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Stephen,
Any type of radiation takes a while. You really have to wait for about 10 years before you know how much the side effects will have bothered you. I am over a year since I had extenal beam radiation and so far I've had no problem whatsoever but then I was not expecting anything until about 2 years from now.
hi
are you sure we are talking TEN years?.. according to all the info i have .. the brachytherapy seeds are the most active in the first 60 days (half life)..and should be totally used up within TWO years.. i think you may be giving out mis information to the uninformed
By delayed surprises I meant one may develop urinery and other problems after six months or more. There is always the risk of cancer coming back in any treatment. Different types of seeds have different half lives. I will get Iodine 125 which has the longest half life.
Stephen,
It seems like you are doing well and hopefully won't experience any future problems. If you do start to have problems in the future then maybe read up on radiation treatment toxicity.
hi
well i am now into week 3 after brachytherapy.. still no problems ....except one minor irritant....having to go to the bathroom at night several times .. but this also happened before the procedure so no great stress!!
I am going to have my seed implant on June 20. It is good to hear a positive outcome story. This gives me more confidence as I approach my treatment. However, radiation treatment often comes with delayed surprises.
I would expect some side effects in the first few weeks.They should peak in two to three weeks and last for 4 to 8 weeks. I would not go back to alcohol or caffine. I made that mistake at week 5 and paid for it in spades for a few days.
ok so i had brachytherapy approx 8 weeks ago, followed up by an MRI and Cat scan.apparently i do not have a PSA test until the end of Dec and a follow up consult with my oncologist. Is it usual to wait that long for a PSA ? Also i have no idea what the MRI showed... i am still in excellent shape with no side effects.. any comments are appreciated
I must say I was somewhat surprised to see you posting again in this Forum given the very critical remarks you made in your post of July 8 stating that you had been given misleading information previously.
I can only repeat what you have been told previously - that the outcome of any kind of radiation therapy, be it external beam or brachytherapy, takes time.
The normal expectation is that PSA will only reach a nadir (the lowest level) in about two years after the completion of the therapy. Some men achieve nadir earlier than that but in one case that comes to mind, the man was still reporting a PSA moving downward nearly four years after his therapy.
On the way down to the nadir, the PSA might rise - this often occurs between fifteen and eighteen months after the therapy is completed and is often referred to as a "PSA bump". In most cases after reaching a plateau, the PSA will resume it's downard path after the bump: in other cases it will not - and that is usually taken as evidence of failure of the therapy.
In the immediate period after therapy the PSA levels may rise because of the inflammation of the gland which is usually associated with radiation therapy. That is the most likely reason for your medical advisors suggesting a PSA test in December rather than any earlier.
Please note that I use terms like 'may', 'might' and 'usually' because there are no firm rules in prostate cancer. Individual reactions to indivdual therapies are wide and varied. When you ask for information on sites like this you get what we have individually learned - you do not get certainty, because there is none.
Good luck for a low PSA in December - and a continuing downard path to a good nadir.
I had brachytherapy on June 20. The catheter was removed before I came out of anesthesia. So far I have practically no side effect except for blood in urine for about seven days and occasional pains and discomforts.
Radiation takes time to take effect. There may be wide variation of side efects from person to person. Also you cannot be absolutely sure what may be coming down the line. So take it one day at a time and hope for the best.
