Post Prostate Procedure Update
I wanted to give a brief update on my treatment and recovery in dealing with my prostate cancer. Possibly, if anyone finds they have prostate cancer and has the Brachytherapy (Radiation Seed Implant) as an option this can serve as a example to my experience in treating the cancer and hopefully may answer a few questions.
If anyone reading this knows of someone with prostate cancer, and most certainly you will sometime, let this be a guide. But the only way to have my treatment method, Brachytherapy and radiation seed implants, is to get the cancer detected early. To have this option the cancer must still be relatively small and localized; no spreading. Otherwise more invasive treatments must be used, up to and including removal.
My first week has been pretty easy. The short story here is I went back to work the Friday after my procedure; back to work in 3-4 days. Anyone reading this that has this option, I highly recommend you take it. Now 2 weeks since the procedure I feel normal. I feel great; just like how I felt when I walked in the hospital. Infact, I felt that way a week ago.
The day of my procedure was a breeze. They gave me an IV early. I danced in my surgical gown after a bathroom adventure. Two hours later they wheeled me to the operating room. I switched beds by own accord. A nurse with pretty white teeth said, ‘I am now going to drop something in your IV that will make me sleep’ and the next thing I know I am waking up in the recovery room, mentally searching my body to see what hurts. Nothing hurt. It was that easy. I entered the hospital at 5.30am and was discharged by 2.00pm. … for a cancer treatment.
I went back to my Oncologist the next morning at 8.30am and his nurse took out the catheter. This went waaaayyyyy easier than I thought it would be; out in a second. It felt like I was peeing really hard; that’s what the catheter felt like being removed.
Sure there are some anxious moments, mainly stemming from things I didn’t understand; mainly that morning in the hospital, living with a catheter in and especially the catheter removal. I didn’t get much sleep the night with the catheter in. And Pee’ing has been the biggest concern. It really took me half the morning the day of my procedure to pee at all on my own and then I could not get a stream until about 3pm that day.
My butt was sore initially but not where I thought it would be. While I thought the area of injections would be in the land down under, where my legs come together, the actual busy area was BEHIND that area, not so much in the middle, but literally in the REAR.
Note: Urinary tract through one’s prostate and the shortest distance to insert radioactive needles is via the rectum
I came home with a maxi pad type cushion in my catheter underwear for my butt and there were a few blood dots on it from the needles. The inner portions of my cheeks were swollen for about a week. It seems most of the needles entered my prostate via my lower rectum. That area is still a bit sore. And why wouldn’t it be sore? I figure 30+ needles went in through there.
I have what looks like a months’ worth of infection medicine. Thankfully, I do not have any infections though. I do have some meds for pain, percocets.
Now I had not taken the pain meds because I didn’t feel like I needed them after the catheter was removed. I felt fine! However I read online a few days following my release that the pain meds were for the swelling. I didn’t know! It’s a good thing I looked up ‘recovery’ on a web search.
My stomach felt ‘full‘ the first few days although I could eat. And I think that had to do with overall swelling inside my stomach. They said my prostate should have really swollen up. I thought to get 95 seeds in my tiny, poor ol’ prostate it would have had to be enlarged!
And I don’t feel the seeds or radiation one bit. None! I would never know they were there. Although I swear I can smell the radiation. My wife says that’s not likely. I have had that same ‘hospital smell’ around me for almost 10 days.
I have many of the usual ‘side effects’ that pertains to this procedure and my urine. My urine stream has been impaired. Impaired? My 3 year old has more fluid volume than I do.
The gentle flow usually means smaller urination, creating more frequency, given a normal diet.
I get the urges to go real bad but when I make it to the bathroom I barely get a stream. This is normal I hear. Guess the prostate is still rather enlarged. Size does matter! I worry what’s wrong while I wait to finish but when I am done it feels good. It’s hard to explain.
The day following the procedure it was real important that I go to make sure my urinary tract was not injured during the procedure. Well, I went, eventually, just 15 minutes before my deadline, but only enough to fill a shot glass.
I was told to take a warm bath for the swelling that may have occurred from my catheter placement but that “if I couldn’t get a stream going by 3:00pm to come back in.
Uh-oh!
So I drank some more and waited and waited.
I finally found the old, ‘hands up against the wall’ pose as the most comfortable as I waited for some action down there.
