If you are suffering from erectile dysfunction caused by your treatment, then the best advice is to speak to your GP. In my case my doctor was extremely knowledgable and understood the side effects of prostate cancer therapies. He prescribed Sildenafin (Viagra) which had a positive effect and allowed me to have intercourse. Sadly, it is by no means the same experience, but better than nothing.
If you suffer from breast swelling or tenderness then I would recommend speaking to your oncologist and asking for a different hormone therapy. I changed from Bicalutamide tablets to a Decapeptyl injection every six months and the swelling and tenderness subsided almost immediately. As for body hair loss - it's a price worth paying!
Radiotherapy isn't at all painful, however sometimes the preparation for the sessions (for example, using an enema) can be a little unpleasant. The staff were excellent though, and made me feel at ease throughout the process. Undoubtedly, the radiation has an effect on the bowels and I was often very 'loose' for some months after completing the 20 sessions, but after 4 months I was almost back to normal.
Yes
I didn't really have a choice: the cancer had spread to just outside the capsule so the treatment recommended by both the surgeon and oncologist was for radiotherapy and hormone treatment, rather than radical surgery to remove the prostate. I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in the Pivotal Boost programme and in my 'arm' of the programme I had radiotherapy to my prostate and to the adjacent lymph nodes. Overall, I'm exceptionally pleased with my treatment: it's now 12 months since the radiotherapy finished and I will be on hormone therapy for another two years, but I seem to have no discernible cancer traces in my PSA tests. So far, so good!
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