14 WEEKS

LA BOCCA BUENOS AIRES

LAST LEG DAKAR ARGENTINA

I didn't think it'd be necessary to post for a while now but,as mentioned by my oncologist at 6 weeks,the "symptoms' were going to probably get worse before they improved as the effects of the stronger original radiation dose would only be felt effectively later (i.e. 2 to 5 months).
Well they appear to know what they're talking about as that's been the case.
The burning has become progressively worse over the past few weeks and my urinary function has declined somewhat recently.
I'm getting up twice a night now and battling somewhat to empty my bladder at 1st attempt (at night only).
I find myself going back to bed for 15 minutes or so,at which point it seems that a "muscle" gets going and allows me to more or less void.
The burn seems to originate pretty deep into the bladder area and appears to lessen if i drink plenty of water.
It's no big deal and hasn't got to a stage necessitating any of the dreaded medication (i.e. FLOMAX)
What's probably happened is that the original high dose is now (aside from nuking the cancer) resulting in burns inside my urethra and entry to the bladder.
Thus the burning sensation.
Apparently this should begin to fall off fairly soon (from around week 20) and resume more or less normal function thereafter??
Let's see?

Healthy cells (unlike cancer cells) have an ability to heal and repair over time and the original radiation dose is presently around 1/3 of the original....so hopefully the worst is over!

The 2nd 60 day half -life is due by week 17 resulting in just 1/4 of the original dose at that stage.

DAKAR

DAKAR

12 WEEKS

ATACAMA DESERT PERU

PATAGONIA HOTEL AND SALOON

So,it's been just over 12 weeks now and still no adverse effects (apart from those already elaborated on) and i'm still managing without medication.
Provided I stop the drinking (particularly alcohol) by 7pm,i'm managing with one nocturnal awakening (sounds erotic?) and that's about it.
The burning has probably got a little worse but mainly that 1st one after arising in the morning.
Once I start "flushing" each morning with lots of water/rooibos etc. it seems to ease off considerably.
Everything seems to be working (more or less) ok again and i'm still totally positive,and even more convinced that this was the right way to go.
I'd love to see what my latest PSA reading is ?
Last time I checked it was down to 3,6.......perhaps i'll mosey down and check it out again soon.
All in all i'm a "happy chappy"!

11 WEEKS SINCE

SNOWSTORM IN THE ROCKIES

 It's been exactly 11 weeks since my brachy and the remaining radio active potency of the beads should,by now,have reduced to close to a third of its original charge.
So any "side effects" being suffered now are a result of the effects of the original dose,which would be manifesting at this point.
As I understand it,these effects should begin to taper off after about 4 months (17/18 weeks) and hopefully be minimal by then?
Well,to be honest,they've been very manageable so far and amount to a slight burning when urinating and a bit of a problem emptying my bladder completely at night.
Depending on what I drink leading up to bedtime,I'm rising once (no alcohol) and twice if I partake😜.

CAMPING IN PATAGONIA

I'd read that I might well have experienced some diarrhoea and rectal bleeding but,so far,no such thing.
My habits in this regard have remained virtually identical and ,by 9am I've gone twice and that's it!
Pretty flatulent (more than normal) but nothing untoward.

SNOW NEAR SALT LAKE CITY

Still haven't needed to take any medication apart from my daily anti-inflammatory,more for my carpal tunnel syndrome than anything else.
Cheryl's been on these for many years since being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and it doesn't appear to have harmed her too much so I've decided to take them indefinitely.
I reckon (logic tells me) that they should be preventing any flare ups in the old prostate at the same time,and probably preventing any undue swelling as a result of the continuous exposure to the radiation?

SELF PORTRAIT PATAGONIA

PATAGONIA 

USHUAIA BOTTOM OF THE WORLD

PENSION USHUAIA

POSTING COMMENTS

SHOESHINE KIDS QUITO ECUADOR

OMETEPE ISLAND

JOSH GUATEMALA

LAKE ATITLAN GUATEMALA

When I began blogging,some 7 years ago,followers had absolutely no problem commenting to posts.
For the last few years however it appears that one cannot comment on posts unless one has a google a/c with a personal profile?
I guess this was set up with a view to securitising the site to some degree?

A great pity really as this aspect limits the input and dialogue to ideas put forward on my respective blogs.

Previously when choosing ones profile to comment ,there was a category (can't remember the name now) which allowed anyone to go in and comment.
The present categories make no sense to me as layman,and I'm pretty sure this applies to virtually all of my geriatric mates!

Anyone out there have any idea on how to resolve this aspect to allow access to all w.r.t. commenting??

BRYCE CANYON

ME UTAH

PUERTO VALLARTA MEXICO

BRYCE CANYON

6 TO 8 WEEKS POST-OP

DUGOUT CANOE OMETEPE ISLAND

 At my recent 6 week check-up I'd asked my oncologist whether I was over the worst regarding any potential side effects from the radiation,although my logic told me...."probably not"?
Her response was immediate .........nope ,the worst was yet to come and would probably deteriorate somewhat until month 4 (18 weeks) and hopefully then tail off and eventually fade into distant memory over a period of as much as a year or two.
I'd thought I'd dodged the bullet and was gonna get away with what,to date ,had been minor symptoms involving slightly more frequent urinary habits (I was already down to once/night during this period).

PANAMA CANAL

 Well she was right and it was only around week 7/8 where I began to have a bit of burning on urination.
Totally manageable and with a reasonable flow (still no meds).
I'd also started to feel a little more fatigued than normal when playing squash or jogging in the mountain.
My hips felt like I'd been climbing a mountain or two when I hadn't done more than a bit of jogging on the treadmill.

No big deal......I just took it a bit easier ,but continued with a similar regime as I've been used to.

I'd been missing my red wine by now ,but it just wasn't worth the effort as it obviously would have

OMETEPE VOLCANIC ISLAND NICARAGUA

an effect if I landed up going to sleep with my bladder full of alcohol!

Solution...........start drinking earlier and mix it up with glasses of water....then ,at 6pm ,stop drinking altogether.
The amount of alcohol consumed however has been minimal...till now!

I'm in week 9/10 now ,which included the festive period where I couldn't resist a bit of red wine (well maybe a little more than "a bit") and have just recently (past few days) had a pretty strong burning sensation when peeing and a slightly weaker flow.
Back to my normal routine now and the burning has subsided a bit and isn't really bothering me.Radiation takes some time to have an effect on the healthy cells but will inevitably affect those in close proximity to some degree.

FERRY TO OMETEPE LAKE NICARAGUA

However,unlike cancer cells which cannot regenerate once "nuked",healthy cells can and should recover from any incidental "burning"resulting from exposure. At this point ,after 70 days the radiation potency will have dropped off to less than half of the original dose ,but any damage from that original stronger radiation will manifest itself around this stage.

LOCAL KIDS OMETEPE ISLAND