Salvage RT starts here

No bells here unfortunately and no-one seems to bring choccies so I might start a new trend as I intend getting some boxes of English chocolates for them on the last day.

I did ask them if I could take a photo which I had done previosuly on the CT scanner but they said no, but they did point me to the photo of the actual machine on their website so I have a copy.

Jules

Yes, they are certainly non-stop throughout the day - but I did notice that they rotate a lot - over the 20 days I have only had the same people 3 or 4 times.

Oh dear, another 'walk of shame' today as despite drinking 500ml an hour beforehand, my bladder did not fill so they interrupted the scan to tell me. Back to the waiting room, 5 cups of water and sit and wait. 30 minutes later I was called back and this time it was OK so I received my 2 Gy.

I hate doing this as it throws all their timings out but the nurse explained that with the hot weather (27c today) that unless you kept up with your fluids, then the water would first be used by the body to rehydrate and then the excess would go to the bladder.

I realised that I had been in the garden yesterday as well as walking the dog in 25c and I hadn't been drinking much water - so it was definitely all mu fault.

I had my weekly consult and they were very pleased that my rashes had all cleared up - almost certainly down to a reaction to the cannula, and I am now back on the Tamsulosine tablets.

Nothing else to report from the side effects - the tiredness has pretty much gone and I am sleeping much better.

The good news is that I thought that I was getting 33 sessions but apparently it's only 32 so only 10 more to go :) :)

Nope, this was even quicker :)

As I arrived, someone who I had met on the journey came walking out looking glum - yep, another 'walk of shame' so he was under instructions to drink 4 cups of water and wait. That freed up the machine so I walked straight in. 5 minutes later I am out and on my way home :)

Only 1 more week to go - I wonder how long before they do the next PSA test?

Fridays seem to be quiet days so yet again in and out in quick time. I also seem to be timing my bladder filling quite well. Feeling a little tired today so happy to be able to chill out over the weekend and next week is my last week :) :)

No side effects to report apart from what I get from the HT and even they aren't that bad really.

Good to hear it’s still going well Steve. One week to go mate 👍

So the start of my last week which made me feel very positive and apart from a short delay, the treatment was the same as normal. Being a Monday I had my consult and we discussed the next steps.

So I need to get a blood test this week for my testosterone and at the same time get my next 3 monthly hormone therapy injection - we will discuss this at my final consult next Monday that corresponds with my last RT treatment.

Then, I will have a meeting with the big cheese Consultant a month later with a PSA test done a couple of days beforehand. That will be a discussion on next steps, frequency of PSA testing and whether I stop the HT after the 6 months are up or continue for the full year.

It all feels that we are getting to the end of this stage and everything is crossed that that will be the end of it, at least for the foreseeable :)