radiotherapy continuation

Everyone I met had weekly blood tests to check on levels of various scientific ingredients our blood cells should have, which can be affected temporarily by treatment. I don't think it's anything to worry about, but maybe the Vampire nurse will answer your questions and allay your fears! It's great that your husband is doing well. Tiredness and loss of apetite again are absolutely par for the course. All best wishes to you both! xx Penny

Penny, thanks so much. I'll sleep better tonight!
I'm so grateful you answered me.

Dear Pusspins,

I was wondering how hubby was getting along and am very pleased he is progressing quite well. A bit of weight loss is quite natural, chances are he will soon start adding weight following completion of his treatment. In my case my weight increased considerably up from 12 stone peaking at over 15stone - complete new wardrobe only to now myself back to my normal weight of 12 stone 4 lbs - anyone looking for size 36/38" trousers?

As for Tests be they blood , urine or what have you they are necessary to ensure that your body is fit enough to take the attack which it is going to be subjected to, be that Chemo or Radiotherapy - remember and especially in the case of Chemo the chemicals attack all cells within your body - good and bad, but they will always seek out the cells that are multiplying the quickest i.e. Cancer Cells first, despite this it is inevitable that some good cells are also destroyed which is where the importance of blood counts etc really come in to play. Providing your counts are at a certain level they will recover very quickly however if a certain count is already low and then further cells are knocked out by treatment your bodies "self healing" powers are reduced dramatically AND you will of course feel much worse as a result of treatment and may suffer from more side effects.

Doctors and hospital staff assume that because they know why they are doing something everybody knows (or alternatively nobody else wants / needs to know) - next time the Doctor, Nurse etc says right I just need to do .... SAY WHY? WHAT FOR? etc

In fact the best way to keep abreast of what is happening is to always rember to ask WHY? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? and HOW?, properly applied these simple questions allow you to gain a great insight on all aspects of your treatment.

All my very best,

Matt Embleton

Dear Matt,

Thanks for your info and support. Hubby is not feeling so good after the last 5 days of chemo - he has been having constant trots with a lot of pain, and his mouth and throat are very painful. Today I went to the doctor's to get him something for the trots and to organise an infusion stand - I think he may decide to use the Peg tube to get some extra nourishment. He also had a thrombosis in his arm because of the portacath - got over that, but he has to wear a compression stocking now and because he's lost weight, it doesn't hold so well. He's had a CT again, and although no-one has told us anything, they've given him 3 extra sessions of radiotherapy and another 2 cycles of chemotherapy. I felt pretty bad about it yesterday till he told me they've decreased the mask for the radiotherapy - so I hope that means the tumour has shrunk a bit.
How are you doing? Still as active as ever?
it's a good ide to ask these things as you say, but in the system we're in, you often don't see a doctor or anyone who really knows what's going on.This is a real problem and we often feel quite 'lost'. So I'm all the more grateful to you for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

It sounds as though they're not explaining things to you at all. I had a lot of that, and was made to feel I was a bit of a nuisance for asking, but do keep asking. Is this all happening auf deutsch? (I looked at your profile). I'm really sorry to hear your husband is suffering so much. I had two long courses of radio, at both ends of me, and the side effects can be extremely debilitating, especially when it's combined with chemo. As expert Matt points out, ALL our cells are hammered. I too had the trots - and sometimes, to vary things, I had constipation (prune juice for that one if that happens). I really wish you well, and that the treatment settles down into a routine. xxx Penny

Penny, yes, this is all going on in German. And, like you, first he had massive constipation, so that was what we expected after this chemo - but quite the contrary. He has hardly been able to eat anything this week because of the cramps. But now that seems to be settling down, though yesterday his temperature shot up in the evening and I was really worried. But strangely enough - he said he felt better when the temperature went up. He got an antibiotic and the temperature is down again. We're off to the doctor today for the end-of-radiotherapy talk .

One good thing is he's getting a lovely, clear, soft skin. He'll be able to be a male model for Dove if he goes on like this.

Hope you're doing fine, Penny, and thanks for your reply.

Hi my name is liz and i have had so many problems with the breast during radiotherapy first i started to get blisters on the breast then once that had healed i ended up falling and smashing my shoulder and ended up in hospital where the stuck the sticky pads for the oparation on to the breast once they had finished the pulled the of and tuck the skin with them. the radiotherapy starts again tomorrow

Sorry to hear about the set-backs with your husband pusspins - Wie Schade! Appetite, diarrhea (still not sure of spelling despite number of times I've had it have just asked partner and he suggested crude alternative, but easy to spell! "Durchfalls" I know from hols!) and nausea are all a part of the RT, but must be much worse for throat, and I should imagine it's really sore. It must be awful trying to swallow - think how many times a day we do that even when not eating. Treatment also seems to do strange pregnancy aversion/craving-like disturbance to appetite as well. Yes, I remember well squinting down the end of the thermometer, and waiting to see if it was within limits. Everything untoward always seems to happen at weekends, as well, doesn't it? I hope you don't have to travel far each day for treatment. Are they finished now. Well, lovey clear skin - got a complaint about that - why didn't I get that?

Betty Boop (love these nommes de plume!) - we're all cringing with you at the thought of that Elastoplast. They seem to keep a special super strength stuff for hospitals, and delight in ripping it off. Your shoulder and breast area must be agony, and I hope you have good pain killers. Having your operation and then smashing your shoulder sounds like not only your world being turned upside down, but shaken about a lot at the same time. Keep us posted with updates. We'll think about you. xxx Penny