Radiotherapy soon

Look into hospital transport service perhaps. I had 5 weeks of external pelvic radiotherapy and my macmillan nurse helped organise transport by volunteer red cross drivers. They were lovely. I would have struggled with the treatment otherwise. Family and friends were pretty much always at work, bus was not really an option due to timetables and due to side effects etc. Had recently finished chemo and the radiotherapy caused upset stomach and nausea. I do not drive myself but would not have felt fit enough to do so. Everyone is different but it might be worth checking. If I had not been entitled to help from the red cross my next step was to contact GP surgery to ask about Village agents support-basically volunteers

Thank you for the reply it’s very helpful

I felt completely fine to drive for radiotherapy, but I did manage to get a satellite radiotherapy centre about 25 mins drive from me.

Two hour's driving each day for three weeks will be tiring, so if it is your closest centre, I'm wondering if you can ask your oncologist about the compressed radiotherapy option? I had this as it was during covid and I had 5 days treatment to the whole breast and I had to have 5 days of a booster to the scar area as my lump had been next to my chest wall - not everyone needs the booster session.

5 or even 10 days driving would be more manageable than 15.

Thank you for your reply, it’s really helpful. I had not heard of that before, I have an appointment next Wednesday and will mention it then

They were really lovely the drivers- a lot of them were older people who had been affected by cancer and wanted to give something back. They picked me up from my front door and i could not have done it without them. I had no option but to have 25 sessions so I don't know how on earth I would have done it without them. All the drivers were well known at the hospital where I had my treatment and were happy to help. They understand that it is difficult for so prolonged treatment. My chemo days were far easier in a way as I had to be there 8-5 which fitted in with family going to work. The radiotherapy appts were about an hour each day/ plus weekly oncology meetings and they were all at different times which made it more difficult. Also did not feel well enough to wait around after treatments especially at the end. I hope you are able to access the help. The hospital should be able to give you a number for patient transport 

My experience was each day took 3-4 hours from leaving home to getting back- I had to be there early for preparation before treatment. The actual radio in the room took around 5-10 mins only. It was tiring but once you get into a routine it goes quicker than you think it will. 

Thank you x