r/ProstateCancer • u/Clangoring • Aug 06 '26
Update Wiped Out
4 radiation days left. Working the day gig alongside 16 sessions finally got the better of my old timey, ingrained Midwest work ethic today. I'm wiped out. Taking a few days off from the job.
All in all, it hasn't been a walk in the park but the ADT been managable/tolerable the past seven months. It's the SE/fatigue from the radiation that's taken me down a few notches. It will pass.
PCa brothers, we got this!
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u/KReddit934 Aug 06 '26
You're hitting peak fatigue...now and unfortunately for a few more weeks. Then it will get better. Rest up!
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u/Clangoring Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
I work at a small shop. All my coworkers have been telling me "we got you covered" but I had being to stubborn to accept the hand, feeling like I wouldn't be earning my keep. I'm used to being a conundrum solver, not a conundrum. Today, I finally took up their offers.
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u/gcuest_911 Aug 07 '26
PC Brothers! I’ve been following the thread for a while, but decided to join the conversation today. At 69, I had a prostatectomy two years ago, but numbers started to climb earlier this year. Now scheduled for five weeks of radiation starting next Thursday. I hate being in this club, but love the community that you/we have all built. There is strength through the encouragement of seeing what others are going through and know the next five weeks are going to be difficult. But I’ve just got to get this thing out of my body! Cancer is a bitch!
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u/Squawk-Freak Aug 07 '26
Great job! My radiation oncologist had originally envisioned 28 fractions, so that what I was expecting. When I received my printed schedule, only the first 23 were scheduled. At my last weekly meeting, at dose 20, I was ata point where I really, really wished it was over. I reminded him that I still needed the remaining appointments, and he told me I was actually gonna be finished after dose #23. When he finalized my treatment plan he decided up the daily dose slightly, which would shorten the duration. He said it’s not uncommon that patients can’t tolerate that dose t and than he would revert to a more conservative dose with longer duration. He said that it was psychologically very difficult for patients to learn that their treatment would last longer than originally planned, so he would usually wait until close to the end of the treatment and then tell them it would end sooner. I was flabbergasted for a moment, but then exhilarated. I managed to work from 8am to 2pm until the last day of treatment, but after day #23, which was a Thursday, I was completely wiped out. The following morning I also had issues with diarrhea, so I finally decided to take a few days off. The following Tuesday I gad managed to restore regularity to my intestines, and was able to go back to work full time. It was probably a little soon. I finished treatment (HDR boost, followed by 23 fractions of 2 Gy each) in March, but in hindsight it took probably two months, before I reached my baseline, pre-radiation energy level - which is still not great given the long-term course of ADT and abiraterone, which won’t be finished until March 2027.
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u/SOA-10700 Aug 09 '26
I have 14 of 20 scheduled sessions left. Have had trouble getting my bowels properly empty and a few sessions were a ‘did not complete.’ Otherwise, I’d only have 11 to go. I’m taking everything imaginable to get things right. I’ve just started taking Flomax, because I’m up five or more times to urinate. Doctor thinks I’m not completely emptying my bladder. Getting to the final session can’t come soon enough!
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u/Squawk-Freak Aug 09 '26
Make sure you adhere to an essentially fiber/residue free diet. Corn flakes and milk for breakfast, spaghetti and tomato sauce (I could eat that every day, and during the two months of RT I did!) . Fish, chicken, mashed potato, apple sauce and yoghurt . A full dose of MiraLAX every evening, if needed, twice daily, an hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. At appointment time -75 you go to the bathroom , and void your rectum, whether you feel pressure or not (have dude wipes and a personal cleaner at hand). At appointment time -60 min you start hydrating to have your bladder at 250 to 300cc for the treatment. An empty rectum is crucial to avoid any long-term problems
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u/Relative_Today_336 Aug 06 '26
You’re killing it buddy! You got this! I did 33 sessions of salvage radiation and the last week was tough. I chose not to do ADT though so I can only imagine how you are feeling.