The reason I didn't have any bowel-related problem is that I had the rectal spacer gel inserted before my RT started.
Ask the doctor for medication tablets to help with erections and get a pump. Use it or lose it.
In the 3 years since RT I have suffered a number of side-effects. After a year, a bladder tumour, which required an operation (TURBT). 2 years after RT, being totally unable to pee - requiring a TURP procedure and a catheter for 4 weeks. And ongoing poor urine flow caused by the strictures caused by the RT.
Yes
Initially I chose surgery, but eventually chose hormone therapy and RT. It has got rid of the cancer (so far) and I have avoided the incontinence and erectile dysfunction issues that some men get after surgery. Depending on which set of NHS figures you look at, somewhere between 17% and 30% of men who have had surgery have to undergo follow-up radiotherapy if their PSA starts to rise. And then they have to have 35 to 37 sessions of RT, when I only had 20 sessions, and my treatment was complete. Surgery then seems to carry a risk of suffering from its own set of side effects plus - if your PSA rises - the post-RT issues too.
The hormone therapy suppresses the production of testosterone, so while you're having your injections (and for many months after you stop), you'll have to accept a significant reduction in you libido. I did a lot more gardening.
I found the fatigue to be more of an issue that the hot sweats. You could be working at something and within the space of 15 minutes all your energy would disappear and you'd be left feeling like you were jet-lagged. I followed a calorie-controlled diet and put no weight on while I was on hormone therapy, but if you carry on eating the same amount as normal (before the HT made you less energetic), then you'll probably put weight on.
I tried to be positive and remembered that the HT was having an amazing impact on my PSA level and the size of my prostate - making it a much easier target for the RT. I kept my mind occupied by gardening and reviving hobbies such as making wooden model boats, and I tried hard not be a pain to my partner - remembering that they were suffering the anxieties and worries just like me.
The HT basically neuters you while you are on it, and the hot flushes certainly give you a much better appreciation of what menopausal women have to put up with.
Yes
I was lucky and had HT only for the 6 months before my 20 sessions of RT. I looked at the HT issues as something that had to be tolerated - as HT was a means to an end. It was just the enabler for the RT that zapped my cancer.
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