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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / June 2004Back to Work
It's time to return to work, I had the seed implant last week and a Foley for a couple of days, and as commented on by some of you, it was no big deal. Removal was a cinch. I recall comments about a 110 lb nurse being able to pick up a 240 lb man with two fingers while removing the damn thing, nothing like that happened ;-)). Everything seems fine so far, maybe a bit more frequency with urination. I know it's early and urination problems might occur in the coming weeks. Cardura is part of my BP meds so Flowmax was not prescribed, but the dose was increased on a temp. basis. Still doing the strainer routine in case a seed is passed, a nurse has suggested cone shape paper coffee filters for use away from home rather than the bulky funnel/strainer they sent me home with. Tom Hi Tom, Congratulations on a smooth process so far. I'm up on Thursday. Hope it goes as well for me. Your experience was reassuring. Thanks, Larry > It's time to return to work, I had the seed implant last week and a Foley > for a couple of days, and as commented on by some of you, it was no big [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tom I guess that is the difference in doctors. We never strained for a seed. And what are you supposed to do with one if you find it? We were told if we found a seed just to pick it up and throw it in the toilet. Besides our doctor did a scan and counted all seeds about 3 weeks after placing them. All were intact. Bev > It's time to return to work, I had the seed implant last week and a Foley > for a couple of days, and as commented on by some of you, it was no big [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tom Bev, I was instructed to urinate into the funnel/strainer for a week or so following the implant, in case any seeds migrated in that direction and were passed with urine. If I did see any, I was instructed to retrieve them with tweezers (don't touch them with your fingers) and return them to the facility that performed the procedure for proper disposal. As I said earlier, the home care nurse , :"who has become my friend overnight", this lady is truly an angel! suggested that I bring a few "Militia" type coffee filters to work with me for the filtration job. Perhaps the disposal of radioactive isotopes is handled differently in your area, here, they are a PITA. I am regularly exposed to some Cesium radiation ( not a lot), it's with nuclear density testing of soils, pavement and concrete. I wonder what the seeds will do to my dosimeter(normally worn at belt level). By the way, I did finally, buy some Glow Sticks, If I'm back on the group, Pam laughed with me, if I' m not, SHE SHOT ME!! I have confidence that I'll be here tomorrow. Tom 0 > I guess that is the difference in doctors. We never strained for a seed. > And what are you supposed to do with one if you find it? We were told if we [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > > > Tom I think you might have a problem with dosimeter. Let's see reading minus you equals ...! It would be interesting to hear just what happens and for how long. Hey, look what duct tape and a glow stick will produce. LOL Our doc said a single seed is so minimal. Also he did say to use something to pick up the seed because it had been placed in the body and therefore it was a biohazard. Sure, we've been swapping spit for too many years to worry about that. LOL Bev > Bev, > I was instructed to urinate into the funnel/strainer for a week or so [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > > > > > > Tom Bev, I'll just pin the darn thing on my shirt instead and increase the distance from the source. I agree that the radiation from a single seed is insignificant, sometimes we get too caught up in *proper procedures* although medical personnel with regular exposure should certainly follow the rules.As far as biohazards are concerned, most of us have been exposed to much worse, public restrooms and portable toilets come to mind ;-)) Tom > I think you might have a problem with dosimeter. Let's see reading minus you > equals ...! It would be interesting to hear just what happens and for how [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > > > > > > > > Tom All the doctors and residents who work where my husband received his seeds all wear "plastic" rings on a finger. They look like a wedding band - very plain but they are some sort of radiation exposure devices. OT but interesting a friend recently received a kidney from his wife after being on the list for over a year. No one had thought to check her. Well the match was close enough and the doctor doing the transplant was thrilled. He said the rejection rate would be so much lower because they had been married for over 35 years and swapping germs and body fluids for so long that the body would not go into a rejection mode as it would not see the new kidney as foreign. As for restrooms - ugh!!! I'm an obsessive compulsive hand washer. Almost to the point of it being a problem but there have been many restrooms I've looked at and decided my hands were cleaner unwashed. {shudder} And Freud would love this one - many a time I've wished I had different plumbing when faced with public restrooms. Bev > Bev, > [quoted text clipped - 94 lines] > > > > > > > > > > Tom Speaking of restrooms, I too am a clean freak. In many cases they are improving but I think it's funny how they will put in an automatic faucet, automatic towel dispenser, automatic flusher, then make you touch the handle to a door in order to open it, or some variation on that theme. What really annoys me is how they will not place the waste basket for paper towels next to the door. I will open it using the towel then toss it in the vicinity of the basket - their problem <g>. Larry I did fine for 3 weeks after my implant. So few problems, in fact, that I was getting worried thinking it shouldn't be that easy to beat cancer. Then, right at week 3, my urinary system all but locked up. Took me 40-50 minutes to empty and sometimes realized that, in fact, I had NOT actually emptied. Turned out, though, that it was an infection, which cleared up quickly with an antibiotic and a steroid to shrink the swelling. Of course, it might also have been that my doc said if I didn't improve, I'd need to come in to have a catheter inserted to measure the amount of urine in my bladder. That put the fear of God into me and may have done the trick. I'm now about 4 1/2 weeks post-seeding and getting up just once a night, slightly weak stream, no urgency, occasional frequency, but very occasional. My point here is that if anything changes suddenly for you, get on the phone to your doc. Don't just assume that it's a normal side effect. (I learned from Beverly Brown, whose husband did just that and suffered more than he should have.) Good luck. > It's time to return to work, I had the seed implant last week and a Foley > for a couple of days, and as commented on by some of you, it was no big [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tom Thanks Ron, If anything abnormal occurs I won't hesitate to call the Dr. Tom > I did fine for 3 weeks after my implant. So few problems, in fact, > that I was getting worried thinking it shouldn't be that easy to beat [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > > > Tom |
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