Prostate Update - Post-Treatment

WARNING:  TMI BELOW!

I started radiation on September 7, and had my last half-hour session on September 20, for a total of five, approximately one every three days. The procedure involved wearing a hospital gown, the insertion of a rectal balloon to help hold the prostate still, and me lying on my back, not moving while the "cyberknife" machine rotated around me, imaging the prostate and blasting the cancer with radiation. 

The procedure was very similar to getting x-rayed, so when the first session was done, I went home and shrugged the whole thing off. Later, I realized the power of the dosage as I started to feel the side effects. This involved an increase in the frequency and urgency of urination, and uncomfortableness in my rectum. There was also some burning when I urinated, which became more pronounced after each treatment.

The sessions were a mixed bag. The first and second were easy (I actually fell asleep during the second), and the third and the fifth were very uncomfortable. But the staff were great, I just had to lie still, and they passed pretty quickly. After the third session, when I mentioned my discomfort, my Oncologist told me to start taking 800mg of ibuprofen, which I did several times a day. That helped a lot.

Since then, the side effects have been gradually subsiding. Some days are better than others, but there's definitely been a fast improvement. I have a follow up phone call in a few weeks, and then a six month appointment. In the meantime, my regular Urologist will order regular blood tests to tell if the cancer is gone.

All said, radiation seems to have been the right decision for me. The treatments were tolerable, passed quickly, and the side effects temporary and manageable. I'm very lucky.

Over the next few months we'll see if I can call myself a cancer survivor.