Well the, I had the radiotherapy from February to March, that was not unpleasant but the consequences of it were unpleasant, I think the regularity of my bowels opening 8 hours after I'd eaten you know were like clockwork. You know you could, exactly 8 hours after I'd finished a meal I was going to the toilet and I could expect to be, I had to be near the toilet to do that. So the trick was as I drove, went for the treatment by myself, nobody else went with me, I would try and delay the times I would eat so that it would fit in so I wasn't caught unawares.
So does the radiotherapy affect your bowels?
Oh yes, oh yes.
Could you explain more about that?
Well very severe diarrhoea, very severe and it would be, again that was explained to me I was going to get a problem here and that my rectum would probably be injured as a consequence of the radiotherapy. That was all explained to me before, you don't know what it means until you get it and then you realise what they mean. But we were all prepared for it so that was, we coped with that and the consequence of that lasted about 3 weeks after the treatment and then it's gradually got better since.
Are there any other side effects as a result of the radiotherapy?
Not really, not really no. It was just, just that and it has injured my rectum and currently I'm doing this course, a week ago last Friday I was told that the tumour was gone and that I explained the symptoms to the specialist, he said 'Well the best thing it will get better with time.' Now once I'd heard that I said 'Right we'll take a course of hyperbaric oxygen to see if that repairs it quicker, makes it you know affects a quicker repair.
What's hyperbaric oxygen?
It's breathing pure oxygen under pressure for about an hour, that enriches the blood and it's used widely for mending limbs or repairing injuries or sporting injuries in particular, ulcers, it cures gangrene so if anything that I can do to improve my well being I'll do it.
When you said it's damaged, is it just sore or raw?
Well the frequency bowel opening, as soon as there's some faeces gets into the rectum it has to... it has to come, go to the loo basically. That's right.
So the muscles lack tone?
That's right yes, get that back so that at least I'm just opening my bowels once a day instead of 2 and 3 times. |
