Radiothereapy prostate bed?

[Nuray]

Hi folks,just a quick update?had a CT scan last week?and got a date for my external Radiothereapy to start on the 24 April this month?only test I've had was CT scan? No blood test or nothing?is this the normal procedure for Radiothereapy?as my current psa reading is 0.13 considered low?and any tips on which foods to avoid while having Radiothereapy and foods to eat ect?any input would be greatful folks??

[AlanMeyer]

I don't know if any blood tests are required.

I assume that the reason your PSA is so low is that you had a radical prostatectomy. However it's high enough that your doctor has decided that you still have some cancer and hopes to finish it off with radiation. Both of his judgments (that you still have cancer, and that radiation might cure it) sound right to me. I'm guessing that the purpose of the CT scan was to see if he could actually spot any little tumor to aim the x-rays at, or to spot any anomalies in your bone structure that might affect his targeting strategy. I don't know of any blood tests that would help with any of that or alter his treatment planning.

As for the foods, that's a good question. There is reason to avoid anti-oxidants, like vitamin C and vitamin D. Here's a simple, but I think accurate article written for breast cancer patients but I think it applies to prostate cancer too:

breastcancer.org/treatment/...

The best chances of success with salvage radiation occur when the PSA is very low. That's when it's most likely that the cancer left in your body is still small and still in the area where the prostate used to be, possibly in a bit of tissue right next to where the prostate was, or in a bit of prostate tissue that was missed by the surgeon. So I think your doctor is doing the right thing in hitting it as soon as he was sure that you really do have some cancer left. Having a PSA > 0.1 makes that very likely.

Best of luck with your radiation. I've had it myself and its painless and easy to take, though there may be some side effects - most of which should be very temporary.

Alan

[Nuray in reply to AlanMeyer]

Thanks for you input Alan mate👍Yes my PSA still under 0.1 but not far from there Dow?I hoping this radiation therapy nocks the shit out of this cancer mate?I suppose aim being anxiously mate?now one likes to hear cancer in any Form Alan😦But I suggested to my Onc at Barts London to start me on Hormone therapy to mate?she agreed only for 6 months period?just out of interest where did you have your treatment mate?reqards Nuray

[AlanMeyer in reply to Nuray]

I live in the U.S. I was working as a computer programmer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington DC when I was diagnosed. I went to my boss, who was an oncologist, and she sent me to the Radiation Oncology Department at the NCI Cinical Center. Those folks recruited me for a clinical trial, and that's how I got my radiation.

Alan

[Nuray in reply to AlanMeyer]

Ok Alan,did you find that radiation to the prostate bed helped you and your current PSa is stabile?or did you have your prostate removed?and had salvage Radiothereapy?what was the Gleason befor surgery and any positive margins spread?? Nuray

[AlanMeyer in reply to Nuray]

I had no surgery, just radiation + Lupron. There's a fuller account in my profile here:

healthunlocked.com/user/ala...

My PSA moved up and down for a while after radiation but, eventually settled down to a very low value. The last PSA test was pretty much the same as all the rest for about 7 years. It was 0.07.

Alan

[van123]

I had exactly what you are facing. The doctor should give you a diet sheet. The key is eat nothing that will cause gas. Basically, it is fish, chicken, turkey, and rice. I ate eggs also. I was all so allowed canned green beans. I also had to drink about 50 to 60 oz of water starting 1.5 hours prior to the treatment. They want the bladder full prior to the treatment. Also, you will take pills to clean you out each morning.

[Nuray in reply to van123]

Hi Van,thanks for your kind input👍,we didn't even have a dietitian at our Radiothereapy induction at London leading Cancer unit Barts?but you can request a appointment?there only there Tuesday and Thursday apparently?some state run hospitals haven't got a clue In sorry to say?my Onc doctor at barts Karen Tipples is one who over all approach very sutile for my liking ?unfortunaly I have little choice in moving to different Onc doctors as my treatments is more important right now to me?other wise I would definitely consider different Onc who has more aggressive nature towards fighting cancer in gerneral???

[Hidden in reply to van123]

The water is very important!

[Hidden]

Before accepting salvage radiation treatment (SRT), I would go to MSK's prostate cancer nomogram site ( mskcc.org/nomograms/prostate ) and plug my numbers (they are well explained on the site) into their PSA doubling time and salvage radiation nomograms. No way in hell would I blindly accept any oncologist's advice without knowing and understanding the results of those nomograms. Your doubling time will imply whether you even need to treat again, and the SRT nomogram will spit out your odds of benefit. Those two results may or may not be definitive for you. IN MY CASE, they both produced no-brainers: my doubling time gave me another 80 years of cancer-free life, my SRT benefit likelihood was well below 10%/0.1. Other factors subsequently reduced MY benefit odds to zero and the severe side effect odds to very nearly 100%. (Realize that for every man with Alan's great results, there's a man suffering on the opposite side of the bell curve, and know that many men hover around 0.1-0.2 PSA for years .... i.e., they don't need treatment.)

SRT nutrition depends on which sources one believes. Until I discovered that SRT was not even an option for me, I was leaning towards the camp of choosing my diet independent of my SRT, based on the many sources that say once we get PC, diet matters little to the cancer or its treatment. I wouldn't believe the advice of any doctor on diet; they might get one or two nutrition lectures in school .... MUCH less than we can get from one good nutrition book. Far more important than diet to fighting cancer and its treatment side effects, in my extremely well-studied opinion, is hard exercise.

