Radiotherapy Wellbeing Benefits

Yes you are right in both respects Sandberg

Only thing was didn't miss my daily visits but there were a couple of interesting people to chat with.

It was good to be able to chat with someone about issues during RT as well

Regards

Steve 

Hello Rob

Am am 100% in agreement with you there. My Radiologists were great - checking on my health and wellbeing each day. Putting me at ease on the "sunbed" and teaching me how the radiotherapy worked.

At the end of the 20 fractions like you I missed the chat with other cancer patients and felt "lost" after daily visits to the hospital.

Best wises - Brian.

Hello Sandberg and welcome to the forum.  As i had my 20 sessions on the sun bed for prostate caner apart from the early difficulties of urine retention, i found the experience a good one, Like you i found the radiography team, very helpful, caring and supportive. One time i needed a catheter in and one of them stopped with me, in another department, for a hour while they tried to fit one. Also as my cancer meant i had to drink then wait 40 minutes before treatment so we got to know most of our fellow patients and their friends. One couple became good friends who we see every month, we started doing a quiz with this couple and pretty soon nearly everyone was joining in, it was still going on my last visit. take care, Eddie

Rob, agree with you totally on both your points.  For me, not just during RT but the rest of my treatment I have found the NHS staff caring and professional. 
However, I had 37 sunbed sessions and was not sad when it finished!  Good luck with your journey. David

Hi Sandberg

My experience was very similar to yours. The waiting room was the highlight of the whole process. After a few sessions, where everyone was feeling their way, it became like a social club. Laughs were very regular, both with the 'inmates' and also the staff. Not sure it would have been quite as much fun under the covid regime mind you!

Regards

Stuart

We had an awful experience getting through urology and when we were passed on to oncology we were expecting the worst! How wrong we were! Everything was so well organised! My husband was treated as a human being and not a product on a conveyer belt. The team were professional and very very caring. I rarely went into the waiting room but when I did I did not notice much cameraderie. What I did notice though was that there were a lot of people who were in a much worse state than we were! For me, the most special of moments was seeing my husband ringing the bell after the last session!

we walked out that day knowing this was the first day of the rest of our lives and wondering what on earth we were going to do with ourselves and all the spare time we now had without all those hospital appointments!

then we went on a spending spree …. New car an, a holiday, treats etc! 

as I have said elsewhere here today, the experience alters your whole outlook on life……

I agree with you Rob that the technicians are brilliant and they soon learnt that my husband has a wicked sense of humour so played along to make the session on the sunbed as easy as possible. Hubby had 33 sessions and they could tell that he was beginning to struggle towards the end so did everything they could to get him over the finish line. Being expats it generated a lot of interest with the other recipients and their supporters in the waiting room so the time always passed quickly. My husband's treatment was in the autumn of 2020 so right at the height of the COVID shutdown and we had to get government permission to travel out of our village and carry passes with us to be on the road so definitely challenging but people were so helpful in making things go smoothly for us.

We’ve just got home from hubby’s last session on the sunbed today and agree with everything being said on this thread. Once you get into the routine you soon get used to your Groundhog days and the sessions fly by, greatly assisted by the regular faces in the waiting room and the friendly and helpful staff who are keen to make sure each patient is as comfortable and supported as possible. Having medical staff to speak to each day is reassuring and nothing seems to phase them. Even the free parking was a bonus….once we found a space of course…

Thankfully hubby has coped really well, with few side effects so we are now looking forward to life without hospital trips for as long as possible. As his first PSA check is not till February we think a little holiday in January will be a good start to our new found freedom. Also time to start planning Christmas.

I hope everybody else’s radiotherapy experience is as positive as ours. We certainly have no regrets about choosing the HT/RT route and we can’t thank the wonderful NHS teams enough.

Hello Roselover  Thank you for your positive post.

It's great when things go to plan - although you will find a "void" in your life next week when you don't need to rush off to the "sunbed shop".

I wish you well and hope he's fine - as you say back to reality now - Christmas and a holiday - I can't fault you.

Here's to a low PSA test in February too  .

Best wishes - Brian.