Radiotherapy ?

[gbb]

Anyone had, or know anyone who's had it ?
My wife had it ( brain radiotherapy) ) a few weeks ago and while the first week or so was like nothing happened.. then a lethargy tiredness set in thats all consuming. I liken it (from the outside) to like having double flu...for weeks on end. She says she feels like she's dying it's so bad.

She was warned of after effects, but the intensity of it has surprised us.
It's compounded by the steroids she had to take have decimated her legs so even walking upstairs is a real challenge.
Shes going to contact Addenbrookes soon...anyone out there had it, normal?, extreme ?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Hi @gbb, sorry to hear your wife is not taking to well to the radiotherapy.
I had 15 sessions in 2020, to the breast.
I had no side effects, indeed I cycled the 16 mile round trip to all my sessions.
Of course, brain radiotherapy is totally different.
While I was having my treatment, I chatted to other patients (throat, cervical, others I can't recall), that were not so lucky.
Everyone is different, the radiation team will be able to advice.

 

[Drago]

My Mum's feller recently had radio as part of his prostate cancer treatment, but he's a bell end and I've not asked him how it went as that would mean speaking to him. He's still alive though.

 

[Leadballoon]

It's really hard but I think completely normal (I had 6 weeks of RT for head and neck cancer just over 5 years ago).
I was warned that it's a particularly gruelling treatment around the head area and that unfortunately the effects are cumilative and will continue to build for a couple of weeks after the treatment before things start to improve.

I know it feels like it's never going to end. Tired cliche I know but it really is a day by day thing. Best wishes to you both.

 

[annedonnelly]

I think everyone has different symptoms. Like Pat I had none.

I don't think it helps that you have to travel to the hospital every day either.

I hope she gets some good advice and that the symptoms wear off soon.

 

[oldwheels]

My eldest son had radiotherapy many years ago and nobody has denied he was overdosed which led eventually to heart problems which killed him some years later.
I do not blame anybody as it was still in it's infancy and they were doing their best for another unrelated condition.
Things have moved on since then so I do not wish to frighten anybody. The past has gone.

 

[derrick]

Had radio and chemo,not nice still suffering a few years down the line, not from the cancer,first couple of weeks were not to bad, but after 6 weeks of both, did not feel good, but still alive and kicking. and i am still riding.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

the effects are cumilative and will continue to build for a couple of weeks after the treatment before things start to improve.

True: I forgot to say that 3 months after finishing treatment my boob suddenly started throbbing
This lasted for 3 months!

I don't think it helps that you have to travel to the hospital every day either.

It was a bit tiring for me because every day I had to spend at least 2 hours in the waiting area.
I had an allocated time, but I was never called in at that time.

 

[annedonnelly]

True: I forgot to say that 3 months after finishing treatment my boob suddenly started throbbing
This lasted for 3 months!

It was a bit tiring for me because every day I had to spend at least 2 hours in the waiting area.
I had an allocated time, but I was never called in at that time.

Yeah, that adds to the stress of the whole event. I was lucky that I was able to opt for very early appointments so they were less likely to be running late.

And not everyone is lucky enough to have their own transport to get there and have to wait around for ambulance transport or buses. You can do without all of that when you're ill anyway.

Hopefully Mrs @gbb is starting to feel a bit better.

 

[gbb]

My eldest son had radiotherapy many years ago and nobody has denied he was overdosed which led eventually to heart problems which killed him some years later.
I do not blame anybody as it was still in it's infancy and they were doing their best for another unrelated condition.
Things have moved on since then so I do not wish to frighten anybody. The past has gone.

Liked because I don't actually know how to put a hugs emoji in which is far more appropriate. Thanks sincerely for the reply...

 

[gbb]

In some way, I guess my wife is lucky, while we had quite a few trips to Addenbrookes, there was only one bout of RT, albeit quite extensive to cover one large lesion, three small ones two were left as below the threshold.
Couple the RT with the effects of heavy steroid medication and somewhere among it, she's now suffering from Type 1 diabetes...its a perfect physical storm of negatives.

Talking to a guy I see regularly, he had 6 months of RT and Chemo. Christ almighty ?

 

[gbb]

Well, around 5 weeks after RT, my wife's been out today, perhaps her first outing in 4 weeks. Dog tired afterwards but it's a step in the right direction.
Poor thing she piled in the weight with steroids prior to the RT then over the last month, now she's shed weight so fast her clothes look terrible on her.
Also her blood sugars have stabilised. They were in the 20s, occasionally the 30s, now sitting around 10 or 13 most days. Still too high but stable.
Small steps but at last a positive one .

 

[MidnightRider]

The person I live with had 6 months of chemo/radio. He was very rough after the first set of chemo and they reduced the dose the next time. The aim was to reduce his tumour pre surgery, it was too close to his spine to do the op until it was shrunk. It had already gone to his local lymph glands.

At the end of his 6 months he was given a whole load of MRI scans, CT, camera searches, blood testing. The staff went into shock and called other staff to check the camera scan, as the large tumour was not to be seen, nor the small ones. They had used a fairly recent treatment drug for chemo. There was much debate between Bristol and Exeter hospitals (cancer specialists), if to do some kind of precautionary op even though nothing could be found anywhere by then. He went for the being closely monitored 'wait and see' option as if it came back he could still have an op.

He had stage 4 cancer. He has been completely cancer clear for over 2 years now and never had any kind of operation or follow up treatment and they have now reduced the monitoring to every 6 months, just as a precaution. It will be reduced again before all that long.

Some of the time during treatment he felt very rough, but was lucky in that some are much worse. He still has phases of getting tired, but 99% of his life other than that is back to normal. I wanted you and your wife to know sometimes amazing things happen, so keep plodding on. This year he has been all over the country visiting friends etc, either driving himself or on trains, no issues with any of it.

A colleagues father in law also had life ending cancer and was given more recently created chemo treatments and when scanned, his had vanished too and as far as I am aware (she left our work after a couple of years) it never came back. Things have moved on a lot with modern targeted treatments. The experience may be misery now, but think of the large number of good years to come in exchange for now.

Wishing you both the very best.