation. I was fully ready for the diarrhea, but have been taking stool softeners for three weeks now.

Week four - Riods. Fricken things hurt / burn like hell. Prep H seems to help.

Week five - fatigue. On Tues and Thurs, it was tough to even drive home I was so exhausted. Fri and today - I actually felt pretty good.

Weeks six and seven (end of the line) coming up.

Anyone have a good remedy for the roid issues?

Thanks again MEL......

Mel,
My open RP is scheduled for Wed 5/18 and with a G-8 I won't be surprised if I end up going down this road. I hope for the best. but want to prepare for the worst in case the PC is not contained and surgery alone isn't the fix. This thread has helped me understand SRT much better, and yes, scary and definitely unpleasant to contemplate much less to endure. I just want to thank you for documenting your journey for guys like me that are still without all the facts and yes, full of fear. It does help. I thank you and wish you the very best.
-Bob R.

Howdy:

Just a few final comments to tie in some loose ends and help others.

1) Diet. They recommend you eat well (1000 additional calories and a lot of protein). I found that very hard to do after a few weeks. The problem was that my appetite was not good (and is currently not good). Just like the fatigue hit me in a very subtle way (the opposite of the brick wall expectation), my appetite declined little-by-little. I found by the last few weeks that I would eat breakfast mid-morning and then have a good dinner. That's two meals. One thing that did help, as a result of some advice on another group, was the addition of whey protein to my diet. They recommended the cookies and creme flavor at Walmart. It comes in a very large container and the price is very reasonable. My understanding is that other flavors are quite vile. I'm sure this is a matter of personal tastes. Anyway, I would make smoothies maybe 2-3 times a week. Just put crushed ice, a bit of soy milk, a large scoop of the protein (30 gms), and some fruit (I used only one fruit at a time; strawberries were the best but a banana or blueberries are fine) in a blender. It makes a thick, creamy smoothie. My appretite was such that I didn't even do this every day. But when I didn't, the next day I would sprinkle a scoop of the protein on my cereal. I have lost quite a bit of weight, but the smoothies I think helped stall the weight loss.

2) Exercise. I was doing very well in this area the first 5 weeks. I was hitting the gym for good workouts 2-3 times a week. Unfortunately, I got lazy and I have not been to the gym the last 2 weeks. I fully intend to get back into it starting tomorrow. We shall see. I think what happened was the fatigue crept up on me. I kind of got into the "I don't feel like working out" routine. I didn't realize that the fatigue was setting in. I realize that now, and it's a vicious cycle as I'm sure the lack of exercise leads to more fatigue. Also, I'm sure for me work is a form of exercise. I move around a lot at work. This last week I've been off work and the week before was final exam week and meetings. In short, I basically was not moving around much even at work. So, my advice to you SRT folks is to be sure to exercise and keep at it, especially the last few weeks when the fatigue typically hits.

In 3 1/2 weeks I am supposed to fly out to KC to grade AP tests. I have to be 100% both mentally and physically (well, 90% physically) as it is a grind. I aim to go.

'nuff said.

Mel

Folks, with Mel's kind understanding and permission, we are gonna end this Journey of his here. It carries thru 13 pages, all of which contains very valuable information. The Forum protocol is to not run threads longer than 4 pages, however, some like this and others like it needs to be kept intact. It may be that the next fellow writing his SRT journey will want to break it into segments to reduce the length of the thread. We'll see when that happens.

In the meantime, Mel, thanks for sharing your journey with us. The further adventures of Mel may be entitled "Mel's After-SRT Journey" or some such. I hope that he never has to open another treatment thread, rather he does short ones that will only contain a few posts, the first beginning as "Good news! Another zero!"

Mel, feel free to open your new thread anytime you wish, and thanks again for sharing and helping us all.