But, now, I go to the bathroom more often than I used to. My streams are weak or smallish. And I frequently have the sensation of wondering whether I am actually finished or still more to come, forcing me to adopt a new pee’ing position
An extreme example of this came last Sunday as I counted 6 times that I got up to go to the bathroom between 10:30pm and 12:30am. That’s one every 20 minutes. I ended up getting up over 10 times that very sleepless night.
But all these issues are listed side effects. I see it as all fixing itself in time.
And while one side effect maybe blood in the urine, I have none of that. However, the 2nd or third day, while I was in the shower, I was cleaning up and noticed my penis was mostly purple, along with a great portion of my scrotum. Yes black and blue.
Ahhhh!
Yea, kinda like that….
Frankly, you really hate to see black and blue or ‘injury’ in your sensitive areas and this was no exception. Thoughts of ‘withering and falling off’ run through your mind.
It was Plum scarey!
This was really unsettling at the time but I figured it was from all the trauma it must have went through with the catheter initially. And the discoloration is starting to fade now. Thankfully, nothing has fallen off!
In fact, here now at 14 days since my procedure, my doctor told me I am supposed to exercise that wiener!
He told me that intercourse would be good ‘therapy’ for the healing and rejuvenation of my prostate. The catch is that I need to wear a condom in case one of my glowing seeds passes through my prostate.
Now how many surgeries can you think of that tell you to go have sex as a way to heal? So, in a way, we actually will be playing doctor this week!
Another side effect might be my energy being sapped. I fag-out around 3pm-4pm the majority of the days since the procedure. At first I thought it was from the pain killers. But then I stopped taking them during the day. But I still feel nappy.
I left work 30- 60 minutes early each day of my return. Possibly it is the radiation inside me making me tired or my body dealing with some changes
I tried to ride my bike this past weekend but that didn’t seem like a good idea. Yes, my rear is still a bit sore inside.
In looking back, over the whole treatment for my prostate cancer, the hardest part of this whole procedure was done at the testing, the biopsy. And that wasn’t so bad. Again, not too bad for having a cancer.
Of course I am gun-hoe now since it is over but I have to remind myself I still have the cancer and it won’t be for another 2 months or so until I know if this procedure actually got rid of my cancer. So I tell myself it’s not over yet. But so far no complications.
You know if I am running down the aisles of a grocery store, pushing two girls in a grocery cart, I can’t be feeling too bad. In fact…
I feel too good!
I feel pre-procedure, when I didn’t feel sick at all. I feel unleashed, like a new lease on life. I feel like I don’t have a small box of radiated BB’s in my belly.
I wish I would! Then I would remember to not pick up my two girls and carrying on with them. It’s hard to remember about the radiation without a good mild reminder.
So, in summary, the procedure went well. Recovery is fairly easy and pretty quick. And ‘best practices’ for healing and recovery include having sex and sleeping. Maybe I can just drag this recovery out a little bit longer then!
Thanks again to all of you that sent the prayers, well-wishes and healing thoughts. it really meant a lot! Words can’t express my gratitiude but….
YOU rock!
OUR LIFE IN 3D 
Thanks so much Cassye! I was kinda afraid they would yank my WordPress card with some lighthearted symbolism. I wasn’t trying for sympathy or anything, just enlightening in an easy to read way. It was a classic ‘gasp’ when I noticed these things though. Now for one more laugh before you go….did you notice in the picture….yes, they were JUMBO franks. I couldn’t use just any .gif or some teeny weenies. 🙂 you know how guys are.. Thanks for the well wishes Cassye, or can we call you Elle now? I wish you similar succcess and prosperity. As always, its great to hear from you..
Andy, I literally laughed out loud at the hot dogs in the pan..and then the plums. Classic, just CLASSIC! So SO happy to hear the recovery is going well and to have the details about the procedure you had. Rest assured I’ll be keeping it my back pocket for future reference. In the meantime my thoughts are with you and your family for continued good healing and prosperity in general ♥
Ms. Cyndi, it is easy to be happy when all things go as good or better than planned. I can’t be upbeat and funny if I am not in a good mood. And the ease of this whole thing has me there. And the ease of this is one reason I want to tell the story, it can be easy and not worth so much fuss. The other reason is to tell people to get checked early so if and when it can be easy for them too. Thanks for looking in Cyndy! Always great to hear from you. I hope your CA trip has been going nicely.
