Radiotherapy

Hi Toasty  I know I have spoken to you about radiotherapy and its effects, but have noticed your post hasn’t got any answers here yet. 

It is always thought that surgery would be the 1st option for a cure, but radiotherapy can be just as successful. I guess with surgery you know it is getting fully removed, where with radiotherapy you don’t really know until after the treatment how successful it has been. The radiation stays in your body for months so you won’t be scanned for at least 3 months after the treatment, so you won’t know for a while if it has worked. What has the oncologist said, is there a reason why he has given you this choice and not opted for surgery himself ? 

My consultant wants another scan to see if nodual gets bigger then surgery or radiotherapy I think he is letting me decide as I had op on my other lung last year so will see what he says but I do don't want to go for surgery again but no nothing about radiotherapy and what the pain will be like and how I will feel it's so scary 

Is it ok to get rid of the problem as good as having surgery did yours clear and you are ok now 

Yes I know how scary this all is for you, this is not an easy time and lots for you to think about.  My surgery was done via a bronchoscopy as my tumour was in my bronchial airway which had dropped through from my top right lobe. Unfortunately although they cleared the airway the remaining tumour dropped through again so I had the option for further surgery or radiotherapy. My surgery was relatively easy as I wasn’t opened up it was all done via tube down my throat into the airway, so recovery was easy, but my oncologist decided in the end that radiotherapy would be better as they couldn’t remove the tumour in the lung via a bronchoscopy so would need to be open surgery this time. My cancer is incurable and is being held at bay by hormone treatment, but the tumour that was in my airway is now unmeasurable, it is still there, but too small to get an accurate measurement. Radiotherapy does come with a lot of side effects that I have spoken to you about before, but 10 years on mine is now causing new issues with nerve damage where I had the treatment. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, but I am grateful to still be here to talk about it. There are people who I have spoken too in this group who have had only radiotherapy as their first line treatment, and have gone into remission.

I would talk to your oncologist and say how concerned you are about recovery from surgery, and ask him what he thinks the results of radiotherapy will be. Oncologist are all honest with their advice, sometimes much too blunt and to the point, but they are the experts and we out trust them. 

Thank you so much I will take my consultants advice will text when I know for sure. You have had a rough time so am grateful for your reply I'm sure it's scary for everyone 

My experience- I finished radiotherapy about 4-5 weeks ago. Previously cancer was being treated by tki drugs until it stopped working. The progression was deemed small enough for radiotherapy. Not sure if it was the cause of it, but it most likely played a part, in getting pneumonia. Just spent a week in hospital and don’t feel much better now I’m out with oxygen levels low so still suffering shortness of breath. Despite having stage 4 lung cancer for two years it’s the first infection I’ve had since (bar a bout of covid)  and I can only put it down to the radiation causing further lung damage.