Post prostatectomy IMRT treatments

Psyjohn

I had  my prostate removed using robotic surgery in May 2010. A slowly rising PSA score of the past year up to the threshold of .20 for a recurrence led me to seek out radiation therapy (IMRT) to destroy some apparently late-developing cancer cells somewhere in the bed of my now-removed prostate. Although the success rate reportedly is high, I am concerned about the possible side effects of 6-8 weeks, 5 day a week, radiation treatments. My doctor said the incidence of fatigue and bladder/rectal problems is highly variable. Has anyone had such a condition and what was your experience with the therapy? Thanks.

bob33462

See My sRT Post

Psyjohn-

You went a long time before cancer showed up after surgery.

Good luck with your sRT!

Bob

 

 

Will Doran

I had 8 weeks of Radiation

Psyjohn,

I had 8 weeks, 5 days per week, of radiation after robotic surgery (Dec, 10, 2013).  I had my Radiation about 5 months post surgery, after being on Lupron prior to the start of Radiation. So far, after three years, I still maintain a PSA in the undetectable levels.  I started with a PSA of 69 and a Gleason of 3+4-7.  I have had very few problems post radiation.  I do have a slight leakage problem from time to time, depending on what kind of lifting, exercise, etc. I'm doing.  Other than that, at this time, I haven't had any problems.  I understnad that much of my leakage problem is because my surgeon had to make and incision in my bladder, because of a birth defect.  My Prostate was adhered to my bladder.  But as time has gone along my leakage problems are getting less and less, and my control is getting better and better.  I was sent to Physical Therapy for badder control exercises, which I continue to do on a regular basis.. 

Best of Luck

Love, Peace and God Bless

Will

VascodaGama

RT experiences

Psyjohn,

Welcome to the board. You are doing well in researching before committing. My experience and some reports on sRT by survivors are in this link;

http://csn.cancer.org/node/293453#comment-1496929

I think your doctor's comment is proper. Radiation side effects vary much among patients but it also depends on the radiologist experience, the equipment used and in the initial process of diagnosing/locating the metastases. Ulcerative colitis also restricts radiation at affected areas. One should have a colonoscopy before the RT planning to avoid damages at those areas. A good image exam in hand will help in the planning too. Without such data the procedure is done guessing based on past RT experiences. One cannot expect to hit the bull's eyes throwing arrows in the dark.

Best wishes,

VG 

Josephg

RT Experiences

Hi Psyjohn,

As mentioned by others, there is no guarantee that salvage radiation therapy will provide a permanent end to your PCa.  For me, I had an undetectable PSA for 30+ months after radiation therapy, but now, it is starting to rise again.

Radiation therapy is, however, the logical next step on your journey if you want to pursue a potential permanent end to your PCa, and in my non-medical professional opinion, you should seriously consider this as a potential option.  There are a number of options regarding which type of radiation therapy you could select, and I will leave it to others on this forum to weigh in with their opinions and experiences.

You asked for personal experiences with radiation therapy, and I previously posted my experiences to this forum.  I have listed the links below, and please feel free to ask any questions, after you have read the content in these links.

http://csn.cancer.org/comment/1414101#comment-1414101

http://csn.cancer.org/comment/1414282#comment-1414282

I wish you the best of outcomes on your journey.

Ezzeddine

VascodaGama said:

RT experiences

Psyjohn,

Welcome to the board. You are doing well in researching before committing. My experience and some reports on sRT by survivors are in this link;

http://csn.cancer.org/node/293453#comment-1496929

I think your doctor's comment is proper. Radiation side effects vary much among patients but it also depends on the radiologist experience, the equipment used and in the initial process of diagnosing/locating the metastases. Ulcerative colitis also restricts radiation at affected areas. One should have a colonoscopy before the RT planning to avoid damages at those areas. A good image exam in hand will help in the planning too. Without such data the procedure is done guessing based on past RT experiences. One cannot expect to hit the bull's eyes throwing arrows in the dark.

Best wishes,

VG 

psa rising and falling??

On Oct 7, 2016, at 2:29 PM,

 i have seen 2 doctors so far. the 1st told me that the
     medical staff he belongs to agrees that we have to wait. the
     2nd doctor who is the one who operated me 5 years ago( in Dec 2011) told me to
     have a RMI. i did it. the imaging shows that i have a little
     local recidive 10*4mm. he told me that i should undergo a
     hormonotherapy and a radiotherapy as soon as possible for
     fear it grow.

Dec13th,2o16   

    i didn't have any treatment at all. i saw different doctors actually. The last one doubted the reading of the IRM. He had it read by another specialist and the re-reading asserted "there's no recuurrence.". I couldn't understand.. i waited and yeasterday i nchecked my psa; there's no detectable psa at all.

my psa is falling again... less than0.07, it  is undetectable. i am very happy.
    is it common this rising then falling?

 

that is all. how and why is beyond my grasp! all i was told: there's a mistake in the first reading.
    what about the rising psa???
    what do you think?