Thank you so much. Yes, we are dead-on in the cone of uncertainty. She’s stalling right now, so will probably amount to little more than a good soaking. Getting some fab cloud formations in advance of her approach. Pretty breezy today, too! Love it…
and good luck this weekend my friend. Is the storm close to you? I will be thinking about you and your family..
I am so glad to hear you are continuing to do well!! And I think it is a wonderful thing that you have chosen to be transparent and open with the details. It gives others “permission” to tell their story like it is as well. Very inspiring!! Of course, there probably is no other who can tell this kind of story with such humor. You win the prize for that!! 😉
Thanks SSM and you are right, my wife deserves a post all to herself here. She was super and I felt a whole new bond with her during that very stressful week; a whole new sense of appreciation. I don’t know how you would handle this if it was your hubby but she took the stance of not letting me feel sorry for myself, of downplaying everything. But she did more research than me and probably understood the whole procedure better. She did confide a few times early on that she was scared too. But she never showed it. Never talked about it unless I did. Like it wasn’t a big deal. But she likes to keep her distance from my blog. She told me she doesn’t want to be in it. She doesn’t read it although it was her idea that I start the blog way back when. She thinks I share way too much personal info as it is. But she is a trooper and her calmness allowed me to cope..made me cope easier.
yes it is cozy down there isn’t it? The human body to me is such a miracle of life I can’t understand. Like what programs are in my girls that allow them to develop into adults. One of God’s very special miracles! I may be like you…I get light headed and pass out if I see blood. That is why it is SUCH a relief to have this behind me and it was so much easier than my mind made it out to be. So much! I hope the detail wasn’t too much for you. I tried to be detailed, illustrative and paint a picture of the procedure in case other readers may have this option… but not too literally. After all I have many family grandma’s reading this blog too.
Yes, thanks be to the ever-evolving modern science, technology and medicine. My wish is that someday every cancer can be this casual. Thanks for dropping by Ms. RollTide! As always, good to hear from you and your perspective…
I just adore your ability to humorize what many would find grievous. If we can’t laugh at our vulnerabilities, we’re doomed.
You MUST give Mrs. 3D a full post’s worth of kudos sometime soon for her steadfast support, love and devotion…and courage. I can’t imagine if my husband was going through this. In fact, I nominate her for a guest post – I could use a dose of her perspective and an ounce of her wisdom as she travels this road through your condition. I am certain I could apply her take on things to the children on my unit and those who work with them.
Oh, and…ewww…but cool -appreciate the detail. Even helped me understand why they had to do a split-second “slash-n-gash” on me in strange places when my ectopic had ruptured a couple years ago and I mistook it for constipation. I didn’t realize things were so cozy down there. Gack. Thank God we’re alive, though, eh? How many of our 9 lives have we lived?!
Glad you’re humming along as normal. Miracles never cease with modern science & tech. Er, hang…in there….
Yes, that is exactly what it was, blood under the skin making it way to the surface, I guess from the trauma of forcing a tube up my penis. Sure glad I was asleep for that one! But it was marbled like the color in those hot dogs. Ick! Glad you are feeling / doing better! I like your idea about the stones, kinda like a kryptonite he places in people. Good idea! All the best Aurora! See you in the next chapter…
Mystery is part of the charm, hehe.
Im very stable right now, no worries, thanks.
Maybe the purple was internal blood, not to scared you but something like that happened to me once, the blood goes to your skin and it makes it look purplish, not dangerous, its just while you scar, I guess the doctor may give you a better explanation.
Theres some crazy dude at a nuthouse, Ive been thinking for a long while what he could scream about, in fact hats the reason I havent wrote that, maybe would be a good idea to make him wear diapers and scream about aliens placing radiation stones inside him… he dies though, and he fights the main character, so hes not gonna do well.
Im not doing drawing right now, but later I will.
My banner fell off somewhere a few weeks ago. I didn’t know what happened to it. AuAu you are a mystery person, so much we don’t know about you..like you being sick like this. So sorry to hear that and I hope you are well right now. That bathroom exhibit I used was real extreme, its never been that bad before. I think it had something to do with drinking a big Diet Coke with dinner. I am super proud of how this whole thing went. It was easy. Like going to the dentist. Thanks for all your kind words. Maybe you could draw me in a big pair of diapers? And end up as an ugly villan in your stories. 😉 Take care my friend! Thanks for dropping by…
OMG bruised balls sounds so much worse! Yes mine I think were just traumatized. And why not? I wanted t write this as ouor minds build up so much drama concerning things. I hadn’t a care all summer about this but 10 days out I started to get scared all over again. My point was it really wasn’t that bad at all. I laugh as I feel it was easy. Lucky me I suppose. I hope it does make it to some prostate surgery circles or at least the one that ask you to get checked early. Getting checked early to find it early is the underlying point here I guess. And I feel blessed to find it so early. ~I hope you are doing great Luanne! Thanks for dropping by!
