Radiotherapy info

So, I had my first appointment for Radiotherapy today.  I have to travel to Poole hospital for Radio as Bournemouth don't do it, it's about a 45 minute drive from my house (not in rush hour) so a bit of a trek, today I got the train which takes half an hour.  I think I might use the train rather than drive most of the time during radio as it will be less tiring and also the parking is expensive and always really busy at Poole Hospital.

I will be having three weeks (15 sessions) of radiotherapy and I think a week and a half (8 sessions) of what they call 'boosters', so four and a half weeks altogether.  The boosters they give most people under forty or with a high grade cancer (I tick both boxes ).  The radiotherapy is beams of X-rays that pass through you.  You lie on a cold, hard, slightly tilted table and the machine moves around you, and I think the table might move too, and you get fired with beams of X-rays!  The idea is that X-rays break DNA in cells.  Normal cells quickly repair broken DNA and recover. Cancer cells, by their nature, are cells that no longer have the ability to repair DNA, that's why they keep going rouge and multiplying.  So the cancer cells die as they cannot repair the damage cause by the X-ray beams.  But wait....you though the cancer had been removed by surgery, yes, you are correct, but cancerous cells are determined little buggers, it only takes one cell to be lurking behind after surgery and, boom, another tumour develops.  Hopefully the radiotherapy will zap any cling-ons and reduce the risk of recurrence.  The radiotherapy is directed at all the remaining breast tissue.  The boosters are actually beams of electrons and don't go straight through you, they penetrate a centimetre or so into your body.  The boosters are target at the tumour bed....the area of surgery, and the surgical scar.

The main side effect of radio is fatigue......I've had my fair share of that over the past six months so know what to expect.  There is also the irritation to the skin, like sunburn.  Lots of cream is needed to keep it healthy during the process.  Probably the worst part of it all is going to be the monotony of
going every day for over a month.  I will start in June as I need to have a CT scan first for them to do 'planning', which is the physics of it all and takes a few weeks.  As we have a camping trip to Cornwall planned at the end of May (booked a year ago, pre cancer), my doctor agreed it was fine to wait and start after that.

So, there you go, all you ever wanted to know (or probably not!) about radiotherapy.  Although, I'm sure I'll have some snipits of info to add along the way, and probably some random side effect nobody has heard of before, you know how I like to make the most of these experiences :-)

For now I get to enjoy May feeling reasonably OK.  I have more energy and less pains but still get tired quite quickly and my joints stiffen up by the end of the day....I need oiling!  Please everyone ask Mr Weather for lots of sunshine for me to enjoy, I need to do many lovely things and get as fit as possible while I can.

We're in Plymouth again this weekend, our home from home.  Then back to Bransgore on Monday for the mayhem that is 'Bransgore Fun Day' :-)

Hope everyone has a lovely, relaxing bank holiday weekend.
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