Brachytherapy Side affects - catheter 6 weeks and counting

JackR:

After Brachytherapy I had a terrible time with urination. I finally got where I absolutly could not urinate!! Had to wear a foley catheter for four days. This occurred about 16 weeks after the procedure. The solution for me involved learning to catherize myself. After approximately 8-10 weeks of self-catherization (4-5 times a day), I was cured. This took place about 4 years ago. Now I am proud to say that I can "pee like a race horse!!".

You have to park your dignity at the door and learn this procedure. As it was explained to me, continued inability to completely void results in a badly stretched bladder that will not completely empty. Self catherization will allow you to completely empty your bladder and it will regain its elasticity. Talk with your urologist and learn the procedure. It worked for me.

When I first learned of this procedure, I couldn't believe that men actually did this to themselves, but look at it this way-It's much better than having an uncaring stranger do it to you in the emergency room of your local hospital. Of course, I couldn't have done it without my wonderful wife assisting me by boiling catheters and providing moral support.

Good luck,
Paul

JackR- After my time with the leg-bag I could urinate, but not very well. It was only after I decided to adhere to a very strict schedule of self-catherization that I finally got the results I was Looking for. I know how you are feeling . Not being able to pee normally is a miserable feeling. I had a lot of trouble with UTI's during this time. My family MD gave me a prescription for cipro with refills as needed. The procedure is easily learned and very effective in achieving the desired results. At my worst, I was retaining approximately 640 ml of urine after I got through peeing. I must have sloshed as I walked!!

I went to my urologist in October and found that my PSA was 0.2, down from 6.3 at diagnosis in 2004. I presently have no problems peeing, ED is not a problem and the other side-effects (nausea, hot flashes, insomnia and irritibility) are gone. I will never take being able to pee normally for granted. Get with your urologist and develop a plan that will ultimately succeed in achieving your desired goals. Follow the plan faithfully and get back to a more normal life. PC is definitely the pits.

Good luck,
Paul

Jack:

I had IMRT and about seven months after radiation treatments were over starting having problems urinating. My Uro did a cystoscopy to see what was going on up there. Not the most fun procedure, but I believe it is one of the best ways to “get a look”. Anyway, he found a constriction in my urethra caused by scar tissue from the radiation. The Uro then performed a dilation and had me in a Foley for 28 days. After the Foley was removed, he started me on a course of self-cath in order to keep the constriction opened up. I started with 3 times a day for a few weeks, then 2 times a day, then once a day….you get the idea. After a year of this, I now do the self-cath twice a week or so. So far this has worked well for me and I’ve no problems with my bladder draining, frequency or urgency.

Has your Uro taken a look up there to see what’s going on? If not, maybe he should. The dilation, followed by keeping it open with the self-cath has worked well for me. I’m surprised I don’t hear of more fellows doing this. It is a problem more associated with radiation treatment I guess.

Best of luck

Paul

Paul, thanks for the update. I had my seed implants on Oct. 23rd so I guess I'm just getting started on this journey. Both my Oncologist and Urologist decided to leave the catheter in place as they thought the initial problem was swelling of the Prostate. During the last 60 days, we pulled the catheter (3 different times) and I did not have a good stream. Last week the Urologist suggested we try SC so I have started doing that now. I have seen a slight improvement in my stream so that is encouraging but I still need to SC about every 3-4 hours. The plan is to continue that process for some time---more wait and see. The urologist is optimistic and said we will not even discuss any type of surgery for at least 6 months. Just to many additional side affects that come into play with that is his view. My job allows me a lot of flexibility so can work from home a great deal which is ideal for the number of times I currently need to do the SC. Hopefully I will get into a situation where I can use SC to supplement my own stream but for now, I need to stay real close to home. I'm going to try a schedule of every 4 hours and see if I can get into some sort of schedule. That will help me plan some activity. Thanks for the information and encouragement and you have a Happy Holiday also. THANKS!! Jack

JackR:
Good to hear that you're seeing encouraging results. It will continue to improve with time. Don't make the same mistake that I made-I quit when I got where I could sleep through the night without getting up to pee several times. I was shocked when I went back to tne uro and found that I was still retaining 400 ml or so. That's when I got serious with SC. I religiously did it 4 times every day and did it 5 times on days that I could manage it. I believe that you'll begin feeling much better after a period and will ultimately be good as new!! I'm convinced that 2009 will be a much better year for you as you work to whip this demon. Don't ever give up!!
Paul

Diane, thank you for the advice----always something new in this process. I'm hoping that self cathetization will eliminate the need for another full time catheter but I'm only 60 days into this journey. Good luck to you and your husband.

Hi Brachyi 125, I had BRachy in Jan of this year I had the Cath removed 2 days later ,went home and a few hrs later had to be rushed back to emergency , three days later it was removed again , let me say my prostate is extremely large like 55..

I just finished my Boost 5 weeks of EBRT on Friday , My urinary problems are well documents on the board.. I'm sure I have some sort of restriction not sure the level of it , but p0robablyhave had that before this all started as I always hhave had a weak stream when they did the cystoscopy they showd me where the prostate pushes into the bladder and .. now I pee about 50 - 100ml , go about every hr, I don't really drink a lot of liquid guess mentally i'm a mess, I do about 1000 ml a day which in some cases is considered a normal daily output but it takes me some 15 tries to get there if i go to long without going I get nervous and go so I don't know if im forcing the issue and trying to go when I really don't have to , ill see the Dr again on Monday and see what he says last I saw them. they didn't seam overly concerned but Monday ill press a bit about all this , having just finished my EBRT im sure I will have to give it a little time for the cells to start to held and see if it clears up a bit and improves on its own , I have thought about the SC but it kind of scares me to think about having to do this … thought from what I read here some don't seam to bothered by it. good luck on Monday also do you also have a hard time after you wake up. I get up 3 or 4 times a night I have to walk around the house a bit to get things started in the morning then I can pee ok just don't get a lot but I am also told this is common with these treatments.…

Also this thread is almost 10 years old and things haver changed a bit with treatment and recovery

the journey continues.