How do you prepare for brachytherapy?

Stop taking medications, such as blood thinners (warfarin) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), that affect blood clotting. Use a bowel preparation (enema) before the procedure. Not drink or eat anything for several hours before going to the hospital.

How long does brachytherapy procedure take?

Description. Brachytherapy takes 30 minutes or more, depending on the type of therapy you have. Before the procedure, you will be given medicine so that you do not feel pain.

How are brachytherapy seeds inserted?

The needle is inserted through the skin between your scrotum and your anus (perineum) and into your prostate. The seeds, about the size of grains of rice, will give off radiation for a few months and will remain in your body permanently.

Do you lose your hair with brachytherapy?

There are no side effects like nausea, hair loss or diarrhea following this procedure. Patients are not radioactive during or after the treatment. HDR brachytherapy is used to treat lung, breast, prostate and gynecologic cancers.

How long is brachytherapy recovery?

Brachytherapy basics Most men return to normal activities the day after brachytherapy. That contrasts with external beam radiation therapy, which can take up to nine weeks to complete, or surgery, which can take up to one month or longer of recovery time.

How long is the recovery after brachytherapy?

Are you put to sleep for brachytherapy?

The implant procedure is usually done in a hospital operating room designed to keep the radiation inside the room. You’ll get anesthesia, which may be either general (where drugs are used to put you into a deep sleep so that you don’t feel pain) or local (where part of your body is numbed).

How will I feel after brachytherapy?

Brachytherapy can make you feel very tired and physically weak. This is called fatigue. It is not like usual tiredness – you may feel exhausted after doing nothing. This is simply your body responding to the treatment, as it tries to repair any healthy cells the brachytherapy has damaged.