Re: Radiation Side Effects

[Guest guest]

Terry, thanks for referring me to 's post. He certainly has a lot of experience with the retention issue, and I will follow up with him.

RE: Radiation Side Effects

Mike,

I guess you’re finding the hard way that there is no “normal” as far as prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment or outcome is concerned, which is what makes it such a tricky disease to deal with.

What you have reported has been reported by other men, but so much depends on the individual reactions which can vary considerably that it is very difficult to find a solution or to make any predictions. It may help you to read the story that Sondeen has posted on my site at http://www.yananow.net/Mentors/S.htm Although did not have your treatment but had HIFU he had more issues than most people do with regard to urinary retention and he may well be able to point you in the direction of some useful techniques or medications.

All the best

Terry Herbert

I have no medical qualifications but I was diagnosed in ‘96: and have learned a bit since then.

My sites are at www.yananow.net and www.prostatecancerwatchfulwaiting.co.za

Dr “Snuffy” Myers : "As a physician, I am painfully aware that most of the decisions we make with regard to prostate cancer are made with inadequate data"

From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of Mike MaguireSent: Wednesday, 28 May 2008 8:45 AMTo: ProstateCancerSupport Subject: Radiation Side Effects

New to this forum, so I hope I'm not missing a thread that would answer my questions.

I had my prostate surgically removed in August 07. Recovery took a while, especially since I had additional surgery to fix a large hernia in December, but I was back to work for several months and feeling close to normal with a little residual stress incontinence when I began the recommended radiation followup in early March of this year. (My biopsy showed cancer cells close to the edge of the excised tissue, and both my urologist and oncologist recommended the radiation.) I was told that I might experience continence issues as a result of the radiation, but that patients generally recovered back to the level of control they had at the beginning of the treatment. Four and a half weeks into a 7.5 week treatment schedule, I did just the opposite of what I'd been told was "normal" and went into urinary retention, a very painful reaction

that landed me back in the operating room where my urologist removed a little tag of tissue (benign) and dilated my urethra so that I now had the more normal (and much less painful) incontinence issues. His solution worked for about a week, before the swelling returned and I wound up catheterized in the emergency room. I took a couple of radiation treatments with the catheter in, but neither doctor wanted to continue my treatment with this device in place (and I hate catheters anyway) so they introduced me to self catheterization and I completed my treatment having continuing difficulty urinating normally.

Its been 2 weeks since the end of my radiation treatment, and I'm still developing blockages that I have to clear with a catheter. My urologist is reluctant to do a dilation and tells me that I'm better off having to catheterize myself from time to time than I would be if he did a procedure that lowered my chances of eventually regaining full bladder control. I'm out of work again because I've developed sensitivity in my scrotal area that makes sitting for any length of time difficult (almost like I'm back to the condition I was in a couple of weeks after surgery), and I experience very painful, burning, spasms in between performing the procedure. Plus, and maybe I'm being a wuss here, I can't figure out how I could perform a self catherization in a public men's room stall and maintain any semblance of sterility or decorum ( I know the

guys I work with are not anxious to walk in on me while I'm doing it, dinky little door or not).

None of my acquaintances who have been through PC treatment ever experienced this condition. None of the doctors I talk to will give me a time line as to when this should resolve. My oncologist assures me that I'm not unique but that he sees issues like this in maybe 1 in 100 cases. My urologist says that there are surgical interventions available but they have long term consequences and that its too early to intervene.. I'm hoping someone out there can give me some information from their experience that might help me through this. Did your retention problem resolve naturally? If so how long did it take? Is there a treatment option (I'm taking Flomax now) that you know of that could lessen the frequency of having to perform the procedure? Any advice on pain management around the spasms (I've had kidney

stones, and the level of pain is similar though the duration, thank God, isn't)? Any thoughts on the long term trade offs associated with surgical intervention that might lower overall continence in the long term? Any non-surgical action that I should be taking to improve the rate of post radiation healing (would love to get over the general sensitivity as soon as possible)?

Thanks for your thoughts.