When I had my first discussion about Radiotherapy I was told that at my hospital there are two schools of thought on the impact of different time cycles. One Doc likes to use a shorter cycle whilst the other prefers a longer cycle. I had gone in thinking that a longer cycle could be gentler on the body but was unsure of whether in fact it just means that it takes longer to do the same amount of good and damage. When questioning the oncologist he told me that 2 large international studies had shown that the detrimental side effects of the treatment were no worse for the higher dose / shorter period. This information helped me to decide to opt for the shorter cycle.
I was delighted when I was told that my Radiotherapy registrar said I could be done over 4 weeks instead of 8. Apart from this reducing the daily visits to the hospital it also meant that I'd be feeling good by Christmas.
Yesterday I had my planning session and the same registrar suggested that I rethink and go for a slightly longer period of 6 weeks instead of 4. He said that because I have large breasts, to extend the treatment would minimise the risk of skin irritation. Obviously I challenged him on this based on our previous conversation. He then revealed that I had been allocated to the Dr who prefers the longer cycle.
By the time I left I had opted for the longer cycle on the basis that it is easier to cancell appointments than to make them but I was hoping that I would get some advice from people who have gone through this.
I asked if there was any way to predict whether or not you were likely to suffer with the skin irritation and he said if you tend to burn in the sun then you are more likely to have a problem. Well.... despite being dark haired (when I have hair - lol!) I have freckley fair skin and burn quite quickly.
I'm going to look for the research that I was told about but I'm also hoping your replies might give me information will help me decide to eaither keep the appointments that have been made or cancel a few in favour of the shorter period.
So.... can anyone tell me - what kind of skin you have (from a tanning perspective) and how did your skin react with the radiotherapy treatment and what period did you have your treatment over?
Thanks,
Noj x
