Wednesday, November 4, 2009

How much pain is there with Radation Treatments for Prostate Cancer

How much pain is there with Radation Treatments for Prostate Cancer?
How sick will this make you and how much pain will there be? What are the chances of the cancer comming back after radation treatment? I have a friend getting ready to under go 9 weeks of treatment.
Cancer - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I am undergoing radiation for breast cancer at this time. Pretty easy. No pain. Doctor says it may make me tired as we progress through the treatments. The people I talk to that have gone or are going through this say the same. As for chance of reoccurence, your friend needs to discuss that with his doctor. Every person's cancer is different. Too many factors are involved to make a comment on what the chances are that it will come back or not.
2 :
I don't know my husband is on zoladex for it, post here someone will beable to help you http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/forums/default.asp
3 :
The worst pain I experienced from radiation therapy was from having to lie in the same position for an hour during treatments. They made me as comfortable as possible, so it was hardly a problem. At the end of treatment, there was some "sun burn" of the skin, and it was unpleasant, but not a big deal either. Radiation didn't make me sick at all. Just a little tired, as others have said. Lazla .
4 :
Well since your friend is undergoing about 8 to 9 weeks of treatment I am making a few assumptions. I would assume that they are treating him using IMRT. IMRT is a specialized form of radiation that allows the physicians to "paint" the radiation in various intensities within the body. The physician is able to distribute a large amount, or a high dose to the tumor itself, and is then able to limit, or reduce the amount of radiation to normal organs and tissues with in the body. The treatments themselves should only take about 15 minutes. This is more for the set up and position. The radiation is only one for about 30 seconds at a time. The most uncomfortable thing is going to be trying to hold still on a hard table during that amount of time. Other then that, the treatments themselves do not hurt. Your friend will not see or feel anything, just hear the buzzing of the machine. After about 4 weeks, your friend may begin to experience some fatigue or tiredness. A nap will usually help alleviate that symptom. He may also experience a slight redness on his skin. If he begins to use lotion in those areas from day one, this will also limit that redness and keep the skin moist. The only other thing that your friend may experience is some potential irritation when he needs to urinate. This is not experienced by all patients, but some do experience the symptom, but it usually subsides after 2 weeks from the end of treatment. One last thing, if your friend is treated prone, or lying on his stomach, some places use a rectal balloon. This may get to be a bit irritating after 4 weeks into the treatments. Its more of a nuisance then anything. It is used by some physicians to get the rectum out of the treatment field. This way they can increase the dose to the tumor and limit the amount that the rectum receives. If you have any further questions, you can email cancergeek@gmail.com.
5 :
I had seed implants 1/26/05 and had virtually no pain from it. I had a catheter in overnite that was uncomfortable but not as bad as I had expected. Started 6 weeks of external radiation 3 weeks later on 2/16/05 and had absolutely no pain from the radiation. The total external radiation experience at RCOG was truly a "radiation vacation" due to the support groups, educational seminars, fellowship, and social activities provided by RCOG.




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