Radiation to the pelvis...

I emailed my doc to see if they had the plan mapped out in regards to treating my prostate/pelvis, etc. Here's what he wrote.. "You will be receiving 25 fractions (treatments) with a total dose of 4,500 cGy. Whole pelvis will be treated using VMAT (volumetric-modulated arc therapy) which delivers radiation on a linear accelerator using a cone beam."
Here's a link to my first thread with all of my tests minus the Polaris and volume study.
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=4016746
After this part of the treatment I will have seeds done by another doctor, do not know the gray units of that as of yet, first things first. These two docs are working together and came up with this plan.
I start radiation on Wednesday, Casodex will be over with next Friday. My question... Has anyone had pretty much the same treatment and if so can you tell me the outcome, SE's, etc.? I'm a little freaked that I'm getting zapped too much here, so any help would be great.
Thx much!

(Post deleted by Moderator)

Post Edited By Moderator (Tudpock18) : 8/25/2018 2:48:07 PM (GMT-6)

ldog -- I had pretty much the same treatment, except I also had nine months of ADT. I don't know your numbers but you can see mine. the big one is I start my ninth year of post-treatment remission in a couple of weeks and I've never been incontinent and I can have sex with the aid of Cialis.

you're worried about all that radiation but that's the whole point. the reason this treatment is so effective is because of the dosage and the size of the area treated -- if the cancer is confined to prostate and/or prostate bed it has a very low chance of surviving.

(Post deleted by Moderator)

Post Edited By Moderator (Tudpock18) : 8/25/2018 2:48:36 PM (GMT-6)

"....look at side efects of surgury..2 only incontinence and ED ...most likely u won’t leak ....save radiation if u need it ...I won’t say anymore ...."

ONLY incontinence and ED? ONLY? as if that's not bad enough there are other side effects like shorter penis and I could only imagine how you would whine and squawk about that haha .

Stan, I deleted both of your posts on this thread. The moderators and members have been very patient with you and we get that you are hurting. But your continued lack of respect for others' treatment choices is out of line You need to tone it down if you want to continue posting on this forum.

Thank you.

Jim

Stan, thanks for finally answering one of my questions, but I'm not a surgery type of guy here. Seriously, it does freak me out some with the SE's you are experiencing, but I'm going for it. I hope I'm not making the wrong decision here, but I feel that almost every treatment plan is somewhat like rolling the dice with prostate cancer. darned if do, darned...
Another question for you, and I understand the gruelling part of having to go 25 days, did you have any urinary problems before you started the 25 treatments?
One other thing Stan, have you read the threads about the patients on this board who had surgery only to find out later that the cancer had already spread? I know it sucks right now, but think long run here, maybe it will help you. Think that although you are going through hell right now, think that there is a very good chance that you have zapped all the cancer, unlike some on here that have to start secondary treatments months/years later.
Thx

I wasn’t a surgury or radiation guy ..my surgeon ..told me straight up the side effects of surgery..2 ed and incontinance..he told me the chsnces of both went over everything ..I asked RO straight up what are the side effects he said fatigue and with me urinary..he said after hdr I will need to be close to a bathroom because when I have to go I hsve to go ...well when I hsve to go I can’t I burns snd bribbles ...I asked him about all the other ones that I read about he said it rarely happens...my assssss .....ok in my book whwt makes you think it has spread ...did I hsve an mri a bone scan a sonsgrsm ...it looks like to me u have 1 core 3+4 is this right ...my god ..man ..surgury would give u an 80 to 90 % chance of a clean surgery....hsve them take lymph node samples ........save the radiation for if snd when you Msy need it ...and yes I had urinsry problems mainly urgrncy maybe once a day and get up maybe 1 a night ..I didn’t think that was bad ,.....but now. What if you need radiation again later then u are screwed like me ..tell you what u won’t know it but I had EBR to the prostate and after the second treatment I should,d hsve stopped I was locked up crying in pain coukfnt urinste should hsve stopped then ...I regret it now sooo bad...u will see u will be the youngest person in there getting EBR ...u will see a lot of older unfortunate people a lot worse off than you and I ...you will see msinly people there Who are doing salvage EBR and not primary ....hope it doesn’t mess with you like it did me ...I was to nervous to keep working and do the treatments so I stsyed off work ..I only sleep snout 5 hours a night ...I am soo weak now I feel like I’m 90 ...2 months ago I was running 3 miles a day now a can’t mske it around the block good luck to you my friend I am done speaking...

Post Edited (Stan1961) : 8/26/2018 9:32:31 AM (GMT-6)

Stan, can you accept that 1 of 100 (or maybe higher) guys have the kinds of problems you're reporting? And that you have the misfortune of being THAT GUY?

And I had surgery, and a great outcome. There are lots of guys who had surgery who wound up having more surgery a year or two later to either add a sling or an artificial sphincter to give them urinary control. And never mind the guys who went from fine to 100% ED forever with surgery.

Give it a rest.

ldog - My situation is different than yours, but just wanted to hop in here to give you some additional insight on my radiation experience.

I had SBRT as primary monotherapy for G3+4=7 PCa. My treatment was 5 fractions of 7.25 Gy each, for a total of 36.25 Gy. Treatment was completed in late November, 2016.

As usual (for ME only), I was a poster-boy for side effects. I had the urinary pain, urgency, reluctance. I also had the tenesmus (you feel the need for a bowel movement, but in fact really do not need to go), intestinal discomfort, gas, bloating, urgency, incontinence, etc.

OK - that is the bad news. The good news is, as the others have said, all of these side effects have subsided back to baseline level. It did take time. The urinary SE's were gone within a month or two, but the intestinal ones stuck around for maybe 6 months or so - but I did have a pre-existing condition there (long-term IBS), so no surprise. The good thing, though, is that the effects are manageable and virtually gone now, and life is back to normal. Yes, for a while I did keep a complete change of clothes in my car when I went to work, but only needed it one time. These things are as inconvenient as you let them be.

I think a lot of this boils down to your attitude. No slam intended, stan, but I think those of us who go into these things (complex medical treatments) with a positive attitude usually do better through them and maybe even after. I went into this with a very positive attitude because I wanted to get to whatever was on the other side as soon as I could (and I truly believed that it would be a good outcome). Many years ago I went through a similarly serious medical issue, and back then I learned how to help myself through these things without making myself feel any worse than I had to. I had many new friends on another internet board who helped me to learn the coping mechanisms and emotional management tools I've used to get through this.

ldog - It sounds to me like you will do just fine. You've done your homework and developed your plan. Now, all you have to do is to work that plan.

Stan - I hope you find the help you need to get through this. Right now, you may be the most uncomfortable guy around, but very few of us who had side effects have kept them for the long-term.

idog, I think we have similar stats. I'm high-intermediate. My doc just gave me igrt that does not include lymph nodes. There are risk/rewards calculations they use in addition to mri etc. My treatment was 15 fractions for 37.5 grys and 1 HDR boost at 15 grys. I do the latter on 6 Sept; finished external last week. No HDT. This regimen is very common in UK and Canada and it seems now being adopted by many ROs in US. The aim is lower toxicity but same efficacy. I wonder a little about not doing the nodes, but I trust the RO. I'll worry about the future when it comes. You might be low-intermediate, don't recall. Good luck.

Post Edited (Steve Smith) : 8/28/2018 12:04:19 PM (GMT-6)

You'll be just fine.

Keep us updated.
Andrew