SBRT Treatment Regimen Completed

Ok, so now I have joined the ranks of the "Post Toasties" of SBRT. Monday and Wednesday of this week, I finished my 4th and 5th Cyberknife Treatment and completed the treatment regimen. Through three treatments, I had pretty negligible side effects but after the 4th one I noticed a diminished urinary steam and consistent hesitation when initiating a stream. Additionally, I began to feel some "pressure" in the rectal area. I mentioned these issues to Dr Freeman and she said all were normal and that it very definitely could get worse. The 5th and final treatment was Wednesday, two days ago, and the only real change discernible was the rectal pressure, which although intermittent, increased in intensity. Neither the urinary issues or the rectal issues were intolerable, but certainly noticeable. I took ibuprofen Wednesday night after driving home and that didn't really seem like it had much effect. about 3am, I awoke and got up to pee. When I returned to bed and laid down, the rectal pressure ramped up significantly. That was the first and only time so far that the discomfort was enough to interfere with anything I was doing. I could not sleep so I got up and walked in the living room and sat down. That wasn't any help so I returned to the bedroom and realized that the discomfort had disappeared completely. One has to assume there was some pressure being exerted on a sensitive area and walking shifted things providing some relief. I went back to sleep and had no further issues. So now it is 47 hours since my treatments ended and it seems like anything that was uncomfortable is diminishing or is gone. Urinary hesitation is still apparent but not much of an issue. Dr Freeman told me in our post treatment consult that generally speaking, any side effects would likely increase for 4-5 days before beginning to improve and that returning to a "normal" feeling in all departments, would occur in approximately 2-3 weeks. I'm hoping that I'm already on the mend because I have little to no symptoms of discomfort already. That would be great if I'm fortunate enough to be ahead of the general rule. I'm currently taking no medication that is specific to the treatment effects. I do take 5mg Cialis but I've been doing that for a couple years. Other than that, I take an 81mg aspirin (cardiologist recommended precaution even though I've never had any coronary issue), and glucosamine 1500mg.
All seems to be good right now but I will refrain from getting too cocky just yet. I plan to get back on my mountain bike in the next few days although I won't initially be sitting on the seat while riding. Putting pressure directly on the irradiated prostate right now just doesn't sound like a great idea. I switched from bike riding to walking during my treatment regimen and will continue that until I can sit on my bike seat comfortably.
So now, I am officially enshrined in the living life in three month increments crowd and I will report the PSA result in three months. Anyone with questions about my SBRT experience is welcome to email me or ask anything in a forum post. I would highly recommend Dr Freeman and her team for anyone who is considering SBRT in the Florida area.

Welcome to the post-toastie club!

I found that I could change my perception of tenesmus considerably by understanding what it is, and why it feels that way. You just got a sunburn up your ass, and the nerve endings are reacting in the only way they know how. We didn't evolve to perceive ass burns, but we did evolve to perceive stuff passing through the rectum. We perceive anything there as pressure, and our reaction is usually to go sit on the toilet. In this case, all that additional straining will only make it worse and cause hemorrhoids to bleed. Anusol with cortisone may help. Mesalamine is a more expensive medicine. I found that just thinking about it differently could help - it goes with the mindfulness thing I do.

Because the nerves up there are very confused, it is especially important to never trust a fart. I also found that sitting down to pee was a good idea for a few days.

For the front end, Flomax or Rapaflo should get you through the night.

i took Naproxen twice a day for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if it did any good. My acute SEs lasted about 2 weeks.

Great news on finishing!

It gets better from here.

Andrew

19tarpon47 said...
All the soul searching to decide on a treatment, scans and prep for the treatment were worse than the treatment....... at least to this point.

. . . and with any luck, it will stay that way. From what I've read, most SBRT patients have that sort of experience - maybe some mild side effects, maybe for some days or a couple of weeks.

I knew going in that my experience could be different, as I has long-standing IBS issues. As Murphy said, "Whatever can happen, will happen, and at the worst possible time." Oh, BTW, the corollary to Murphy's law is "Murphy was an optimist." I had some pretty nasty intestinal disruptions, with moving pain, cramps, gas, all sorts of unexpected intestinal behavior. I'm not telling of this to scare anyone, though. I relate my tale of woe to tell you that even that sort of stuff resolves. . . it just takes a couple of months. Not once did I have to alter my lifestyle or activities.

Glad you guys are finished. Soon we will have a whole platoon of SBRT Post-Toasties to make noise here!

tarpon,welcome to the other side.

...I had some pretty nasty intestinal disruptions, with moving pain, cramps, gas, all sorts of unexpected intestinal behavior. I'm not telling of this to scare anyone, though. I relate my tale of woe to tell you that even that sort of stuff resolves. . .

Why these lines show up, I don't know

I'm a surgery guy, but also a SBRT admirer. For bowel issues, try the aforementioned mentioned mesalamine, with a probiotic. It works very well!

Dogdays..... My feeling is that anyone from the GS9 crew is automatically welcomed as an honored member of the Post Toasties group. You guys are so courageous and I truly wish you the best. Thank you for the congrats.

Thanks to all for the encouragement and well wishes.

Frosty, I'm sure glad you are past that so difficult treatment choice decision and can focus on the details of treatment prep. If you have any concerns or questions about the prep protocol or treatment, feel free to ask or send me an email. Btw, I want you to know that your age and personal circumstances had a dramatic impact on me. I have a son who is 33 and you are barely more than half my age. It breaks my heart to see guys like you involved here. Definitely proof that there is nothing "fair" about life. I wish you the best.

Paxton, you will have to be appointed the senior officer in the PT platoon. I would have suggested TA, but undoubtedly he is too busy as the Pca guru.

19tarpon47 said...
Paxton, you will have to be appointed the senior officer in the PT platoon. I would have suggested TA, but undoubtedly he is too busy as the Pca guru.

I accept. I also wish to recognize Tall Allen as being my mentor in all of my PCa research and treatment choices. Without his help, I could have made another choice, which might not have been so good for me.