Brachytherapy - The good, the bad and the ugly

CindyGSD said:

No side effects....
Liz - I haven't really noticed any side effects so if you can suffer through the treatment, you can forget about it the moment you walk out the door. If I had been given a choice, I would get it, even know what I know now.

Take care,
Cindy

Cindy and Liz - I had the first of 3 brachytherapy treatments yesterday. This was after 6 chemo treatments and then 5 weeks of external beam radiation. If I were to rate all three treatment forms I would certainly place brachytherapy as the easiest and no side effects or pain at all. The radiation oncologist did his consult and simulation the same day as the first treatment which made for a 2 1/2 hour visit, but compared to 5 weeks of external lying on a hard lead table, it was a breeze. You lie on a cushy padded table with a bolster under my knees, totally covered and given the remote control for the tv's in the room. External radiation caused diarrhea and a lot of fatigue - nothing with brachytherapy, however. The doctor also said to tell him if I experienced any discomfort at all because he said often some small adjustment or change on his part could make things way easier for me. However, there was nothing I could bring up.the entire group of people caring for me, right down to the physicist were amazing. I feel that given the choice of brachytherapy or not, it is a no brainer. Go for it for that extra bit of reassurance.

Had my first brachytherapy appointment last week. One notable difference is that my treatment center requires the bladder to be full. You are instructed to consume 14-20 0z of water no more than 1/2 hour before your appointment.  Then as stated above, undress, on the table, positioning and fitting of the cylinder and then scanning. Here comes the best part. They then went into another room to plan my care. When I had been on the table one hour, plus the half hour before my appointmen, I was in horrible discomfort and nearly losing it because I needed desperately to empty my bladder. I called them in, they said they needed an additional 20 minute. Iwas simply impossible. They may as well have asked me to lift a 50 pound Boulder over my head! They removed my cylinder, allowed me to go to the bathroom, then had me drink 16 more ounces of water, wait a half hour and then back to the treatment room. They re-inserted, re-scanned, and then did the treatment. All of which took about 8 min. I left there just reeling. It was a horrible experience. After looking for answers, wondering how women could possibly achieve this, feeling like I had failed, I found that many cancer centers, do the fit, position, scan and then send you home. Then they do the planning which can take up to an hour. Then you come back the next week for your first treatment, with a full bladder. I was livid that I had been put through this when it didn't have to happen this way. Lord willing, I'll never go through that again.  But you can bet if I do, I'll be much more vocal and well informed!! 

Ljartz - wow! I agree with Connie, I don't think I have ever heard this and I am glad you came to share with us.  Vaginal brachy is pretty straight forward unlike external radiation that needed a plan.  That is just crazy.  I would be on the phone with my radiologist office and be wanting some answers.