Starting chemo radiotherapy next week

I had the same as you. The therapy itself is painless, more of a drag having to go every day. I found tiredness a problem. They'll give you creams and stuff for your skin, and I didn't have too much of a problem with that. I only had real pain when I wee'd and pooed, and that was after treatment. It only lasted a few days and I had morphine to help me at that point.

However, everyone is different and yours could be worse or better, but it's worth it. 

This is a highly treatable cancer, I was lucky enough to get the all clear at the three month scan.

Best of luck xx

Hi AKB82  and a warm welcome to our group although I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. This type of cancer tends to be slow growing and has a good treatment success rate. The  treatment regime you are having is the 'gold standard' in the UK.   

The radiotherapy can be quite time consuming in terms of the travel, unless you live close to your treating hospital. The actual radiotherapy itself is only of a short duration, mine was about 8 minutes each session.  I wore a dress each time that I could pull up which cut down on changing clothes time. The side effects of radiotherapy build up, I felt the effects from about week 4, which were diarrhoea and tiredness.  However, some people go the other way and become constipated. I took loperamide for the diarrhoea. For pain I took ibuprofen. Just be a bit careful using ibuprofen and any opioid pain killers as they can make you constipated.

It is important to tell the nurses of any side effects as there are lots of ways they can be alleviated, eg anti-sickness, anti-diarrhoea medications and so on. It will also help if you moisturise your skin from day one of treatment, 100% aloe vera gel (alcohol free) is helpful but don't apply creams right before your radiotherapy session.     Others on here have used different creams .  Two that have been recommended are StrataXRT Gel  and Instillagel.      The radiotherapy staff are brilliant when it comes to recommending creams.   

I found treatment to be about 50% better than I had expected.  Going to the toilet was painful for a few weeks but going over water helps enormously.     You can get a sitz bath/bidet bowel, which is a special bowel filled with water that you can put in the toilet to relieve the pain of going.    Water wipes can also be much better than using toilet paper. I used to shower off with cool water then have a salt bath immediately after going to the toilet. I used plain table salt but you can also use epsom salts. Salt baths were my saviour, I would have 2-3 a day.  I would have lukewarm baths so as not to aggravate the skin that had been radiated.   I did not get radiation blisters, my skin only peeled very slightly. It went pink and that was it, the external skin was not sore.   My pubic hair fell out but I wasn't bothered about that and it grew back.  

There's lots of helpful tips and hints that we all share on here so please ask away whenever you need to. Bev x

Thank you for your reply. This has really reassured me and I’m so happy you now have the all clear! Did you have any side effects from the chemo tablets? xx

Thank you Bev that’s really useful to know, I just want to get cracking now with the treatment and hopefully the side effects won’t be too intense xx

Hi  AKB82 the chemo tablets were fine for me. I also had a one off infusion on day one of treatment (Mitomycin). This made me feel sick but I took the anti nausea tablets and wasn't actually sick. The nausea stopped after a few days and no other  side effects  x

Hi - I always took the sickness pill with the chemo pill every day, and I didn't have any nausea. Following treatment, I'm noticing a lot more hair in my comb, but it doesn't notice and I'm sure it will stop soon. xx

Hi I was going to use aloe Vera alcohol free I got some off Amazon ready because it was suggested by someone on here (sorry can’t remember who) but was told by the nurses not too as it will dry the skin out more and make it worse ( I started itching like cream and was told to use E45) also not to use salt or Epsom salt as it will dry the skin out and make it worse. It’s so hard knowing what the best is ti do as it’s helped this lady button our skins are all unique and may alway depend what medication you are already on if any xx 

1. Hi just found this online xx 

Hello Amanda, welcome to our site. I would say most they came on here found all the different advice bewildering as we are all so very different on hour we react to the treatment. I was one of the people who decided to use a gel called StrataXRT which you can purchase online and use from day on every day and after during radiotherapy. This invisible gel stays on the skin even during actual treatment. This was okayed by my treatment team which I think is very important to let them know what you are using. I used a sitz bath even during bowel movements as you can get pretty sore down there and it helps with the discomfort. The chemo tablets can give you cystitis symptoms so drink lots of fluids. It’s winter now but I wore harem trousers and very soft boxer stretchy cotton knickers one size up. As people here have said, your treatment team can advise on what creams to use. Unfortunately I had a reaction to a lot of different healing creams and it was pretty much trial and error. I started to feel sore around the fifth/sixth week and became increasingly so when treatment stopped as the effects are still doing their work. But at least I didn’t have the daily travel to and from hospital and could just relax at home. Pain relief was two hourly ibuprofen and paracetamol alternating plus morphine. Some on here were able to cope with just over the counter pain relief but if you need more then take it. My team insisted that I took sufficient pain relief and not suffer and I would not become addicted. I am 18 months post treatment and remember well how I was feeling at the beginning. This site is a absolute godsend for those dealing with the treatment and side effects. Ask anything as there will always be someone who has gone through it.

Hi thank you so much for the advice. I will take each day as it comes and consult the nurses should I need to. I’ve ordered a sitz bath following everybody’s advice and will stock up on loose clothing etc. I really do appreciate all the advice and tips xx