Brachytherapy

I posted sometime back and will repeat my situation up to now.  I was diagnosed back in July with prostate cancer, stage T1C, PSA 4.39, and a Gleason score of 4+3=7.  I opted for brachytherapy.  On Nov. 1 I had the sizing done and today Nov. 29 I went in to have the seeds implanted.  It took about 45 minutes to complete the procedure, implanting 68 seeds of iodine 125.  Ironically enough I am 68 years old and a seed for each year.  There was no incision, just a large needle puncture to insert the seeds.  I am wearing a catheter to be removed tomorrow.  That is the most unpleasant pain that I am having so far.  I have been taking vicodin since the procedure and that has given me relief.  I do have some small amount of soreness in the puncture area between the anus and scrotum. It is quite early to determine the outcome, but it seems to be positive so far.  I will keep you posted.

Thanks for sharing your story. I did not read your first post.  It seems as if brachytherapy is the most wise of all cancer treatment options.  The side effects of surgery are immense, and radiation beam (or whatever it's called) from outside the body risks affecting good, healthy tissue because your insides move around while you're laying there.  I'm sure you made the right choice.

I have heard that cesium 131 is a good alternative to iodine, as the radiation emitted from the seeds goes away more quickly.  Not that iodine (or palladium) are bad.

I wish that more people knew about brachytherapy, whether it be cesium 131, palladium or iodine.  

I hope to hear from you again soon, with positive news.

On 11/29/2007 adepose wrote:

I posted sometime back and will repeat my situation up to now.  I was diagnosed back in July with prostate cancer, stage T1C, PSA 4.39, and a Gleason score of 4+3=7.  I opted for brachytherapy.  On Nov. 1 I had the sizing done and today Nov. 29 I went in to have the seeds implanted.  It took about 45 minutes to complete the procedure, implanting 68 seeds of iodine 125.  Ironically enough I am 68 years old and a seed for each year.  There was no incision, just a large needle puncture to insert the seeds.  I am wearing a catheter to be removed tomorrow.  That is the most unpleasant pain that I am having so far.  I have been taking vicodin since the procedure and that has given me relief.  I do have some small amount of soreness in the puncture area between the anus and scrotum. It is quite early to determine the outcome, but it seems to be positive so far.  I will keep you posted.

 

It was a week ago this past Thursday, Nov. 29 that I had the brachytherapy done.  I removed the catheter myself on Friday morning the day after the procedure and was glad to get that done.  I still have some irritation with urination, but it is getting better.  I saw my Onocology Radiologist on Thursday Dec. 6 after having a CT scan done.  He did not have the results of the scan when I talked to him, but will call if there are anything unusual associated with the scan.  He did give me a prescription for Flomax to help with the urination problem.  I haven't started taking it yet so I can't tell how much it will help. 

I haven't returned to my walking schedule yet.  Hopefully this coming week I can get back to that.  I usually walk a 10km 5 times a week for a total of 31 miles. I will keep updating this post to give any information I can that may be helpful to anyone else that is considering having the brachytherapy done.  I found that it was helpful to me to read some of the comments by others.

 

 

On 11/29/2007 adepose wrote:

I posted sometime back and will repeat my situation up to now.  I was diagnosed back in July with prostate cancer, stage T1C, PSA 4.39, and a Gleason score of 4+3=7.  I opted for brachytherapy.  On Nov. 1 I had the sizing done and today Nov. 29 I went in to have the seeds implanted.  It took about 45 minutes to complete the procedure, implanting 68 seeds of iodine 125.  Ironically enough I am 68 years old and a seed for each year.  There was no incision, just a large needle puncture to insert the seeds.  I am wearing a catheter to be removed tomorrow.  That is the most unpleasant pain that I am having so far.  I have been taking vicodin since the procedure and that has given me relief.  I do have some small amount of soreness in the puncture area between the anus and scrotum. It is quite early to determine the outcome, but it seems to be positive so far.  I will keep you posted.

To adepose:

I have almost the identical numbers to you.  I am currently considering the alternative treatments.  HIFU seems to best fit what I am looking for.  My age 71, PSA 4.3, Gleason 7, Size 38 ml, stage T1c.  I am leaning heavily toward HIFU.  Reasons - non invasive, statistically least side effects, quick recovery with little inconvenience, can be repeated if necessary.  I am now trying to decide bewteen ablatherm and sonablate 500.  Why did you choose brachytherapy? 

Well it has been 4 weeks yesterday since I had my implant done.  It has progressed very well.  I still have a little discomfort in urinating and I still have some discomfort while sitting for a while.  However part of the sitting might be a result in having a bulging disk in the lower back that flares up occasionally. and   Other than that I am feeling quite well.  Of course, it will be a while before my first PSA test to see if it was successful.  I will try to keep the progess posted for those that might be interested.