Bladder Function Tests and Brachytherapy - Brachytherapy,bladder control

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User

Posted 28 Jan 2015 at 20:32

Yes Johsan, he complains of burning in his backside too, he is opening his bowels between 4 and 6 times a day (as I have said before had problems that end before brachy) but says it is painful.

Devonlad he may or may not have had flow problems, I don't know. He didn't get up very often at night, perhaps once in the night once a week, only because I had woken him myself using the bathroom and he only went 2 or 3 times a day before brachy, but he didn't drink much, he is now drinking more. He filled in a questionaire and scored top points which may be why a flow test wasn't done.

User

Posted 28 Jan 2015 at 23:30

Hi Sandra

Your post is very sad to read.

If they have changed your IMPORTANT appointment for 3 months later then that is awful in my view! If that happened to me I would be furious, although diplomatic with them as I always am. Also if the specialist nurses haven’t returned your call in 2 weeks that is very unprofessional. I know they are very busy folk …. but 2 weeks! When it’s about health it’s much about ‘peace of mind’.

As I have said before on this site – it’s your body (or your husbands in this case) and it’s your NHS as you pay for it. A PSA test takes seconds to take the sample and not much longer to do the test and provide feedback to you.

I think you need to be polite but very firm with them (either the hospital or your doctors surgery) to have a PSA test in February and a follow up appointment well before May unless they have evidence, and can convince you both, that for some strange reason it’s not necessary.

Take good care of each other.

User

Posted 28 Jan 2015 at 23:57

Sandra,
my dad, Stan and John all had the same nurse specialist. She has never returned a call. We tend to go straight to the consultant's secretary if we need an appointment or anything like that. The cancellation/ rebooking system in many hospitals is automated so I would expect them to bring it forward from May if you phone to point out this is an ongoing cancer case rather than a routine monitoring appointment.

There shouldn't be any reason for the GP practice not to do a Feb PSA test regardless.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 29 Jan 2015 at 09:31

Thanks all. Replies much appreciated.
John doesn't ever push anything.
It usually only happens when I finally get really upset.
He would probably have just waited until May so at least I managed to persuade him to go to the GP.

As far as GPs and PSA tests are concerned, last time he went (at the request of the consultant) to the surgery for a PSA before his next appointment, they were very sniffy about it, well the receptionist was, because she said the hospital wasn't daft. They made sure the test came out of the GP budget and not the hospital's.

DL, if John gets a PSA form it's down to what used to be the cottage hospital, they'll do the test and the results will come back in 3-4 days. That's according to the phlebotomist.
The surgery will tell us it's more like 10!
John reckons that's because they have to have a doctor on duty that can read smoke signals.
We'll see

We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails

User

Posted 29 Jan 2015 at 09:40

Hi Johsan. I hope you get the psa test sorted. We nearly had the brachy cancelled so know how you feel. I did read that some hospitals don't do a psa for a year after brachy as it doesn't start to settle for a year. We are due to have one at the 6 week check, I don't see the point in that as it will be raised so soon after due to the damage caused by brachy, then we will worry at the raise (even though it is most likely normal to raise) We had a psa done 4 weeks after the biopsy, no idea why one was ordered, luckily I had read that a psa test should not be done for at least 6 weeks. It had gone from 3.4 up to 4.7 resulting in a letter saying active surveillance no longer suitable due to psa raise. Causing us worry, it did go down a bit a few months later, but glad I had read the info online.

Hopefully you will have one done soon. I know we wouldn't have a problem at our Dr surgery if we asked for one, thankfully they are good like that. Good luck. Sorry Devonlad to hijack your conversation!!

User

Posted 29 Jan 2015 at 15:41

Please don't be sorry sjtb - it's great we are all talking about PC and options, consequences etc.

Like you I have an excellent doctor and excellent surgery and, so far at least, the couple of dealings I have had with specialist nurses they have been pretty good.

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