Morbidity (have you been reading?) 3/4 Way Through

I posted earlier on the side effects (morbidity) 1/2 way through. I have only 10 more treatments left and it is time to revisit this subject. First, the expected morbidity:

• Urinary burning and difficulty
• Malaise (extreme tiredness on some days)
• Sun burn on my hips from the radiation
• Diarrhea

What have I in fact experienced? As of today, there is no urinary burning. There is, however, a slightly increased sense of urethra stricture. It is slightly uncomfortable on occasion and not at all noticeable at other times. As a prophylactic measure, I have been taking Advil tid (3x/day -- "tid" stands for the latin of ter in die which means, voila!, 3 times a day). It is an anti-inflammatory which reduces the swelling on the prostate which opens up the urethra. Seems to be working. In any event, this is not a problem -- and is supposed to go away.

Malaise? No, not at all. Not feeling tired at all. BUT, the nurse practitioner was surprised at this. It is apparently very common. But, she said that my level of exercise (lots and lots -- see the earlier post -- up to 3 miles now) probably explains the lack of tiredness.

Sun burn? I'll have to check. Maybe it appears a little bit redder. Whatever. Now I'll have to get that all over tan.

Diarrhea? Not on a regular or even a recurring basis. Maybe 5 days in 2 months -- is that out of the ordinary? And once it happened after hot Mexican food. Not an issue.

In sum, the morbidity has been far better than even I, Mr. Optimistic, envisioned.