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Kevin's Story

Ethnicity
White British
Age
60-69
Work
Office
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Geography
North West
Relationship status
Married/In a Civil Partnership
Listen

High Dose Rate Brachytherapy

Tips and advice for any bladder or bowel side effects of treatment

Urgency and frequency of urination started around a year after treatment. Worked on strengthening of pelvic floor, used incontinence pads to manage urgency / frequency issues. Got a RADAR key to help with access to toilets for disposal of pads / manage urgency a little better. Used Ibuprofen to potentially reduce inflammation of prostate. A little over 2 years from treatment there was the appearance of blood in urine. Flexible endoscopy indicated no sign of cancer in the bladder. Investigations continue.

Tips and advice for any physical side effects of treatment

Breast tenderness was related to use of hormones for a 6 month period. Once stopped taking these the tenderness subsided. Fatigue was an issue and had to be handled by taking frequent rests - especially during EBT after Brachytherapy.

How this treatment impacted my life the most

Fatigue was the key issue directly after treatment. Brachytherapy was followed by EBT which left me feeling tired. Only way around this was to take rests when exhausted. Longer term effects on urgent and frequency of urination are annoying, but manageable. Planning and using incontinence pads helps to minimise impact. These are small prices to pay when you consider the alternative. I am on a curative pathway and have a low PSA (0.1) 2 years on from treatment.

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose the same treatment?

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

I chose radiotherapy as it seems like a one stop treatment for my cancer. It was unclear whether the cancer had escaped the prostate capsule. On this basis I felt it was better to have radiotherapy to treat the prostate and the surrounding area rather than have a prostatectomy and then potentially require radiotherapy as a second step.

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