I had a colostomy beginning of 2024 which was the result of a tumour . This went well and I was coping well with the stomas . I was referred to the oncologist for preventative chemo and had scans. The scan showed a very small nodule on my lung. The third round of chemo was bad with side effects and then I had diarrhea followed by a complete blockage. Ten days in hospital vomitting and no food or drink and lost six kilos in weight. Came out looking anorexic. Had to stop the chemo. Had a scan and it was decided to remove lymph nodes near the nodules and this came back clear. Another scan and now I am to have a biopsy on the still small nodule on my lung. Am feeling worried it will be cancer. The oncologist says I might be able to have radiotherapy as she pointedly says because I don't want chemo. Never a mention of how ill it made me and never any reference to my bowel and the stoma. I hope to have reversal but the lung problem is delaying it.
Has anyone had radiotherapy on lung nodules . I am concerned what this involves .
Hi Needinfo my name is Chelle, and I am the community champion for the Lung cancer forum please do come over and join our group there, I am sure there will be many members that can help to put your mind at ease.
I have a sarcoma called endometrial stromal sarcoma, and I have mets in my lungs. I underwent 5 days of intense radiotherapy, this was primarily for a large tumour that had broken through into my bronchial airway, but it also shrunk some of the nodules further down in my lung. The process is very easy. You lay on a bed and a machine rotates around your body. Your first session they will be marking you up to make sure the beam hits the same spot every time. You just lay still and let them do their work, they will tattoo you with a dot, but this is just ink on a stick, like a cocktail stick, completely painless. The radiotherapy itself is also painless, you don’t feel a thing, it is very much like having an x-ray, you just have to make sure you do not move!
All treatments have side effects, and radiotherapy is no exception. Everyone reacts differently, but the side effects I experienced was extreme tiredness, and a very sore oesophagus. I had a square patch on my chest and an identical one on my back, that looked like sunburn. They give you a cream to help with this. But my oesophagus was also very painful, it was like having sunburn on my insides. So eating solid foods was very difficult and I had a lot of ice cream and ice lollies to help with this. The side effects didn’t start straight away, as time goes on the radiation builds up in your body, and this continues for several weeks after the treatment has finished.
For me radiotherapy gave me my life back. The day I started my treatment I couldn’t even walk half a dozen steps because the tumour was blocking my airway. By the end of the 5 days I was breathing normally and my oxygen levels had returned to 98%.
Hope this helps !
