Posted 9/14/2017 2:38 AM (GMT -5)
My best to fellow PCa sufferers, survivors and loved ones.
I'm done with treatment (knock wood) until I start getting PSA tests in December.
IMRT wasn't fun. My lower intestine was utterly blocked by inflammation for two weeks, with docs saying there's nothing they can do. Fortunately, it subsided on its own. After each treatment, I had an hour-long drive home and had to take an immediate nap. Any day I didn't, I was zombified by fatigue.
As a surgi-phobe, I was deathly afraid of implants until I learned that a) my anesthesia would be administered by an actual anesthesiologist, and b) he'd be using Propofol with no intubation and no spinal block. The clinic further increased my calm by just seating me in the treatment room with no visible instruments, nobody in gloves and masks, just me, a plainclothes nurse and the knock-out doc. I was out in three seconds and recall nothing of the procedure. It was honestly about as terrifying as a trip to a spa.
I woke and cursed to find my catheter still in; they told me they'd remove it before I woke. The nurse pulled it when I was awake (not sure what my role is while she grabs the tube and counts "1...2...3..."). I have deep empathy for those of you who have or had catheters. At least the Propofol blurs that memory, and really, I have no complaints. A few days of burnin' urine is a small price for staying alive.
No external bleeding, no clots in urine or feces, but those orange dye pills are trippy They banished the burn and made passing water a tad psychedelic.
If I pass my CAT scan to see if pellets migrated, I'm doing Lupron + PSA labs every 3 months.
I read a recent study in which IMRT/SBRT + BT + ADT improves outcomes for high risk patients. My radiation oncologist is convincing when he looks me in the eye and says, "you are here for a cure" as if it's obvious. What harm is there in believing him?
May you all find calm, the love of others and a fulfilling life.