Help & advice chemo radiotherapy

Hi Martin G68,

Firstly I’d like to welcome you to the online community although I’m sorry I’m sorry you find yourself here. 

I’m sorry you’re so uncomfortable & it sounds as though you’ve been  this way for some time. During/after treatment I couldn’t take any opiate based painkillers as they constipated me terribly, this included anything morphine based or anything containing codeine, I ended up alternating paracetamol & ibuprofen 2 hourly for pain relief. Regarding creams I was given QV cream (similar to an aqueous cream) by my radiotherapy team which kept things really well moisturised as well as acting as a bit of a barrier. Once things began getting sore I was prescribed Flaminal cream which is generally used on burns & after treatment had finished I was given Flamazine which is similarly a burns cream but contains silver therefore can’t be used alongside radiotherapy. Maybe if you ask your radiotherapy team at your next session if they could advise something that would act as a bit of a barrier to stop the irritation. Also I know it sounds pretty simple but have you tried taking salt baths? This was where I was most comfortable especially when things began getting a bit sore. I know it was mentioned to me that if I suffered diarrhoea during treatment to eat a bland ‘white’ diet but I swung completely the opposite way & really had to up my fibre intake & take softeners to help keep things moving! It’s a bit of trial & error where diets concerned but I would imagine with your restriction you’d want to keep things on the softer side. 

My tumour was removed surgically prior to treatment but I know some members that have had larger tumours have said that once they got into their treatment they noticed their tumour shrinking so hopefully this will also be the case with you especially with it being so obstructive, don’t panic if this doesn’t happen straight away though as the radiotherapy continues working for quite some months  after your final session having said that the healing process once your symptoms have peaked happens really quite quickly too. 

I hope this helps a little, any more questions you have please don’t hesitate to ask you’ll find lots of people on here that have been through this disease/treatment & we’re more than willing to help & support you through this. 

Nicola 

Hi Martin G68 - so sorry you find yourself here and are having to go through this. I went through treatment last November and December. I had a large tumor that couldn't be taken out surgically so went through radiation and chemo. I could take opioid pain killers - constipation was never an issue for me - and I needed them as I was in a great deal of pain from the tumor and then from the treatment. I used a prescription burn cream and did a lot of sitz baths. I bought one of those kind that fits on the toilet seat and you fill it with warm water. I used it several times a day. I wore loose sweat pants and lounged on the sofa on a soft cushion. That was my only spot in the house for over 5 months - this included two months before even I got my diagnosis.  My doctor had me on that low residue diet, rice, white bread, applesauce etc. Diarrhea was my biggest problem all through treatment. My skin did burn and when the dead skin was gone, new skin was there.  I guess my only advice would be to ask your oncologist what he suggests for pain and use it as you need it. Even though I was on opioid pain killers for awhile, I was able to get off of them relatively quickly. I'm now about 4 months post treatment.   I hope you can find ways to manage the pain and get through your treatment. Be kind to yourself and keep your mind distracted. Me? During that time I binge-watched my favorite tv shows and colored in coloring books. Partly because the pain killers dulled my thinking and partly because that's all the energy I had. 

It is no easy process but you can do this. Stay connected to this forum. There is so much empathy here.