Refusing further treatment ie radiotherapy

RedTree26 said:

Has anyone else not jumped straight into radiotherapy or thought sod it and watched and waited.

Yes. Have a look at Peter’s profile PFJTHS 

Id noticed and read peters profile and saw he'd been on a watch and wait

Hi RedTree26

Personally I was glad I went onto watchful waiting.  It was my decision fully supported by the MDT.  I got a number of very good years before I had a target worth CRT and the post treatment recovery.  I had great support from my hospital during this period.

I think you are right to suggest getting the full picture before any decisions are made.  We are all different, but if I were 79 I would seriously be thinking about quality of life rather than quantity of life (at all stages I did think that, but the equation changes as you get older)

Happy to have a chat in private messages if that helps you and your dad.

Diagnosed at 68 with head and neck cancer... Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy planned... when told that the treatment would be rough, very rough I was not keen on it...my wife and CNS pulled no punches concerning the alternative...so I just got on with the treatment... glad now that I did.

• Thankyou everyone for responding.Dad is 80 in January and the operation has knocked him for six,plus he's af heart issues too.We see oncology on Monday and he gets a pet scan soon after .I've said we or should I say dad can make a decision after we know more.

Good evening RedTree26, i think a lot of people are a lot more causious of having treatment after operations mainly because there is a better advice and places like this. I did not think about not having it ,i just agreed as i wanted the cancer gone.For me it did not work as it returned a year later so looking back back i think i should have looked into it more, this was in 2008 when i was 48 so i was younger and had younger children plus a mortgage so i think we sort off panicked and went ahead with what was suggested, however i have never regreted what i went through as they stopped the cancer in the end. I agree with you about waiting for the scan results so you can talk about it with your consultant etc. Wishing you all the best,take care and good luck .

                                                                              Chris x

Thankyou ...if dad was younger then you'd want to.throw every treatment at him but his age must be considered ....

Hi there, I had surgery for jaw cancer at 78 and decided against radiotherapy, now four years down the line and never regretted. Discuss fully with dad and support him whatever he decides. All best wishes.

June 

Hi,

I'm new here, but can understand the hesitation.

I had a partial glossectomy and neck insertion.

After the operation things were going well, then they told me I had to have 6 weeks of radiotherapy.

I went along, but after just 5 days quit this therapy.

I had a chat with the radiotherapy team.

They assured me that all would be ok in time, and radiotherapy would decrease my chances of a reoccurrence.

It was not as bad as I imagined, completely ok alongside the radiotherapy prescribed medication.

6 months on the from end of radiotherapy and all is pretty good. Back on solid foods, and energy levels back to pre-cancer levels.

Obviously there is an uncomfortable time to go through, but in my opinion not as bad as imagined.

I am 68 years old.

Hope this helps.

Keith 

Been to oncology long story short told the radiotherapy isn't guaranteed to totally stop the recurrence and laid bare all the rotton side effects....asked about watch and wait and they said yep that is an option too...dad gets a pet scan Thursday and the oncologist says she'll book the radiotherapy appointment stuff because then the wheels are in motion if he goes ahead if he doesn't then they can cancel ...

Big decision to make but it's dad's decision and the family will fully support whatever that is.

Thankyou everyone for sharing you're experiences .