Post Radiation Bleeding

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Brendan - 26 Jul 2004 15:23 GMT

Has anyone had experience of bleeding from the bowel months after radiation
treatment. Evidently this can happen. I finished radiation treatment in
late November and have just noticed some bleeding. I will be seeing my
specialist but would be most appreciative if anyone else in the same
position could share their experience with me.

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Dave P - 26 Jul 2004 16:27 GMT

Yes, I have. Not real bleeding but can see red in my stools at times. It
comes infrequently and then disapears. The Dr. stated it could happen. I
finished my treatment May 2003

Dave P.

> Has anyone had experience of bleeding from the bowel months after radiation
> treatment. Evidently this can happen. I finished radiation treatment in
> late November and have just noticed some bleeding. I will be seeing my
> specialist but would be most appreciative if anyone else in the same
> position could share their experience with me.

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Heather - 26 Jul 2004 16:49 GMT

Ditto for my brother-in-law......exactly one year later. It rather freaked
him out because he had had colon cancer 5 years earlier and thought it was
back......no one told him about *proctitis* (sp?). Anyway, he had a
colonoscopy and all is well. I believe they cauterized some blood vessels
while they were in there.

Cheers.....Heather

> Yes, I have. Not real bleeding but can see red in my stools at times. It
> comes infrequently and then disapears. The Dr. stated it could happen. I
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> > specialist but would be most appreciative if anyone else in the same
> > position could share their experience with me.

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c palmer - 26 Jul 2004 21:00 GMT

this is part of the delayed response to cell damage i was talking about
on radiation treatments.

the good news is that it can be treated.

not saying it's a big deal, but i think folks should be told ahead of
time that things like this happens and the time delay. much like the
psa spike that pops up a year to 18 months after seeding. that causes a
lot of needless worry too.

~ curtis

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."

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Heather - 27 Jul 2004 02:21 GMT

Hi Curtis......

Yes, Ron and I know about all the possible side effects down the
road......they were not only told to us by the doctor, but we have booklets
put out by the radiology dept. which outline this sort of thing.

The problem is that my BIL went to the other major cancer hospital in
Toronto and they don't seem to give this sort of info out.....which amazes
me. However, knowing him, they probably did and he never read it. Had he
thought to phone me, it would have saved him a ****load of worry......not to
mention another colonoscopy!!

Thanks for the reminder on the PSA spike......I forgot about that and Ron's
one year PSA test is early August. BIL is about 2 or 3 months ahead of
Ron.

And here I confidently stated that I would not bat an eyelash at PSA test
time. Who are we kidding here, grin. I am not panicking, just a tad
anxious and hoping that it has dropped a wee bit. Ron doesn't do any
*batting* though. He just breezes thru it all.

Cheers....Heather

> this is part of the delayed response to cell damage i was talking about
> on radiation treatments.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
> invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."

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DF - 27 Jul 2004 22:51 GMT

Hi Brendan,

I had slight bleeding (red in stool) for the last few weeks of treatments
(April 2000) but it cleared up within a few months after radiation stopped.
It became less and less often as time went on. It could be a delayed issue
but I would mention it to your Dr. I found eating foods like nuts it would
aggravate it too. I have not noticed any reoccurrence since though.

Dwight

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