1. Recovering from 3-D Radiation Therapy
Recovery from radiation therapy can be quite a challenge. As high-energy radiation destroys your prostate cancer cells, even some of the healthy cells are subject to the damaging effects of radiation. Recovery from the resulting side effects is, therefore, facilitated by your doctor's strategy. Your doctor will usually administer small doses of the 3-D radiation spread over several sessions, usually one session a day. The underlying idea is to enable your healthy cells to recover and survive, while the cancer cells die. In fact, your recovery could be much faster, although it might take several weeks of actual radiation therapy before you are done.
2. Protecting Healthy Tissue from High-Dose Radiation
In a type called 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT), computers are used to pinpoint the exact location and cancer of the prostate. Your doctor might explain how you could wear a special protection device during the process. This should help in protecting healthy tissues from the effects of radiation while it is targeted at the prostate cancer. Your doctor is only trying to spare the healthy tissue from the effects of radiation and this should minimize the side effects and boost the benefit of radiation therapy. In conformal proton beam radiation therapy, the high energy from protons can pass through normal tissue without any harm, yet, it can successfully kill the cancer cells. The latest in radiation therapy is Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. Using hi-tech science and technology, this method uses several thinner beams to target the prostate cancer while leaving the surrounding healthy cells untouched. You may need to visit your doctor 5 times a week for almost 7 weeks to get your prostate treated this way. Researchers say that this technique is better than other forms of radiation therapy externally. It allows doctors to use higher dose of radiation safely, by shielding other organs nearby from exposure
3. Recovering From the Side Effects
You should let your doctor know if you feel tired, have an upset stomach, diarrhea and rectal irritation or bleeding. It might sometimes be difficult to regain your normal bowel function. You may also need to void your bladder frequently. Watch out for any skin reaction in the exposed areas. Your doctor will be able to advise you for appropriate measures. In general, most of the side effects are temporary and recovery usually follows completion of treatment.
