Prostate cancer zapped & unwrapped
The radiotherapy bit...
Before we dive deep into the radiotherapy episode, let me say thank you for coming along in my journey so far and saving me a small kings ransom on therapist bills! On a more serious note, it is important for us all to make sure that we keep these health subjects in the mainstream…if it was not for a fellow middle aged white man sharing his prostate cancer journey with me (The PSA will be fine, I am only 46), I would probably be writing a very different story right now. Or not at all!
So before any further reading, will you be the one that shares my story and quite literally save a life!
Now to the good stuff…Radiotherapy⚡️
I mentioned in my previous post that I had made a visit to Gloucester hospital for my pre-radiotherapy scan. This was to make sure that the Hereford radiotherapy team knew where to point the zapping machine. As with most people, we have all heard of radiotherapy, but do we really know what it does? I as buggery hadn’t a clue, even though I had just signed up for 32 rounds of it. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time when it was offered to me as part of the next round of treatment, and it would have been rude to turn it down. Right?
For interest this is what Cancer.Org said when asked how does radiotherapy work:
Radiation therapy uses high-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, or protons, to destroy or damage cancer cells.
Anyway, with my pre-scan done, I was due to start the first of my 32 rounds of low dose radiotherapy at my local County Hospital. The first appointment was about a week prior to Christmas (ho bloody ho) and to say that I was apprehensive was an understatement. I really did not know what to expect, I knew people went for radiotherapy, but no one really spoke publicly in my arena about what happened behind those closed doors. Here it goes, first appointment looming.
I opted for the last appointment of the day so that I could continue to work the day job, so with my last email for the day sent, I headed on over to the radiotherapy unit. I knew that they had asked for me to have a full bladder for each radiotherapy session and as an obiedient patient, I was drinking water on my walk to the radiotherapy unit. (Just remember, I have had a prostatectomy and my bladder can only hold so much liquid at any one time and for only so long!).
Unlike the Urology department, the Charles Renton Unit (this is the name of the cancer outpatients department) was sign posted everywhere and I had also sort of done my homework prior to arriving at the hospital. I went straight past the receptionist with a confident smile of ‘I know exactly where I am going today thank you’ and I followed the corridors around the ground floor (thankfully, far from the mortuary this time) and into the reception of the unit. Thats when it hit me…
My Brain: “Fuck, they really do still think the cancer is inside of me! I am here because there are still some cells that have strayed from my prostate and are eating me from the inside. Why do they always put fucking pamphlets out in these places!”
Receptionist: “Hi, name please?”
Me: “Mark, 5:05 appointment”
Receptionist: “Great, just behind you in the radiotherapy waiting room”
Me: “Thank you”
So off I go around the corner and join a couple of other people sitting in the waiting area, all looking at these oak doors with the sign ‘Radiotherapy’ above it.
My Brain: “Bollocks, I am really going in there. I am not sure if I can do this? My bladder is starting to hurt, hope that they are on time.”
Nobody says anything in the waiting room, it is just a gentle smile shared with one another. We all know why we were there. These people waiting look comfortable, they can’t be virgin radiotherapy patients like me! The TV on the wall was not switched on, it just did not feel great to be there.
A radiotherapist pops out of the doors with a beaming smile all dressed in her burgundy scrubs and shouts out for her next patient. Off they disappear behind the oak doors. At this point I was really anxious about what was happening behind there, I am sure it was not as interesting as I was imagining.
My Brain: “There must be a massive machine in there, with a laser beam at the end pointing at my groin area. After they put you in there, all the radiotherapists run away and then stare at you through a window whilst wearing old fashioned googles to protect their eyes as the beam of a red light does it stuff! That’s exactly what is happening!”
Someone comes out through the doors and is joined by the one other person sitting in the waiting room. I must be next then, I hope the previous person doesn’t take too long, I am bursting here!
About 15 minutes later the same radiotherapist came bounding out of the doors and shouts my name:
Radiotherapist: “Mr Stevenson”
My Brain: “Here we go…big machine, red lights and a big ray machine aimed at my groin. I wander if I have to take my boxers off for this? Fuck, hope they are clean and hole free!”
