Hi John...Hyperbaric oxygen is one potential treatment for such burns.
I've read several posts on another NG where it seems to have done the
trick.  It might be worth looking into or discussing with your doc...Ron

John,

I doubt that there's anything he can do about it.  However
you may be able to treat it with regular doses of Preparation
H or some similar petrolatum based products.  I'm not sure
that the petrolatum does anything to reduce the damage, but
it can provide a lubricating barrier that reduces the irritation
of the damaged tissue caused by bowel movements and by
rubbing of the walls of the rectum against each other.

I also had radiation damage to the rectum.  Most of the time
it doesn't bother me, but sometimes it does.  I use a generic
Preparation H like product and it really helps a lot.

Good luck.

   Alan

...

It might or might not help.  You would need to use the applicator
that comes with Prep H that allows you to squirt it inside the rectum.

If you're seeing blood in the stool, then I would think the surface
of the rectum, i.e., the surface that faces the stool as it passes
through the passage, is bleeding.  It's probably raw and inflamed.
The friction of the surface against other surfaces and against the
stool is continually rasping that surface, making it difficult for it
to heal.

Putting a coat of Prep H on it might give the cell walls facing that
inner passage some relief from the constant friction.  Do it very
slowly and carefully with a well lubricated applicator so as not
to do any more damage.

To see if it will help, apply it several times a day - after every
bowel
movement and at other times if there's a long time between them.
Hopefully, you'll get some relief after a few days.  I'd be prepared
to do this for at least a week before deciding that it isn't helping.

The doctor might have some other treatments for you, but I wouldn't
be surprised if they're just stronger versions of Prep H - i.e., a
coating
substance but perhaps with a prescription drug to assist in healing.

This has helped me and I still have to do it from time to time.

Good luck.

   Alan

Surprising as it may seem, I did not have any constipation
problems during those years.

Very good question.  Will ask him in more detail on Wednesday.

When he did a DRE he felt what he thought was remaining prostate
tissue.  Then he did an ultrasound and showed my husband 11-17gms of
prostate tissue.  I am pretty sure that my husband would not recognize
the difference between prostate tissue and any other tissue on an
ultrasound, so I am less that persuaded by this evidence.

There was an MRI done for programming into the IGRT machine, and that
report did not mention any prostate tissue.  Our endorectal MRI
w/spectro (pre-tx) said a 40 gm prostate (Mayo said 30 gm but our
entire experience with them was so shoddy I don't pay any attention to
their #s).  The surgical pathologist got a 40 gm prostate.  Where is
all this extra prostate coming from?  I believe Dr. Grado is a very
good or excellent doctor, but we come up against the fact that
radiologists don't get feedback from their observations.  He will never
go in there and actually "see" this tissue.  Also, Dr. Grado's 2
numbers (11 and 17) came from two different calculation methods as to
size.  He said the 2nd method was less exact (the 17 gm) but sometimes
useful.  (Sometimes not, maybe.)

We asked our local uro what he thought, and he said he found it
surprising.  He said it could be--anastomosis?--scarring.  Since the
surgeon had to do fingertip dissection off the rectal wall, I think the
surgeon was in there enough to know.  We see the surgeon also on
Wednesday and see what he says.

At any rate, there is *some* tissue of some sort in there.  Also, I
think they put seeds on strings now, that increases placement control
and reduces migration.

All I can do is ask the picky questions, talk with Steve to see what he
wants/thinks, and go with that regardless of my personal preferences.
I have to be extra careful about this, because I am scared of radiation
and its SEs.  I would be less scared if it was me, but he has a family
history of lots of cancer, and his brother was burned with RT.

<snip some very helpful information>

I think there does need to be more understanding of which prostate
cancers are not worth treating.  In my opinion, the SEs are so shocking
that the bar ought to be raised pretty high.  But then of course there
is our experience, with biopsy results that were so minimal compared to
the actual.  There are not good enough diagnostic tools to make a
decision to treat or not.   Maybe when a real cure comes along, it will
be less risky to wait and see how it develops.  It seems like once it
starts growing, it can really take off in a matter of weeks.

I think the tools they use, PSADT and PSAV, should be part of the
decision tree.  Much more than PSA itself (well, say, under 10).  One
thing I'm picking up about uros, they are just surgeons.  They see,
they cut.  As far as extended treatment, they all have a set referreal
(some to rad oncs, some to med oncs) that they learned back when, and
that's all they know.  They are not PCa specialists.  There must be
some of this with rad oncs, too.  They see, they irradiate.  I think
the thing that makes med oncs *tend* to be a little broader is that
they see these other specialists as part of their own arsenal.  So they
have a broader picture of treatment approaches.

All of this got way off of the point about PCa being overtreated.  I
think this is the point of the "don't get a PSA test" movement (ARGH!
A PSA test is not a cancer test!).  But if that isn't stupid.  You
could have a life threatening disease, so we recommend you just don't
find out?  THAT'S how they reduce overtreatment?

lf

And/or a lopsided, cold-hearted devotion to maximizing our longevity at
any monetary and personal cost.

I.P.