hi, two weeks ago I had what they tell me is a big dose of radiotherapy to the cancer in my femur, sacrum and pelvis. Since then I seem to have gone through a whole range of symptoms. From about day 3 the pain started but they gave me oro morph which helped me to cope and I have cut that down now to just bedtime
Then I started getting problems with my bowels, which has been really miserable although I’m hoping it has started to ease a bit.
What I never know these days is what is caused by the cancer, by the radiotherapy or by the drugs. I did call Triage at the weekend, who said to leave off the rbicyclib for a couple of days but I decided against that in the end as my tummy had settled a little bit.
Is there anyone else out there who has had this level of radiotherapy?
I am sorry you are struggling with this MissMolly . I have only had radiotherapy to my breast but I regard it as the gift that keeps giving as I still have fluid in the area and stiffness almost 4 years on. I also had months of bowel trouble thanks to immunotherapy and high dose steroids. Our bodies suffer a lot, I think almost every body part I have has “taken one for the team”. It’s the price of survival when you have stage 4 cancer. Triage is the right port of call when you have issues, and I am glad it has settled a bit. I hope it stays that way.
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Hi Miss Molly
I am sorry to hear that you have been having some tough effects from your radiotherapy treatments.
I had pelvic radiotherapy in 2022- 25 sessions. Bowel effects can be very common, especially in the early days. Mine started from the first week and continued. After radiotherapy they did continue for around a month but then started to slowly improve. Sometimes pelvic radiotherapy symptoms can be helped with dietary changes and I would advise checking with you doctors about this. They can also offer medication that can help- I had 4 different types in the end and that along with a bland and light diet did help get things more manageable.
During treatment I was told to contact radiotherapists at any point with any concerns/symptoms regarding the radiotherapy. Perhaps give triage a call again if you are still struggling.
I know what you mean about not knowing what is caused by the cancer and what is caused by the treatments. I know for me that the radiotherapy side effects were more challenging than the effects from chemo and surgery.
I hope that things settle for you. I remember them saying to me that the radiotherapy is continuing to work for a few weeks after the last treatment and that any healthy cells that have been affected can take a few weeks to recover and go through their normal growth cycle.
Jane
