ADT and SRT Journey Part 3

Larry, I know you will disagree with me but to my eyes you are an elite guy! As the founding father of this thread you brought great ease to me as I approached SRT. Today is my 30th fraction and after today I’ll have 8 more to go. At the risk of jinxing myself all is proceeding really well.

Mike

As I mentioned in another thread, about 18 months after SRT completion I started noticing blood in my urine. This blood in my urine usually occurs if I have to strain for a bowel movement and I've noticed blood approximately 7 - 8 times in the past two months.

Having a CT scan to rule out a tumor and possibly a cystoscopy, although TA feels that may open up new scar tissue and make my condition worse.

All I can say is make sure your bladder is full when having SRT because your prostate is not here protecting the bladder.

"Symptoms can start within a few days of your
first treatment. They usually begin to improve
when your treatment ends. But some men get
symptoms for several months. Others won’t
get symptoms until months or even years after
their final treatment. Symptoms such as blood
in the urine can be worrying, but this is quite a
common symptom of radiation cystitis."

Bobby Mac

What SP said. Now only 23 days from SRT. Energy good, feel OK, think my system has acclimated to the absence of testosterone.

Looking forward to a good week, my physical and labs are next Tuesday (I thought it was tomorrow.) My brother-in-law has decided to let MD Anderson be the primary treatment provider for the mass on his pancreas. Some test he had indicated a high probability of aggressive cancer. It's not sounding good for him.

Hope you guys had a good week. The vampire got some blood from me yesterday morning and Tuesday I get the PSA results. Fingers crossed for another undetectable.

On a sadder note, my brother-in-law had another biopsy of his pancreas yesterday (the first one was inclusive inconclusive) and this one did confirm the presence of cancer. Sunday they head to MD Anderson for a week of tests and consultations. My wife (this is her brother of course) is understandably quite upset. I know next to nothing about pancreatic cancer except that by the time it's detected, it's probably too late.

John—
Check out the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. They’re a great resource. All good wishes for your brother-in-law.

John good luck on your PSA, I hope you get a result you want. Really sorry about your brother in law. I don’t know much about pancreatic cancer except that yeah, it’s serious. But I also think that a lot of advances have been made in the last few years, just as in most cancers, and MD Anderson is a place as you know, that will be on the forefront of that. Hope fir the best for you and your family

Good luck John. Sorry I do not have much to contribute. I knew one pancreatic victim who participated in a support group but he disappeared. Someone said he was still around but doesn't show up... probably too weak. Be strong for your wife, as much as you can. Talk when she wants to and don't when she doesn't. She has memories of her brother that go back long before she met you, and unfortunately there's not much more to be said in an open forum such as this. Just be prepared.

Larry, my radiation ended eight months ago and I still can't trust a fart. After six months had passed I was finally allowed to have a colonoscopy and it confirmed radiation colitis, which is a slight step above the more common radiation proctitis... which is probably what you have. The gastroenterologist told me that it would improve over time... just how much time no one has said for sure, but it does seem to be getting better. There are still days when I have three BM's, but they are becoming fewer and haven't had diarrhea for over a month that I can recall. So good luck and I hope that yours is improving also.

And on that wonderful note I would like to wish everyone a Happy Fathers' Day, for those of us who are indeed fathers, which is probably most of us. With my wife of 38 years we have two terrific sons in their thirties who have never been any trouble... no drugs, gangs, tats or piercings. Both seem to be happy, which is all that a parent wants for their children. I'm hoping that you all have been as fortunate as we have!

Again, Happy Fathers' Day... well played guys!

Larry, I can imagine you are rather discouraged. But hopefully you’ll follow in Robs footsteps and things will start to improve.
The one radiation oncologist I’ve spoken to so far (Gary’s) has told me long term side effects are rare with the advanced equipment they use today, so try to keep the faith.

And thanks for your comment, i’d Rather respond in my own thread, I don’t want to take this thread away from it’s intended purpose.

Larry - I had / have radiation proctitis - no fun. Lots of rectal pain with a BM - 3 & 4 BM's a day, great familiarity with diarrhea. I finished radiation on May 7, and since then the pain has lessened, but it still goes up and down - some weeks are better than others.

I was also told that these side effects are not unusual, and that there don't tend to be long term issues. The radiation screws up your nerves, and makes them want to react when there is anything in the rectum. If the radiation has an effect on the PCa for 8+ plus months, I suspect it can take several months for your nerves to recover.

Best of luck

Rob

That’s great news John!

Mike

Fantastic news John

Go celebrate!

Rob