Radiotherapy

Hi SusiQ , I had 15 sessions of radiotherapy back in January 2019. Re how you might feel…. Like so many treatments, everyone is different. I did feel very tired, but was already a month into taking Anastrozole so it’s always hard to know what is causing what. There are people who work during rads but I wasn’t one of them! I stayed off sick (with my school’s blessing) for 4 months in total, from the day of my op to a month after rads finished. Some people say radiotherapy feels ‘easy’ compared to chemo (which I didn’t have). But a close friend who had both found the rads far harder! So sadly it really is a case of seeing how it affects you. I walked every day after my session, even if it was in the dark. I’d heard that light exercise was helpful. And walking became my sanity saver! I also lay on my bed airing my breast when I got home, as I did get quite red underneath my breast. And I moisturised 3 times a day, but never within 2 hours of a session as that was advised by the rads team. Washing was very gentle with unscented soap with no ‘nasties’. And patted dry, no rubbing. The other advice from a member here was to keep very well hydrated. So I drank plenty when I woke up and treated myself to a cafe visit for a hot drink after each session. It was an hour’s drive each way so it took up a lot of the day but I was lucky not to have to work through that time. Unless work is your sanity saver, which it is for some folk, or a financial necessity, then I’d say try to take whatever time you need. I stopped wearing bras about half way through and just wore a crop top, to try to avoid any pressure or rubbing from seams. It was also easy just to pull down in the treatment room (there were no changing rooms or gowns at my centre, you just took top stuff off and left it on a chair.) 

I think that’s all! Oh and I took up offers of help with lifts during the last couple of weeks. It was nice not always to be driving and the company was lovely too. 
Good luck with it all! Love and hugs, HFxx 

Happy feet had said it really well

i had the same. 2 weeks ago

i found the physical effects really ok. Like sunburn. But red spotty and itchy. That’s now defo mending and turning brown…… literally like sun burn

like happy feet I exercised all the way through. Infact did a 5k race immediately after my last session- felt great!

and then……2 weeks after….. hit the wall!! Very tired and massively emotional. Tears tears tears…… fed up with saying “I’m ok” and being brave. Sad and scared.

once I’d let it all Out I felt loads better. Now just going to take a massive chill pill and recover……

I think I thought because I hadn’t had chemo I had no legitimate reason to feel sorry for myself. Learning to be a bit kinder to myself as I’ve still had cancer and still have to deal with the terror of it recurring

ok gone off topic! Sorry! Anyway radio is ok. Don’t be scared. But it is a lot nevertheless so don’t belittle it like I did. It did me no favours 

Thank you for that. It's so easy to play down the radiotherapy, because it's chemo that we all dread the most. I was so relieved when the onco dx results came back and there was to be no chemo. I expected 5 sessions of radiotherapy, so was totally shocked when I was told 15. Tbh I'm not sure I will manage it. Thank you for the heads up

Hi SusiQ,

I had 20 sessions of radiotherapy back in August and i am still feeling the affects of it, with constant pain and soreness in my breast and i was having shooting pains and burning sensations which is all quite normal.  I am taking pregabalin for the nerve pain.  I feel constantly tired and doing things means i need to take a nap.  The actual radiotherapy sessions are quite short, but i think after the second week i found them hard to tolerate, mentally and physically.  Sometimes i would be lying down waiting for the machines to come over me and i would be crying, but i got through it and you will too.  Everyone is different and hopefully you don't have any late effect symptoms x

Omg that sounds awful. Poor you. How much longer do they think you will be in pain and is yours a particularly bad reaction to the radiotherapy?

Hi SusiQ 

I'm another one having had radiotherapy a long time ago (over 7 years since diagnosis) and at that point there wasn't the option of 5 days.  

As happyfeet says, everyone's different but I was perfectly fine with it.  I had to drive 30 miles each way to the centre and continued working.  We even went away at the weekends to give me something to look forward to at the end of each week!

I did have some radio burning at the end of week 2 but although not nice, wasn't horrendous and healed up a few days after the end of radio.

The key I found was drinking to avoid the fatigue.  I went at the same time of day as 2 other ladies. 2 of us drank a lot and the other 2 not much at all.  The non drinkers suffered very badly with fatigue and the other 2 of us were fine.  They do advise you to drink lots of fluids, but I drank loads and loads and loads and I feel sure it made a big difference.  They'll tell you about creams to use - an aloe vera GEL from H&B is a good one to use.  Also, they'll say not to use antiperspirant, but H&B advised me and I bought a natural one that was fine to use - no issues.

I would have stopped using the gel on week three under my breast as this is where I burned and my bra strap rubbed, so that is the only thing I would have done differently.

Hope this helps a little,

Best wishes, Lesley

Lesley,

thank you for your answer. Wow you have given me a real boost and a far more positive outlook. I think it's important to know what can go wrong, but it's too easy to get bogged down with the negatives.

Thank you again

Sue

Hi SusiQ

You will get through this. For a start, you've reached out to this forum, which is full of kind people who have an idea of what you're going through and want to support you all the way.

My surgeon indicated I would have only 5 sessions of radiotherapy, which I was really pleased about. Then my oncologist said it would be 15 sessions, and she wished surgeons wouldn't give opinions on areas outside their expertise ! 

As other folk have said, everyone's experience of radiotherapy is different. Physically, I was fine. I followed all the guidelines about using their special creams, which they gave me on day 1. My left breast turned a bit pink and then brown, but it didn't burn or get painful. 

About 2 weeks after it ended, I felt very tired. I was glad I'd been advised, by my local Maggie's Centre, not to plan to do anything within a month of finishing treatment. We had a friend staying for a week. She happens to be a nurse, and was very understanding of my opting out of activities and just going to sleep in the afternoon. 

This is a time to put YOU first. That can be hard for a lot of women, but I think it's really important. Please give yourself permission to rest when you need to, eat when you feel like it, and forget the hoovering   

Mentally, I struggled. I can tell you more about that if you're interested, but I think this post has gone on long enough. 

Be gentle with yourself   

Thank you for your reply. I have a start date now and to be honest the sooner the better. I am interested in your mental struggle, because I am Bipolar and have BPD. I am starting to struggle looking at the scar. It shocks me when I see it.

Hi SusiQ.
I finished 25 rounds of radiotherapy on the 10th October, 5 days a week for 5 weeks. 
I found the treatment itself a breeze, hardly no side effects at all. Only now that I’ve finished the treatment has the fatigue and discomfort really hit me (my tumour is resting on my hip and therefore the radiation has been hitting my hipbone) however I am also struggling to sleep (probably stress more than anything) so that of course doesn’t help. 
If could go back in time, I would have definitely stayed active throughout treatment rather than sitting on my behind doing nothing out of fear of being exhausted! People talk about losing weight with cancer but I’ve been quite the opposite, I’ve gained weight from sitting doing nothing and eating rubbish (mostly through feeling sorry for myself ) 
Happy to answer any questions if you have any! 
I wish you the best of luck x