I’ve been tweeted? I feel almost famous! :p
I will right now.I thought you were alright?
It has been a fun month! I am feeling ok, it’s good that we are getting a warm front (80 degrees tomorrow) because as soon as it gets chilly my joints no like. Did you check out my eulogy I wrote? 🙂
Thank you so much Ms. Country Music! I really appreciate it! 🙂
Ah, I wanted to share as this has been sooooo easy! You know how our mind can create drama on how the worse things like this can be? And mine was no different. I was scared in my private times leading up to this. And that’s why I can sing and dance about it today…it was nothing compared to hospitals and incisions. Nothing! Please help the guys in your life be proactive in prostate testing and yourself for your possible cancers. I want you to sing and dance and write for a long time too! Thanks for dropping by Diana! Have a great week….
Susie, they didn’t hurt all. I searched all over the web for some good pictures. Mine would have just turned some stomachs. I hope you are doing well my friend and inspiration. Thanks for dropping by!
Thanks! I really feel ‘recovered’. I really do. I had a normal weekend catching up on all those ‘honey do’ items accumualting. Make your your hubby gets checked often! There was nothing savory about showering with some nasty plums! I hope YOU are feeling well, recovering from yet another celebration. I have lived all my fun through your experiences these past few weeks. 😉
Nancy, please do share this with him. I am such a Wuss when it comes to doctors (I once got light headed when I saw and x-ray of my skull) and I had no problem. Like I mentioned the key is to get checked early and often so you have this option. (Yourself also!) I mean this is cancer and I was back to work in 3 days and chasing my 3 & 5 year olds within a week! If this sounds like an an experience it really was easy…these are just the details. Sooooo much easier than laying in bed for a week or in the hospital like any other cancer. Thanks for dropping by Ms Nancy! Always great to hear from you…
Thanks Ms.Sandy….if I can’t make you laugh I didn’t do my job.I hope not TOO descriptive. I am doing well and feel like its over….but its not over yet. Thanks foe everything Sandy! Have a great week!
Nice new banner.
Maybe the smell comes from your blood with a medicine or something.
The purplish color must have been scary.
Tha second peeing pose is the best. Some years ago when I was the sickest, I used to go to the bathroom very often, I ended up going like 30 times a day, once I got curious and started to write down everytime I went. It didnt took me long to finish, but soon I was there again. Now Im back to normal. I was going to suggest wearing diapers, but I think the best is telling your body to do it as it should.
From what you write, you seem to be dealing with the situation very well, you should be proud.
Ah, Andy, so good to hear your direct and forthright and hilarious voice. I loved the images, too, especially those black balls. I’ll never forget the time my teen son was upset because he had a pair of those and I even had to witness them to tell my husband to take him to the doctor (they were in fact bruised). I’m so glad that you are feeling so well. You wrote a really good account for anybody headed for this treatment–or trying to decide.
Oh my goodness, what an experience! Thanks for sharing this with us. I hope you continue to feel better.
I am going to forward this post to my dear husband, who isn’t too good at going to doctors.
Nancy
Sending you the very best wishes for a healthy recovery.
I applaud your courage for sharing your experience so honestly. I have tweeted this in case there are other men out there who might benefit. It’s always good to have an idea of what to expect. You have such a positive outlook my friend and I hope that it all works out. Attitude is 95% of the cure.
Peace and blessings to you and your family!
Diana
This is such great news, black and blue balls and all!
The best news ever! So happy to hear all is settling in and hopefully fully functioning. Love the second peeing pose and the plums! Hee,hee. It’s good that you are able to be so open, informative and humorous about the whole experience. That’s the way to do it and the best way to recover. Have fun testing the waters this week. 🙂
Oh my gosh. I am sorry that I want to laugh a little at this post. Very descriptive and GREAT PHOTOS. So glad you’re doing well from that procedure. It does not sound like a fun time.