I have just finished chemo and am about to start radiotherapy next Thursday 27th November. I am scheduled to have 19 sessions and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what to expect. I understand it is not that bad. I am also planning to go away in the New Year when the treatment is finished and wanted to know how long it would be before I could expose my skin to the sunshine. I know I have to keep the area out of the sun that has received radiotherapy but I was wondering for how long?
Anne
I don't know how much you already know, but I can only tell you what happened to me.
You will be asked to change into a gown and then lie down on the radiotherapy table - a metal contraption. Your arms will be placed above your head and they will manoeuvre your body into exactly the right position for the radiotherapy rays. You may have been offered small tattoos on various parts of your chest area so they can 'triangulate' the precise place. The staff will then leave the room but they can observe you via a CCTV camera. You will hear a loud noise, a buzzing, and then the staff will return to the room and reposition the equipment. The process is repeated and then they will again return and you will be free to leave.
The actual radiotherapy is painless but you may feel discomfort from holding your arms above your head. As the treatments progress the skin will begin to go pink - like sunburn. They suggest you keep your skin free of anything but the mildest soap and aqueous cream. The cream should be applied frequently to help the skin. Do not use any strong perfumes, bath bubbles, talc or deodorant. This regime should continue for some time after the end of treatment.
The skin in the area where the radiotherapy has been received will be very sensitive to sunburn and so they recommend you cover up, wear a broad-brimmed hat, and when your skin has recovered a bit you can go out but must apply a high factor sun cream. The other side-effect of radiotherapy can be 'fatigue' - this can mean different things to different people. I was fine for the first three weeks (I had six weeks) but then became very tired and this tiredness became more marked by the end of week six but then gradually went away during the following three weeks. Other patients treated at the same time as me varied in their reactions and some skipped their way through it all!
If you want to ask any questions then please send me a PM.
Remember - the radiotherapy is there to mop all the 'nasties' lurking there!
After chemo it's a walk in the park as a friend who'd undergone the same treatments told me - she was right. The hardest thing was being tied to going to the hospital every day - all the trauma of parking, traffic jams at busy times etc etc. I read in the Amoena magazine (for breast cancer ladies) that if you drink coca cola after your treatment it helps - I can't for the life of me remember why but it replaces something the radiotherapy takes out. Amoena can be looked at online and you can read all the old articles. Also I found aloe vera helpful. My skin was fine to begin with when my radio finished in January but is now itchy and I get rashes (could well be the Tamoxifen of course). Whilst I was lying on the table listening to the clicks and whirrs of the machine I used the time
to imagine that the noises were little creatures inside marching along and munching up all the cancer cells - may sound daft but it kept me occupied . I din't suffer any more fatigue than that I already had after 6 months of chemo. I keep out of the sun as much aspoo now - not hard this summer !!! My hubbie and I flew to Nice for a four day break two days after my radio finished - it was great and it was such a treat to look forward to. Hope it goes well for you x
ps - I got tattoos too which I thought was hilarious - my family keep threatening to "join the dots"
Hi Thanks for all this advice, I have at last, after 2 ops and an emergency gall bladder removal! been told I am clear of DCIS cells and 4 cm tumour so now have to recover before Radiotherapy is started. so this has been really helpful, can you wear rings with radiotherapy?
