 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
have posted on here before regarding being diagnosed with trachea cancer (windpipe)on christmas eve. well my mass (squatters) has now been removed and the clean up begins.
have had 2x 3week cycles of chemo which was a little ruff have now been told they are moving me onto cisplatin and tablets with radio therapy over 6weeks
the information i need from those that have been through it is how it effects you.my main concerns are the tiredness i have done nearly all my hospital treatments on my own and would like to do the radio therapy also on my own but i will need to drive to and from the hospital,also i have retuned to work between treatments will this be possible with the radio therapy or am i looking at a roller coaster ride.
thanks for any useful advise.
Most patients receive radiotherapy as outpatients and many manage to drive and work as normal. The main side effects you may experience is a cough and possibly difficulty swallowing. These side effects are hard to predict as they will depend on many things individual to you but they will be gradual and therefore many patients find them easier to manage. They usually take approximately 10-14days to appear, and likewise the treatment carries on working for approximately the same amount of time after you finish treatment.
Some patients experience tiredness but it is more often than not because you need to drink plenty to flush out the toxins caused as the treatment kills off cells on your body. You sound to have coped well with your chemo as your are back to work already so I would expect you to tolerate radiotherapy well. However the best advice will be to listen to your body and rest as needed.
Hope this helps but your radiotherapy team will give you plenty of advice and support as you progress through the six weeks. It's important to tell them how you feel that way they can give you appropriate care to ease and symptoms you may have.
Good luck
Mrs Scud
Ps I'm a therapy radiographer
Went through 6 weeks of RT. Other end of the body though (prostate). Worked part time through the whole thing. Worked in the mornings RT in the afternoon. Kept driving no problem. Kept biking for 3 out of the 6 weeks, but started to feel it a bit for the last three so rested more. The radiotherapy team were wonderful and as Mrs Scud says ask them for advice, they'll be very happy to help.
Good luck with everything.
My experience was that it it was a walk in the park compared to chemo.
It was a bit tiring but that was probably just due to the daily routine of driving to and from the hospital. The actual procedure tAkes only a few seconds and is completely painless. Side effects were "sunburn" over the treated area which was treated with a moisturising cream and also damage to my gullet which made swallowing difficult. I was given some medicine which helped with this so I could eat properly. Overall, not too bad at all and certainly no problem driving myself to the hospital for treatment. Much, much easier than chemo!
Hope it all goes well for you too.
I had radio iodine treatments which I don't think are anywhere near as bad but they were fine. Worst bit was having to stay away from people for prolonged periods of time. I was fine driving etc although I think side effects were tiredness and sore throat
thanks for that guys and girls, as mine is the throat have been told swallowing is going to be an issue so liquidizer is on standby. possibly will not like hot food.have lost half my hair already so they are not having any more
chemo and me never got on but as a good friend said its chemo or a box when i thought of it like that i got on with it "thanks ray"
have to wait for a scan first then wait to be called in
off for a peaks ride saturday before it all starts