Connacht Tribune
Side effect of cancer treatment: Experiences of hyperbaric oxygenation
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I am 67 years old and was treated for prostate cancer in March 2021. Tests to date indicate that the treatment has been successful.
Nonetheless, subsequent to the treatment and over several months, I experienced a range of uncomfortable short term side effects. Only men have a prostate gland, and it is located in the groin just below the bladder. It is about the size of a large strawberry and surrounds the urethra which carries urine away from the bladder. Prostate cancer treatments must kill the cells in the tumour and in doing so often damage cells in adjacent tissues.
In my case cells in the urethra were damaged and the dead tissue caused a blockage which rendered urination slow and painful. The treatment also caused inflammation in the rectum and bladder and in the general area around the prostate. The result was lots of discomfort for me, culminating in a urinary infection which made things worse.
My urologist told me that I would have to undergo a surgical procedure to clear the blockage and that there was a danger that this could result in long term side effects. Hoping to avoid risking this surgery, I decided to book in for a course of hyperbaric oxygenation at Oxygeneration in Galway. This involved attending every morning for 8 consecutive days.
The result was literally astounding. I had commenced the treatment suffering the remnants of infection and barely able to pee at all and with considerable pain. By the 4th day my flow had become pretty good and going to the loo had ceased being an ordeal. By the 8th day I had flow better than I’d had for many years – as good as any young man’s – and so it has continued. Since then, I did a total of 16 sessions all other symptoms of infection and inflammation have cleared up and I am fully back to joyful, active life. I am hugely grateful to the people at OxyGeneration.
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