Have you had Radiation Treatment for Prostate Cancer?

JackWest

Hello all, male in mid 70s here,

Have you had Radiation Treatment for Prostate Cancer? What is your current status? History. Outcomes? What has changed? Are you cancer free? What is your PSA? How is your sex life? Have ED? Are your ejaculations the same or have they changed? The color of your semen changed. How? Any blood or color? Other male functions changed? Let's share and learn even more. Let's chat away here, there are no wrong answers. Many thanks!

Jack

Steve1961

i had radition treatment at age 57 back in 2018 but I had Cribbform.. at the time they did not know, and they were not sure about cribbiform and I was very reluctant to do radiation but my fear of surgery talked me into it and guess what it did not work the Gleason 4 in my prostate right next to the seeds that were targeted was still there and I had two surgeons. Tell me that they are learning that cribbiform is radiation resistance. The radiation therapy messed up my Bowels I leaked out my rear end for about two months a after my third treatment I could not urinate at all, but I had to go on Flomax and I was on Flomax twice a day after that in order for me to even urinate and now I very, very loose stools because of it I truly believe radiation should be kept as a back up make no bones about it..I know older who fellas mwhomdid radiation and did not have Cribbi form and the radiation treatment worked well anybody thinking about must and this is a big must make sure it is not cribbform. Also, you need to get the space or I did not get a space or and my radiologist suggested against it right then there I should’ve not trusted him. I didn’t trust him anyway, but I did it.

Steve1961

mid 70s and the cancer is not suggest that you do radiation because 10 years down the line they don’t know what the radiation can do. It can cause other cancers 10 years line you’ll be in your mid 80s and let’s face it you can’t last forever the surgery that

mamakath

Jack, my 77 yo husband had Gleason 4+4 and PSA 19.6. In August ‘24 he had a HoLep procedure and started Orgovyx the next day. He then had 44 daily radiation treatments. The worst part of that was the requirement of “full bladder, empty colon”. The treatments did not make him sick, despite what we all learned about radiation in high school in the ‘60s! He did get tired in the afternoons. He finished the treatments in April. His first visit after radiation went well and the radiation oncologist was pleased but wanted him to stay on the Orgovyx until October. He goes back to his Doc 10/13. He hopes to get off it at that time. All in all, the ADT has been the worst part. He gets VERY tired in the afternoon, he has bloating, and hot flashes. The only good news is that he has found if he makes himself a root beer float, that stops the hot flashes, and since we live in AZ, anything cool is invaluable! This is a hard thing to go through, but nothing in this life is easy and he did not want the long term side effects of surgery.

JackWest

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1724462#Comment_1724462

mamakath,

Thanks so much. Love to share all about my ED, bladder function and change in erection, hardness also ejaculation volume and color. Can we message? Please message me.

Regards,

Jack

Old Salt

Check my profile (about me) for the (gory 😀) details…

I seem to be ok as of now, but one never knows…

MACH1

I'm 79 - 80 in January - and had brachytherapy in July of this year. Was diagnosed 7 years ago with Gleason 6. Advanced to Gleason 7 (3+4) at the start of 2025. Now 4 months post procedure and am just beginning to be able to urinate through natural plumbing. Have had 3 emergency Foley catheters and now have an SPC - supra pubic catheter - where the tube goes directly into the bladder. It's inconvenient but much better than the Foley. I'm hoping it can be permanently removed next month when I see my urologist.

Oncologist said it was very much out of the ordinary for me to have had such severe reaction to the radiation. He had prescribed Prednisone and then Lyrica to alleviate the symptoms but the only thing that worked was Mother Nature and time. I did the SPC because the theory was the Foley catheters caused a lot of irritation to the urethra and this would give me a chance to heal. SPC has been in for a month and a half now. Still burns when I urinate but I'll gladly exchange that for the catheters.

icanbeatthis

Finished radiation treatment 1.8 years ago, finished hormone therapy 6 months ago, starting to notice side effects, burning while urinating,leakage, some bowel irritation,sex is almost nonexistent, psa .01 testasterone 24, waiting for levels to rise after awful hormone therapy will keep you updated

Josephg

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1725390#Comment_1725390

So, your PSA is undetectable, and you are in remission. That should be the most important measure and result of your therapies. Yes, hormone therapy can be rough, but there are medications that can reduce the severity of the effects.

Don't be surprised if your Testosterone level does not rise to the level prior to hormone treatments, as that is fairly common after long periods of hormone therapy. Don't be stunned of your Testosterone does not rise significantly from where it is now, as that is also an edge case, resulting from long periods of hormone therapy. I know, as my Testosterone level is at 34, and has been there for the past 3 years, and it is not moving any further upward.

You are in remission now, and I wish you the best of outcomes on your PCa journey.