Radiotherapy for prostate cancer - what to expect

[Buda]

Hi. My Dad will start radiotheraphy for prostate cancer on 1st March. He has had hormone treatment over last few months which had worked well at bringing PSA levels down.

Just wondering what to expect really. Is it as bad as chemo for side effects etc?

He looks after my mum who has dementia too so need to be as fore-armed as possible with info to plan her care too.

Chemo is different for every patient. My mil had a course for bowel cancer, she said she felt fine just a little cold. She had radiotherapy as well, this was also OK but she did have a burn from it.

I do hope his treatment goes well.

My dad had radiotherapy for prostate cancer a couple of years ago. He was going up to the Royal Marsden in London for it, having to take the train, tube and then walk. Initially, for the first 5 treatments, he felt great - really invigorated by the exercise etc. No real soreness in the area, some trouble urinating but he'd had that anyway.

After about the 5th session, the tiredness started to hit and he did find that he got quite fatigued. The journey was harder, the walking was more fatiguing - and he was finding it hard to shake off.

You can get aloe creams/gels to help with the radiotherapy burn - Dad had a 100% aloe gel one but didn't feel the need to use it that often.

Anyway - he had 8 sessions, iirc - shrunk his tumour down to next to nothing, PSA dropped to below 1 (or possibly even

Thanks guys.

thumbdabwitch - My Dad sounds a bit like yours. Will bus and walk to hospital. He is 71. Had a quadruple bybass last year and came back from that really well. Is also diabetic. Looks after himself well though. Is so strict with his food - his Xmas treat was ONE mincepie!

Will warn him about the tiredness. That will piss him off! He is just getting back to golf etc now after the bypass.

Yes, do warn him about the tiredness - my Dad stays in touch with the people he met at the Royal Marsden (other patients) and they have been very supportive and very good at telling him to Take It Easy, something he isn't good at! So he would try and "push through" the tiredness to get things done and was getting lower and lower; until one good friend he had made told him that if he feels tired, He Must Rest. For a whole day, if necessary. It did make a difference!

Sounds like your Dad is going through the mill a bit!

He is a bit thumbdabwitch. Been healthy as anything really till he hit 70 and then it all went wrong! And he is another one who doesn't give in easily.

He does everything in the house and looks after my mum so will need to organise some help. They are in Dublin and although I have sisters there one has 5 DCs including year old twins, one works full time and has an 18 month old and one has 2 DCs, is PG and works part-time! I am the one with most time on my hands but I live in Hungary.

Hi Buda

My Dad had pretty much the same experience as Thumbdab's Dad.
His treatment (after the hormone therapy)was 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy. His journey to & from the hospital was almost 2 hours each way by public transport, and at 72 that was hard enough.

After a week or so, he was so tired the hospital arranged patient transport for him each way. It was either an ambulance or cab paid for by the hospital trust.

It was very hard going for him physically, but he got through.....the actual time having the radiotherapy is often just minutes or even seconds!

He had pain passing urine (said it felt bruised & sore) & also passed blood which I gather is usual too.

However, 4 years on he's doing well & his PSA levels remain encouraging.

Hope your Dad has positive news soon.

I don't have any experience of relatives myself, but I listened to Case Notes on R4 on my way home from work today and it happened to be on Radiotherapy. A good portion of it was on treatment of prostate cancer with conversation with men who;d had it (second half I think). You can listen here if you didn't hear it and if you think you might find it helpful

my dad had radiotherapy for prostate cancer about 6 years ago (he is now 77) His psa levels are now way down and all is well. He had radiotherapy in Bath (RUH) and really quite enjoyed the experience -the daily meeting up with the same patients also having rads -the little moulded boots -he said he wasn't tired at all (he is extremely fit and sails/works/goes to the gym) and didn't have any burns or soreness. I've had radiotherapy for breast cancer and found the daily trips (50mins each way) were fine-had hospital transport- and not tiring really. I did get very burned but it soon healed up. Afterwards was really difficult though- maybe different for prostate cancer -the intensity of bc treatment is such that it's non-stop and lots of contact with hospital- after radiotherapy you're pretty much on your own (though of course there are 6 monthly follow ups)and many people feel extremely down after the end of active treatment- I felt dreadful for quite a while.
Hope all goes well for your dad

Williewaggledancer- I heard that too on the way to piano lesson with ds- worth a listen to.

My Dad is another prostate cancer success story.

He had hormones, then radiotherapy and also brachy therapy (think that's how it's spelt?!)

Like Thumb's dad he got more tired as it went on but was still able to drive himself an hour each way without problem. He had some burns but they were easily sorted. The biggest side effect for him was the frequent need to wee especially at night, though I believe the brachy therapy was mainly responsible for that.

A year on and his PSA virtually zero.

Depending on how the radiotherapy is being delivered, it can be more or less tiring. If he is already getting up in the night to wee, that can get worse, but usually isn't too bad with external beam treatment.

He shouldn't have very sore skin, but if anything like that happens, he needs to tell the radiographers. But generally its the thing of having to trek to the hospital everyday that gets people down the most.

I hope it all goes well for him

Wow. Thanks so much for all the replies. I will try to have a listen to that program and send the link to my dad too. That will be a challenge for him! We bought him a laptop for his 70th but he has hardly used it.

Not sure they stretch to patient transport in Ireland but will bear it in mind.

Very encouraging to read so many success stories too!

Hi Buda, my Dad had radiotherapy (implant) for prostate cancer a couple of years ago. He was ok to start with, then more tired - its cumulative, for a while, then slowly gets better again. He also had some problems with urgency in needing to go to the toilet - bowels and urine, I think - which he found distressing and annoying, and he stuck close to home for a few weeks when that was at its worst.

It all pretty much got better, and he is now (at 84.5) in fine form, with normal PSAs and back to travelling and writing and generally not acting his age! Wishing your Dad well.

FIL has just finished a course of radiotherpy and hormone injections for prostate cancer. it seems that the treatment has worked which is great news. I would agree with the tiredness. he finished the radiotherapy a month ago but still isn't back to his normal self. The hormone injetions also take it out of you and give you hot flushes etc.