Radiation therapy????

So, is radiation therapy advanced enough that the chance of side effects or errors in the administration are reduced enough that I can tell my wife not to worry?

I know that sounds kind of silly, but she wants to find the best available radiologist.

In Topeka, KS , wow that's asking a lot. We have a number of radiologists, many with decades of experience.

So, I was wondering have we gotten to the point where technology has made it error free?

Too bad there's not a rating service for docs.

What do I look for in a Radiologist.

alephnull, (are you a mathematician?)

The only place I know of in Kansas is the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, KS. (I'm familiar with them because they are one of the few who offer C-11 Acetate PET scans.) I don't know if that's too far for you to travel for the 7 weeks of adjuvant radiation treatments. Perhaps you can go there for a consult and directly ask them, with your wife present, what they offer that's different from what you can get in Topeka.

A lot depends on how well you've healed from the surgery. If you are still incontinent, it's likely to make it worse. Same with ED. There may be bowel issues as well. Adjuvant hormone treatment adds to the ED risk. Everyone is different in how it affects them.

I think you meant Stage T3b for the seminal vesicle involvement. I can see why you'd want adjuvant radiation with that and with the LN involvement.

- Allen

Operator errors, accidents and drastic side-effects do happen but quite rarely. Tell your wife we said not to worry about them.

Here are some things she can worry about:

Fatigue: During the second half of your treatment, and for about a month afterward, you will reliably fall asleep during movies and TV shows and she can expect to spend a lot of time telling you how they end.

Bowel Changes: Men being treated with radiation tend to have gooey, mucousy bowels and often can't trust a fart. She may find an occasional unpleasant surprise in the laundry basket.

ED: Radiation doesn't take as big a bite of you as surgery does but it doesn't help. Neither does the androgen deprivation. She should expect some grumbling.

Cute Nurses: In many cases the technicians at the radiation treatment center are attractive young women. Since my IMRT treatments used ultrasound for the final alignmentI would drop my trousers as I climbed onto the machine and several cute girls would search my belly for fly-speck-sized tattoos and smear lube on my pubes for the ultrasound. Remind your wife that you have been given Lupron to prevent this process from being too distracting.

IMRT with IGRT is state of the art. Just use a RadOnco and staff with years of experience and you'll do ok. I had typical SE's but they only lasted for a month or so. Being on ADT, it's hard to tell what caused all the SEs but ADT is surely the worst by far!
Bob

I would not use a radiologist that has done less than 250 procedures on prostate cancer. This is the learning curve for an average radiologist. When dealing with either surgery or radiation the rule of thumb is the more experience the better the results.