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Hit a bit of a bump in the IMRT road

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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 7/24/2014 7:37 PM (GMT -5)
After 34 sessions I have bright red blood in the toilet when trying to have a BM. So my rad oncologist gave me Today and Friday off to see if it settles down. I have a couple bad hemmerhoids and we think I really opened up one inside.

So I'm taking Sitz baths to try to settle it down.

Not fun staring at red water in the WC!

Bob
Posted 7/24/2014 9:04 PM (GMT -5)
It's important not to strain. The radiation causes the rectal tissues to become inflamed, and one's brain interprets that as if there is some mass in there that needs to come out in a bowel movement. It's called tenesmus. I found that it helps to know that because I could override my natural instinct to push it out (even though there's nothing really there.) You might find that mesalamine helps - available as enema, suppository or pill.

My proctologist told me - too late - that it's a good idea to get rid of all internal hemorrhoids with injections before radiation begins.

- Allen
Posted 7/25/2014 12:41 AM (GMT -5)
Don't look, it won't bother you so much. Most usually the irritation subsides quickly. It only takes a few drops of blood to make it look like you are bleeding to death.
Posted 7/25/2014 2:58 AM (GMT -5)
After my forth week i started to bleed really heavy ,i would sit there and watch blood dripping into the bowl.i used a product called ProctoFoam worked quite well,also upped my intake of roughage along with metamucel so everything moved more smoothly .Ignored the the feeling of having to to go when i new i didn't . finely got the bleeding under control then the explosive diarrhea started.It was a real challenge driving back home a 500 klm trip through the mountains,a lot of bush stops along the way. When i arrived home picked up a script for lomotil worked grate.After about three weeks everything was pretty much back to normal.Continued using the protofoam for about two months for inflammation. Haven,t had any issues since. it'll be a year Aug 20th. Hang in there it gets better.
Posted 7/25/2014 8:58 PM (GMT -5)
The RT will do that to you. You might want to ask for a stool softener. That helps too.

but my doctors tell me that the sitz baths really help with bleeding.

My hemorrhoids have been much worse since RT but the stool softener and baths seem to keep the worst of the symptoms in check.

Hang in there you'll get through it.
Andrew
Posted 7/26/2014 7:40 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks guys. I switched to the BRAT diet also: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. Anything which helps reduce diarrhea is really important so that the internal blood vessels are not subject to the aggravation of frequent BMs. I have been taking ducolex stool softeners also and doc gave me some suppositories to reduce inflammation. This too will hopefully pass!
Bob
Posted 7/26/2014 9:03 PM (GMT -5)
It will pass, but it's a real pain in the butt...:-)
Posted 7/27/2014 11:30 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks for sharing your experience, Bob, and to the others thanks for the comments. I'm about to start on 39 weeks of IMRT at UCSD in addition to ADT (through Scholz/Lam/Turner) and it's "nice" (although that's not the right word) to know of some of the issues I may run into and mitigations.

Hang in there you're almost through.

Mike
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