Radiotherapy

Hi Sparkle498uk , I’ve never seen a post here to say that cancer was found from the radiotherapy CT scan. But I had the same fear as you. I think we have a heightened awareness and fear of what could be found from any tests/ scans, once we’ve had a cancer diagnosis.

In the event it was pretty straightforward. I had 3 weeks of rads back in 2019 when that was the norm. In my case, I walked into the treatment room each day fully clothed, then took my top off once in. Some places give you a gown to get changed into in advance. But as far as I’m aware, everyone has a bare upper half for the actual zapping. It doesn’t take long, and I must say after a few days it felt vaguely normal to be doing this as the staff are doing it all the time. So it just feels like what happens. The radiographers were lovely and chatted to me while getting everything (including me) in the right position. The zapping itself is pretty quick though I can’t remember the actual timing. 
What I did factor in was a little treat each day - nothing exciting, just a green tea before the session if I had time, or a coffee afterwards if I’d not had time for the tea before. 
Do you know yet how many sessions you’ll have? I ticked each one off on my calendar, and noted each day what proportion I’d done. Half way through felt like a real achievement! And really it flew by. Xx

Hi, honestly you really don’t need to worry, I found the staff very professional and will do their very best to make you feel at ease, cover you with a paper cloth and chat to you or not as you will. They aren’t in the room with you anyway and instruct you over the intercom when and how to breathe and hold your breath. I was concerned at how long you have to hold your breath, as I was getting over COVID when I started, but I coped ok. 

Ensure you moisturise well afterwards, I slathered on Aveeno and didn’t really get more than a teeny bit pink just in the area my bra went round. 

The main thing is the time it all takes, depending on how long your journey is, mine was almost 2 hours each way whichever route. 

hugs xxx

Thanks so much for this. I find out on Thurs how many sessions I will need. Oncologist seemed to think 15 which is a lot  the recent fast forward trial found 5 sessions as effective as 15 so I will see what they say about that. 

Thank you for the reassurance. I have plenty of Aveeno in so will use that. 

Yeah it’s not easy practically wise is it. My hospital is about 20 mins away so not too far but still not a good route for traffic. 

Oh, and my rads was just over a year ago, 15 sessions over 3 weeks. And continue doing those shoulder exercises!

hugs xxx