Hi everyone,
I had a radical hysterectomy mid April and have had complications with the incision. I still currently have around a 6cm wide open area being dressed 2-3 times a week which is much better than it was and is no longer infected like it was a few weeks ago.
I've just been told I am cancer free but as it was the glandular type they are putting me forward for 5 weeks of daily treatment followed by a 2 day stay of brachytherapy.
I'm due to go away to celebrate a significant birthday mid July and cancelling means a big loss of funds and letting several people down.
I've read that they can't do radiotherapy on an open wound (which I still have) and I'm wondering what the likelihood is of me being able to go away for my holiday and have the radiotherapy start after? I'm under the impression the radiotherapy is to ensure no cells are left and due to my complications I might need to wait. Has anyone any advice? Similar experiences in terms of wound issues? Advice on how to manage my appointment?
Thank you all in advance 
Hi Get Ya Sq and welcome to our group.
That sounds really nasty for you-I’ve had very small open wounds with small infections after both my surgeries, but nothing on the same scale. However my surgeries were a considerable time after radiotherapy, so I wasn’t in the same position as you’re in.
It’s true that radiotherapy cannot be done with an open wound, and usually it would start around a month to six weeks after surgery once things have healed. As your wound is not yet healed, you will need to check with your doctors about the possible timescale for the treatment to start. The radiotherapy is to hopefully ensure that all the cells, which may not be seen on a scan, are dealt with.
I don’t think any of us would be able to guess whether you would be able to go on holiday as we are all just patients ourselves, but others may be able to tell you about their timings for radiotherapy post hysterectomy. I haven’t read in the group before of anyone having such a large wound still not healed so long post surgery, but it may be that someone has but just not mentioned it before.
I appreciate that you’ll want to go on your trip, and hope you can, but you’ll need to be guided by your doctors.
Sarah xx
