HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Radiation Question

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 8/7/2013 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
Unfortunately last October my PSA started the slow climb post Davinci surgery. I've had three PSA tests over the past 9 months:

October 2012 @ .2

January 2013 @ .2

July 2013 @ .3

I met with a radiation oncologist yesterday that has 17 years experience and uses IMRT.

All signs indicate this is a local recurrence.

The oncologist is recommending 38 treatments of 5x per week.

I'm a little confused on the new terminology now since they are talking grays and rads?

If I understand correctly they are talking about a total doseage of 6800 rads Or is that 6800 grays?

At any rate the recurrence has been found early and hope to kill the beast for good this time around.

Posted 8/7/2013 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
Larry,

Best wishes and good luck with the IMRT.
Posted 8/7/2013 3:45 PM (GMT 0)

lewvino said...
If I understand correctly they are talking about a total doseage of 6800 rads Or is that 6800 grays?

The number is in rads or centigrays (cGy) which means hundredths of a gray. 6800 cGy = 68 Gy. The current thinking is that around 70 Gy is an effective dose for salvage RT, so you are right in that ballpark. Get plenty of exercise. Good luck!

- Allen

(corrected)

Post Edited (Tall Allen) : 8/7/2013 10:25:00 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/7/2013 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
Larry:
not that the numbers mean a lot to us non-radiation-tech type people, i was told my sequence was 1.8 Gray / session times 36 sessions, is a total of 64.8 Grays. the doc liked using milliGrays, so all these numbers are bigger by factor of 1000, for instance 64,800 mGy total dose
according to good ol' Wikipedia, 100 rad =1 Gray, so the numbers you are kicking around 6800 is probably correct for the unit of rads.
either way, i wish you the best...hopefully you can get through it with minimal side effects (a common occurence), and get that PSA back down where it ought to be. i've had about 3 years of zeros now after my "salvage radiation therapy"), so it's something you'd rather not have to go through, but it wasn't too bad for me
take care,
bob
Posted 8/7/2013 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
My adjuvant IMRT was 37 treatments of 18 decigray each. That totals out to 666 decigray. I am very hopeful that the beast is dead. I think my RO has its number.
Posted 8/7/2013 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
My SRT was, as I recall 67.5 Grays, and thus far - three years later has been successful. It looks like you will be getting pretty much the same treatment I did. With luck it will work as well for you.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply