I had pelvic lymph nodes treated too, 23 sessions. Had some blood from increased wiping/soreness initially, my own fault for eating a whole broccoli 2 weeks in, which was a major disaster - barely able to leave the toilet for next 2 days. From 4 weeks in, I occasionally passed blood with No. 2's. This continued with very occasional blood up to 10 weeks after EBRT, and no more since (now 22 weeks after EBRT). This isn't an issue if it's expected and you know why it's happening. Passing blood is only an issue when it's not expected, or if it's excessive in duration or quantity.
You may need to move to a low fibre diet after the first week or so - be prepared to do this if you start to get the shits, but doing it before it's needed risks you getting constipated. Most people get excess mucus production during RT, resulting in what my onco eloquently refers to as mucus farts. That still comes and goes for me, although less than during and immediately after the RT.
Passing blood can happen again 1 to 5 years afterwards (4.5 years is apparently common). This is when small rectal blood vessels hit by the EBRT eventually break. It's harmless and requires no treatment, but you will probably require an colonoscopy just to confirm it is that, and not bowel cancer.
There is a small chance of long term bowl damage and a very small chance of some degree of anal incontinence, although even before SpaceOAR (which is not yet widely used), this risk was much reduced by the high precision targeting of modern linear accelerators.
Good luck. The conversations between patients in the RT waiting rooms going through the same things sharing intimate issues are a lifetime experience I'll never forget.
Edited by member 10 Jan 2020 at 00:55
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