Radiation

I used to get very breathless for a time after finishing radiotherapy whenever I went for a walk. It took some time but it does not happen now. It is important to keep on walking short distances though to help build up your stamina again and assist with your recovery. Go to your medical team and ask about the breathlessness if it really worries you just to discount any other issues. 

Lyn

I thought it was something to do with the radiation because he didn’t happen before yes that is good advice. I am gonna keep walking and it’ll get better.

Just be patient as it takes a while after radiotherapy to overcome the side effects. The fatigue was the worst I found but all good now. 

Lyn

And I know everybody is different How long did it take you to get better after radiation? A lot of people has told me two years.

Hidden Valley said:

And I know everybody is different How long did it take you to get better after radiation? A lot of people has told me two years.

I've just had a look through your old posts. It seems you had RT for throat cancer in June last year. (it would help if you could put a brief description of what you had and when in your profile so that anybody replying can tailor their response.

So. We never get totally better. By a year I was more my normal self but improvements continued for years after that. How is the lymphodema and trismus that you reported earlier? 

nearly seven years on I still get the odd ulcer and just recently I have been plagued with a burning throat and tongue. I felt rubbish for a few days so presume that it's a normal viral throat exacerbated by my weakness there. 

As a result I've had to take a holiday from the Duraphat for a while

Hi Hidden Valley. I don't know if it makes a difference where the radiation was aimed at. Mine was aimed at my jaw so different to yours. It took me about a year before I felt I was back to feeling on top of things although I was left with side effects. Dry mouth, taste changes, trismus mainly although I do tire faster than I used to but that is maybe down to my age now(72).  I work around that and take things in bite sized chunks when doing a job now. That works fine for me. 

Lyn

How do I put that in my profile?

Hidden Valley said:

How do I put that in my profile?

Explanation is here 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/a/help-pages/HP26/how-do-i-edit-my-profile

Oh, you’re saying I am not gonna get any better?

I'm not saying that you are not going to get any better. I'm saying that it takes time to recover from radiotherapy.Everyone is different. Some recover with virtually no side effects and others to varying degrees. Each of us are so individual that it is hard to say what the outcome will be. I am just saying what my side effects are but they may not be the same as yours. I have learned to live with my 'new normal' and am living a happy life. I have additional side effects as a result of my ops (I have had 3 over time plus 2 lots of radiotherapy) so my side effects are more than some. However I still enjoy every day and what it brings me. I have not let it stop me from doing the things I want to do. I just problem solve if needed to work out a different way of going about things and that has worked well for me. 

Stay positive. Adapting to changes if needed take time.

Lyn