[Hidden]

No Surgar & lots of garlic,onion,turmeric,ginger,only natural foods, fresh veggies.Check out. "fast and live " video. You fast 2 days a week of R. T. .The theory is the cells are weakened already by the fast so the R. T. Is more effective at eliminating the bad cells .I did it . That plus no sugar ,I lost 60 lbs....And I was not fat.You can get dizzy on the fast. Plus I did canaby oil at the same time and continue to do so. I suggest you do as much good stuff to yourself to strengthen your immunity.To counteract the treatments..

[Dr_WHO]

To prevent unwanted damage You will need to have your bowls empty (including gas) and your bladder full. (When full, your bladder acts like a balloon and raises above the pelvic floor area.) Definitely follow the above suggestions and changed you diet. You may also want to take gas-x and similar over the counter drugs.

For me the bigger challenge was getting and maintaining a full bladder. I live about an hour from the hospital and as a result of the surgery I do not have great bladder control. I ended up arriving at least 45 minutes before getting zapped so I could have a cup of coffee there. Quite often I had to run from the radiation room after treatment to the restroom.

[Hidden]

Re: "To prevent unwanted damage, you will need to have your bowls empty (including gas) and your bladder full."

That "rule" (they told me to have half a bladderful for all my treatments; I assume the real goal is consistency) is one of several reasons I fired a trio of radiation oncologists. Soon after they told me that, I went in for my initial CT, the one that would produce the landmark tattoos from which my next 35 doses of radiation would be aimed. A software glitch held up my CT by over an hour, by which time my bladder was WAY beyond half full; it was stretched. Also, my bowels move on their own schedule, not mine, and were definitely not empty. "Oh, that's OK. It's not important."

Isn't that like a government construction project ... where you measure it with a laser, mark it with spray paint, and cut it with a dull axe ... but in reverse? Not with my rectum, prostate, and bladder all in direct contact, you don't. I got my free tats and never returned for any treatments. (These were the same people who outright lied about cure and side effect likelihoods.)

[Aussiedad]

If you are going to have radiation of the bed of the prostate get a prescription for Zoladex (Spelling might be different in the USA - in in Australia), I requested Zoladex implant injections for before during and after the radiation - I actually went for a year on it. My Radio Oncologist - a very highly regarded one at that - tried to talk me out of the Zoladex ... 'We give that if the radiation doesn't work'. I talked him into it (I mentor PhD types in BioMed at Uni and research 'everything'.). Trials were done with Zoladex after my treatment and the results were very positive so that Zoladex prescribed as I requested is now the accepted treatment associated with radiation of the bed of the prostate for post radical prostatectomy patients.

Get on to the Mediterranean diet or the CSIRO diet, remain positive, get really active, take up new interests in hobbies, studies etc., and get on to Astrogalus 8 to boost your immune system (usually it has additional herbs with it) - I take Astraforte capsules by Thompson's ... about $30.00 AU for 80 capsules. (the capsules are easier to take than the liquid form - doesn't taste unpleasant like the liquid). (Astragalus has been used by Chinese for centuries and a double blind study in a big Japanese hospital involving all patients - 50% received the Astrogalus and 50% a placebo. All those on the Astrogalus were out of hospital faster than those on the placebo regardless of their condition/complaint.

Best of luck,

Cheers, Aussiedad

[Aussiedad]

p.s. I invested in an Archimede's screw juice extractor ... the high speed extractors cause the vitamins etc., to be hugely reduced. We're supposed to have multiple vegetable and fruit portions each day and the juicer I use has negligible reduction of available vitamins, minerals etc. The juice goes straight into your system whereas vegetables just cooked and eaten provides you with far less of the goodies which certainly take time to be absorbed into your system.

Try the following from the fridge - 4 sticks of celery (no leaves - they are very bitter), four Granny Smith apples (ONLY GRANNY SMITH'S) - whole ... skins, stalk and all, four smallish carrots (no leaves), a centimetre or two of ginger - ginger knocks out bacteria in your system, a small portion of beetroot - raw of course. Consider carefully how you feel - Drink a large glass and after 5 minutes you'll feel an amazing energy boost and feeling of well being.

Cheers, Aussiedad ([e-mail])

[Aussiedad]

p.p.s. A Gallium 60a MRI scan is the latest nuclear scan - I've had one - and the Gallium 60a scans pick up cancer in the cells walls down to 2 microns!!! The radiation from these scans only have a half-life of 59 minutes which is great ... that's the time when you have to stay away from people, children and pregnant women especially ... you are 'radioactive for that time and can actually injure people. My hospital has a sign in the loo servicing the radioactive scanner rooms that says 'Flush TWICE if you have had a radioactive scan' ... you don't want people radiated while they are using the loo!

The radioactive injection is prepared for each patient and the timing for injection is critical for maximum effect. You wait about 45 minutes after the injection so that the particles can be spread throughout your body and then you have the scan. The generators for the radioactive Gallium particles currently cost about $64,000 AU ... that's probably why they are hard to find.