Me: “Hi there, that will be me then”
I follow the radiotherapist and enter through the doors and got quickly passed by the patient that went in prior to me heading out of the department.
Radiotherapist: “Follow me and we will get you onto the machine.”
My Brain: “Here we go, oh shit oh shit oh shit. No turning back now, this has got to happen. Deep breath, lets ray beam the shit out of these cancer cells”
As I follow the radiotherapist into the room I am aware of the machine and in fairness it was slightly disappointing. A slim bed with a pillow on it, and then effectively a big semi circular machine. I am going to smash this, lie, close eyes and think of Britain for a few moments, how hard can this be?
I say hello to the second radiotherapist and so off comes the jeans. Socks and boxers can stay on, (phew - clean, newish boxers are revealed!) and on I jump onto the bed. The radiotherapists then lift the bed up to just above their waist height, strap me down, adjust my hips so that my tattoos that had been applied in the pre-scan session align with their machine and then off they run for a quick ‘check of my insides’ scan.
My Brain: “I need a pee, I reallllllly need to pee now!”
Radiotherapist (over the speakers): “We are just running a quick scan to check that all is in place internally, won't be a moment!”
My Brain: “Hold the pee, hold the pee, don’t think about pee’ing. Is that a picture of the sky in the ceiling tiles? Count to ten and hold the pee!”
Radiotherapist (over the speakers): “We are all good to go for the first session. Hold still”
My Brain: “I ain’t moving nowhere, any small movement will result in an extraction of my bladder without regret!”
The semi circular machine started to rotate around my body with a sort of smooth humming sound, it was kind of relaxing to be fair. It stopped, then went back the other way. I would say that it took about 4 minutes in totality and it was over. No sensations to my mid area experienced, just a full bladder that needed to be emptied and emptied NOW!
The radiotherapists came in and put the bed down and I hopped, skipped and jumped to the nearest toilet. That pee was the second best pee that I had ever had in my life…it was magical!
Radiotherapist: “See you tomorrow Mr Stevenson”
Me: “Thank you…bye”
This then went on repeat for another 31 sessions and over time the radiotherapy team started to call me Mark and me managing the contents of my bladder became easier (in fairness, whenever they were running late for my appointment I used to go for a cheeky pee and then find out who was in front me and started drinking again when they got called in…you can have that tip for free😉). The radiotherapy team could see me in the bed in the machine through a camera that displayed on a monitor in their control room and they started to know the signs of me needing to pee…
Radiotherapist (over the speakers): “Try not to jiggle Mark, it is nearly over and we will be in there to let you off the bed” (They could see my feet bouncing around on the end of my legs to just try and distract myself from the over inflated bladder situation).
There was also more than one occasion that only one radiotherapist would come in to the main room and let down the bed (and it was the slowest bed lowering machine ever!) to free me and the other radiotherapist would be holding the toilet door open for me as I run past them in my boxers and socks…it was a great sight to behold I am sure. I loved them for that level of care for me!
I also apologise for breaking health & safety rules by jumping off the bed prior to hitting the appropriate level safe for the patient to dismount and subsequently getting told off by the radiotherapy team. Needs must and all that!
The side effects of radiotherapy for me were minimal I am glad to report. There was some rash that appeared above my pubic bone area, I had to keep going with the squeezes for the bladder a little more than previously and with some slight tiredness (probably due to the fact that I was still working full time and visiting a hospital every weekday) it was OK. It soon subsided.
I would like to leave this post open for questions. Please dive in to the comment section below and ask away, ask anything and I will answer each one truthfully and as concisely as possible. Just remember, I am not medically trained, this is my experience as a patient of the care and treatment that I received during radiotherapy. So go for it…no question is a stupid question!
So what happens next on my journey, head on over to my next post…
If you need more support then there are some great charities ready to help:
United Kingdom: https://prostatecanceruk.org
United States: https://www.pcf.org