Question on brachy.. how you felt?

[groundhogy]

Hi, If you had external and brachytherapy, I’m wondering if you recall how it felt down there afterwards and how long things lasted?

[MJCA]

I had it many years ago. I know I was sore in my thighs and there was some swelling.

[watertender]

I had HDR brachy this June followed by 25 sessions for IGRT. I can tell you after brachy I was totally black and blue in the vicinity for a few weeks and swollen. I found that sitz baths helped immensely until things calmed down. Seems like it took about 3 weeks for the bruising to go away. Had issues with urination symptoms and urgency. After the external mostly what I have noticed is still urination and flow issues constantly going to the loo it seems. I was and am still somewhat fatigued, but that could be because the external radiation really zapped by blood counts, and I think they are still low. I did exercise through all of this and still am although it was difficult, but I think it helped with the fatigue. Are you looking for anything specific?

[Jancapper in reply to watertender]

Hi Watertender, may I ask what your doses were for the HDBT and EBRT? I am scheduled for the same in late November. I will receive the SpaceOAR gel and then 15 Gy in a single HDBT session followed by 45 Gy divided amongst 25 EBRT fractions. Did you receive the same? Seems to me, the total dose is a bit light.

[watertender in reply to Jancapper]

That is the same dosage I received. For the brachy I had 17 trocars to the prostate and proximal seminal vesicles. The external IGRT 25 sessions but they did also include the lymph nodes as well as the prostate. Your bio does not indicate what Gleason score you are at or treatment, are you also taking ADT or just the radiation? I also went to Dr. Chang same as timotur, he is one of the most experienced in HDR brachy. Are you getting fiducial markers placed also?

[Jancapper in reply to watertender]

Hi Watertrend, my apologies. I am GS 9 (4+5) with three of 12 cores positive. The Gl 5 is <5% but they still place you in category 5, no matter how low the percentage. They will also irradiate my pelvic bed as a precautionary, although all my scans are negative for gross metastatic lesions. Two years of ADT (currently on Leupron/Casodex). It has now been about 7 weeks of ADT with no side effects. I too will have the Au fiducial markers at the same time as the SpaceOAR gel, all done on the same day as my HDBT. My RO is Dr. Logsdon at Sutter Health in Sacramento.

[watertender in reply to Jancapper]

Thanks for the info. Looks like we are similar I am Gleason 9 also (4+5) in 3 cores, Grade group 5 and 5 other cores in varied Gleason stages-jackpot! Sounds like you are on the right path, hopefully you will have little to no side effects from the ADT as you continue on the journey. I initially thought the rad dosage was low also but after reading more that seems to be the norm. I think the worst was the external radiation and having to have a full bladder for the treatments. The external radiation dropped my white blood cell count down quite low but that is common. I was super nervous about the brachy procedure but since they knock you out it was over and done with before I knew it. Hoping for the best for your treatment, be sure to consider sitz baths if you have a lot of swelling and bruising, I was skeptical, but they really did help.

[timotur]

I had Brachy with SpaceOar June 2019 with Dr Chang/UCLA. Had minor soreness and oozing for a day or two, not bad at all. Could feel SpaceOar was there for a few months, but wasn’t bothersome. No side effects since then at all. Would do it again, it’s a great tx option for localized advanced PCa.

[dac500]

I had seed implant in 2011. I peed razor blades several times. After that everything became as normal it can get. That was a surprise to me because I was expecting worst things. Post brachytherapy experience can be widely different for different men.

[cesces]

Its a big thing.

Get it done in a hospital with anesthesia.

It will take a few days

[syrup1970]

I had HDR Brachytherapy at UCSF in February 2013. I felt exhausted for a couple of days after but there were no other physical symptoms.

In the Spring of 2016 it was deemed to have failed and I subsequently had a salvage cryoablation at Houston Methodist Hospital that September and have been good ever since. I see the Columbia U-trained urologist twice a year for PSAs and follow-ups.