SpaceOAR placement day after

[LiveLongAndPropser]

For anyone considering SpaceOAR rectal spacer, here's my experience one day after the procedure.

While I see some have had this done under anesthesia, I did not. It was not presented as an option for me, and after going through it, I don't know that it would be necessary unless you have a very low tolerance for pain. I don't handle anesthesia well, so while I was anxious going into the procedure, it was not as bad as my brain was telling me it would be. I would say the biopsy was slightly less comfortable.

I was given antibiotics to begin the day before through the day after the procedure, Valium for the day of the procedure to help calm my nerves (would have been nice for the biopsy), and a lidocaine patch to put in place an hour before the procedure.

Upon entering the procedure room, I undressed from waist down, got onto an exam table and then had my legs propped up in stirrups, much like women have to frequently do for their gyno exams. My balls were then taped up to be out of the way and the lidocaine patch removed. Then the procedure began.

While the lidocaine patch was supposed to numb the injection sites for the local anesthetic, it didn't do so well for me. I tolerated it, but there are a lot of nerves down there, and the pokes and the sting from the anesthetic being injected were not pleasant for me. Fortunately, the four shots were done quickly and it subsided immediately. Then came the rectal ultrasound probe. I would assume you all are familiar with this part by now. The final part was the injection of the hydrogel. I did not feel this injection at all, despite the use of an 18 gauge (approx 1mm diameter) needle (I actually thought it would be larger). Just before starting the injection, my physician said I would feel pressure like I would need to have an immediate bowel movement, but to know that was normal sensation to expect. His description was spot on. It was definitely uncomfortable, but not painful like the injections. I found the immediacy feeling subsided within a few minutes, but I still felt full. I was then tidied, released of the"hammock". No bandage or anything to manage after either, which surprised me, as I thought of it as a rather vascular area. You will have spotting in your undergarments at the end of the day, but it was quite minimal. I was then sent on my way home via my ride (due to the Valium). It all went by quite quickly, 15 minutes I would estimate.

Throughout the day, I was well aware I'd had the procedure, but it made itself known mostly during sitting, similar to the biopsy, but not as noticable while standing. I would equate it as the feeling of putting pressure on a bruised area, as essentially that is what it is. By the end of the day (I had the procedure early in the morning), I did not feel the pressure associated with the hydrogel, and had no issues through the night.

Today, I took the dog for a walk, no issues. I'm still aware of the bruised feeling while sitting, but it's much less already. Overall, it's definitely the anxiety of the upcoming procedure that was the worst part.

Hope this helps give some ideas to others preparing for this. I know everyone's mileage varies, but mine was not too bad.

[Capricornsurfer]

Thanks for sharing your experience- this will help someone in future feel better and more confident with their experience.

[BL2023]

Thanks for this description. I’m scheduled for Aug 24 for the space oar at Ucla, followed by Sbrt. Keep us up to date and best of luck.

[Mike968]

Can I ask what led you to choose radiation over radical prostatectomy? I’m still undecided as there’s no right or wrong answer.

[LiveLongAndPropser in reply to Mike968]

For me, it was quality of life after treatment. Being in my early 50s, I wanted as little impact to my overall sexual and mental wellbeing as possible, while still treating the cancer. I would definitely consult all options before making a decision for yourself. Talk to everyone you can - a surg onc doc is going to say surgery is best and a rad onc is going to say radiotherapy is best and a med onc can also give you some perspective on both. After reading the New England Journal of Medicine study reviewing outcomes 15 year post-treatment for surgery vs radiotherapy and seeing a pretty close comparison, talking to two friends who have both had surgery, reading experiences of many of our fellow forum members, using my Decipher genomic result, SBRT was the path I chose. So far, almost 5 months post-treatment, my quality of life is not greatly impacted. There is much benefit to researching options, and I highly encourage weighing what is most important to you that will also make you feel good about your decision.

[Androgel123]

I checked out your gel spacer and it didn’t sound so bad at all. I’m going to do it and do RT without harmones if they’ll let me. Thank you so much! 😃