rectal pain via balloon insertion very unusual

this seems to be a very rare even, although the nurse said 1 in 20 will have pain. but not a single guy will talk about it? is it unmanly to discuss pain? For my MRI I had it at MDA. They used a lidocaine gel but I still experienced pain on a scale of 8 with the insertion. he backed the pressure off and I was ok, but I had to endure the balloon/coil for over an hour. and be perfectly still. My doc said if you can do that the proton balloon will be a breeze!!! well my first balloon I had no lidocain? just ky jelly. lots of it. and I had a shot of pain, but about a 4 on the pain scale. so way under the mri. and the pain subsided very quickly, so maybe a minute. then I had a bowel movement and squirted that sucker right back out. The nurse was surprised to say the least?? so lots more ky jelly and in it went. slide me under the cat scan and I tell him hay I just had a BM??? he rolls me out, nope, its in there?? weird. my bowels were really confused.
so 10 minutes and the cat scans were done. thank goodness. Now I got some prescript Lidocaine from the doc but have no way of sticken it up my rectum 8 inches? (I think it is 8 inches?) I do use prep H in the morning for my hemroides. that helps in that department. Luckily my appointments are in the afternoons so I have my BM's all done by then. I have IBS so that is another issue. and now soon they will put me on a major diet change? a no gas diet? which is fully because while on eligard I have gas, constantly and periodic severe direah(but that may have no relationship to the Eligard.??) I'd say Direah once a week, a complete 2 hour flush out???
I've of course had the colon job with a clean slate except for diverticuli, roids, etc
now once I complete my protons I will still need the balloon for the 3D photons!!
Oh happy day. only 46 balloons to go.

Welcome to the Brotherhood of the Balloon. I had 39 (well 40 if you count the simulation). Never experienced pain, however it started as somewhat uncomfortable, but it very quickly became relatively uneventful (I know the rest of the HW community finds that hard to believe, but it was true for me).

Certainly hope it becomes uneventful for you very quickly.

Best of health!
...Jerry

The balloons used for proton therapy are generally not painful, just uncomfortable. They do become routine, if you can imagine. If you have hemorrhoids, make sure that your therapist knows. At UFPTI, it seemed as though the balloon was filled with cold water, and I swear it was at least 12 inches long(really only about 3-4 inches long, but sure feels longer, lol). Good luck with your treatment, I guess you are already a member of the Brotherhood of the Balloon.
UFPTI reports 99% success rate for low-intermediate grade and 74% success rate of high risk PCa, no BCR in 5 years.

www.floridaproton.org/news/university-florida-proton-therapy-institute-response-prostate-cancer-treatment-comparison

You can see from my signature that I am a GS8. I chose ADT to increase my odds.
Regards,
Kris

Proton is also a good choice for the margins, they also treat the seminal vesicles. Good Luck and I think that you will find the treatment very tolerable.

Regards,
Kris