Confusion about posts

Hi John,

I had a similar diagnosis to yourself and had the HT/RT combination.  Click on my avatar to see my profile.

Arthur

Hi John

I am also on the HT/RT treatment plan, I was told that surgery was not recommended with 80% cancer contained within the prostate.

I start my radiotherapy this week, I have to trust my consultant having looked a MRI and CT scans that this is the right plan.

Phil

Hi John,  What Fresh says above is what I've read.  They tend not to offer surgery to people over 75 mainly because they're less capable of withstanding the operation.

Radiotherapy should be better if you've got local spread and I also read that results are pretty similar to surgery.  Losing 7kg is an amazing achievement.  Does the Macmillan nurse have anything to say about you peeing fire, I found them easy to contact and willing to explain.  Regards Peter

The important words are those given in your second paragraph. You were in a similar position to me insofar as I was told by a surgeon representing the opinion of the MDT that he doubted he could remove all my cancer and recommended I have RT. Had I have had surgery instead, it is highly likely that it would have had to be followed RT with combined side effects of both treatments.

It is true that the cancer again appeared in my Prostate and was treated with HIFU. However, there is still some cancer within my Prostate and I hope to learn tomorrow whether it is considered of sufficient significance to warrant further focal therapy.

I did ask whether age would be a consideration and was assured it would not be provided I was passed all the pre op tests that even much younger men are subjected to.

I expect most of us have thought at some point that we might have done better with different treatment but mostly we won't know. Maybe there are a few exceptions such as when for example men who could have had RT chose surgery and were permanently incontinent. Best to just think we made what seemed to be the best choice at the time, accept we can't change our choice now and to deal with whatever this disease throws at us.

If there is a continence clinic in your area and they deal with radiation cystitis, you could ask for a referral?

I have been drinking cranberry juice, I have only had one coffee a fortnight ago, that's the first caffeine since November before my treatment started. I don't have chocolate because of the caffeine, totally caffeine free :). BTW I read there is no evidence Cranberry is helpful for radiotherapy cystitis, and for treating UTI's it is only any good in capsule form.

I think it is just the radiation has blasted part of my bladder and while it re-grows and settles down it will be a pain (literally)!

I don't suffer from incontinence though if a clinic does exist then I assume they will be of help. I have mentioned twice to a GP and after making sure it's not an infection he loses interest. I'm retiring the end of this month and I think being at home I will be drinking a lot more water as I hardly drink any, less than a litre a day including my time at the gym (mainly because I have to walk miles at work to the loo). I think once I'm working around home as I retire at the end of the month I will be able to flush through more and maybe that will help.

Unfortunately Green tea to my taste is awful (and it does contain a caffeine), water I drank for radiotherapy because I had to but like my mother I just don't like the taste. Fruit teas I've also tried, tastes like strained sock so drinking is a bit of an issue. If I need a hot drink then it's vegetable OXO :) but only one because it's high in salt.

Can anyone tell me how to get a picture on my profile. Every time I try to add a photo it says not a picture format? I've checked the size, JPEG, BMP and PNG. Still no luck and I don't see any mention of a particular format.

Thanks again for your reply. Gradually getting wound up for my PSA test Friday. We had a McMillan coffee morning here in the office this morning, went well considering there are only about 15 people at work today. :) Take care all :)

I was told the shoulder pain was caused by trapped wind, or rather the remains of the gas they injected to inflate my bowels during the op. Certainly hurt. Didn't know where to put myself for a few hours on the morning after the op.

The op angle presumably explains the odd pattern of apparent bruising I had (actually internal staining of the skin with leaked blood - I leaked a lot!) on my left side from ribs to upper thigh. Was really black for weeks and then multi-coloured for weeks more. Still some slight staining 3 months on.

Ref the cranberry juice, I was drinking a fair bit of it after my catheter was out and struggling with a UTI. After a while I realised that the cranberry juice was increasing the stinging, not reducing it. Possibly because it's fairly acidic. Anyway, I was actually more comfortable without it and was told it only serves any purpose if you have a UTI as the bugs don't like the acidity and it may also have a non-stick effect. Might be worth trying a day off it?

Nick