'My 33 Days with Cancer'- radiotherapy following removal of prostate in 2017

"how ‘Tony the radiographer’ emotionally deals with seeing this first-hand every day?"

I think you answered that in your previous post, about how we turn in to numbers in the NHS machine. The staff are always polite and pleasant, but I hope for their own mental health, they just look at us as slabs of meat, to be put on the grill once a day for five minutes until done. Would you like fries with that?

Hi Peter,

A good read.  I didn't know it was a trousers down, lie on the bed, quick type of thing.  I'd always thought you'd put on an NHS gown and it would take about an hour with time to recuperate.

Regards
Peter

Repeat daily Monday to Friday 🙂.

Cheers,

Chris

Hello Chris,

Nothings changed

Pete

For me the policy was empty bladder. They did not seem worried about bowels, maybe the pre treatment scan meant they could adjust for that. I always had late appointments, not being a morning person. Treatment was about 10 minutes, the only delay was that if they had got behind during the day, by six in the evening they could be running an hour late.

thanks for your posts, particularly for the human element you include.

It sounds to me as though your treatment is very "by the book". I had the full bladder system too, though it was largely left up to the patient to manage. I worked out a technique in the end. 3 cups of water is fine if they keep on schedule but it does give a "peak" bladder after about 30 minutes. One thing I found that did not work was exercising a few hours before RT. Trying to get the hydration right after that is a nightmare.

Could I ask you a question please? Is the RT device stationary above your prostate when you're being zapped?

Jules

Thanks Dave, clearly all the LINACs look similar but the way they're being used differs.

Hello Jules,

No my experience is the same as Chris's reply below the machine rotates three times around the body but only delivers the the Radiotherapy treatment on the last rotation. The first two rotations  allow them to scan and plan and set the area to be treated and then they set a template on top of todays scanned image so that they can hit exactly the same spot every day. Before treatment started I had to go in for a planning session and they took an 'image' at that time of the area that they wanted to treat and its that 'original image' that they now use as a template to superimpose  over todays scan of my body so they hit the right area if that makes sense.

Regards

Peter

good read peter been through 37  rounds off radiotherapy at the same hospital they are very good but any off us can turn grey as you speak at anytime  good luck to anyone battling any type off cancer hopefully you treatment will go as smooth as mine so far so good but know anything could change so make the most off  the good days  👍

My 33 days with cancer

Day 6

04.51 woken up to (how should I describe it?) a slight twinge above the willy didn’t last long wouldn’t like it to get worse though.

Just got back from the hospital and I have a little bit of discomfort around the prostate area heavy like you need to go for a pee badly but nothing much and not enough to increase my ‘How am I feeling rating level’ above 1.25 out of 10.

Do you all know where the prostate sits in the body? well I have a tattoo (one of three) which sits exactly an inch above the top of my willy or 25mm for any younger people reading this, so you can see where it is positioned in relation to your own body. I must admit I hadn’t realised the prostate was positioned so low.

I also have a tattoo positioned on each side of my hip’s. The tattoos allow the Radiographer to line me up in the same position each day on the table ready for my treatment to be applied.

Andrew was in this morning. How should I describe Andrew to you? well let’s say he is a little ‘rotund’ or in other words ‘a little bit chubby’ Andrews not a ‘grey’ he’s on 6 out of 20 sessions.

Now I mentioned yesterday that I am quite an inquisitive type of guy and I had to really fight back the urge to ask him how the hell he applies his enema because I’m damn sure he can’t reach by himself his arms aren’t long enough. “Does someone help you?” I was dying to ask, “Who helps you?” I really wanted to know. Someone must love him.

Got it right this morning managed it first time no trapped wind so was in and out like the SAS.

Think I have mentioned this before, but it can take me anywhere between 40min and an hour to get to the hospital and once at the hospital you must immediately empty your bladder and then drink 3 glasses of water directly before the radiography is applied. This is what I had to do when I was at the ‘planning stage’ I had an initial scan from which they made plans for my actual treatment, and you must as far as possible replicate the amount of water in your bladder each day. Herein lies the problem because since suffering from Prostate cancer I have to go to the toilet a lot and it’s now much harder to hold it than it was before the removal of my prostate. Consequently, it’s now impossible to make it back home without needing a pee and I have become an expert at spotting places to stop and have a pee. They are rated Piss stops 1,2 and 3 depending on the distance I can reach before being forced out of the car and believe me you don’t want reach 3 unless it absolutely cannot be avoided.

Becoming good mates with Shaun, Shaun the sheep, he stares a bit but told him to get over it.

How am I feeling?

Hmm a little bit tired and slight ache around my front / waist area at the moment. It’s a long week. One more day then weekend off. Feels like a long way to go.

Still at 1.25 out of 10