going thru rads without stopping

ahollie

The dr. told us today that no one makes it thru their 35 treatments without taking a rest...like a 5 day rest..did ya'll stop for rests in between? Anyone make it thru the 35 treatments without stopping? Our youngest daughter is going to graduate from college on the 10th of may and he is trying to be finished with treatments by then..if he doesnt stop..he will be completed on April 25th...thanks!

debbiejeanne

ahollie, i didn't have chemo

ahollie, i didn't have chemo but i did have 35 rad tx.  i had no breaks, i did all 35 back to back.  i know there are a few here who had chemo and rads and had to take a break.  i've never heard of taking a break when only rads is being done.  good luck.

dj

KTeacher

1 day

First time, only one day off, I had gotten very sick.  2nd time, no breaks, enjoy weekends, I think the machine broke down once.  3rd time, added chemo.  Sinus abcess, one week off, surgery, returned to program.  Missed on day because there was a substitute nurse at the chemo place and chemo took much longer that day, didn't make it to radiation.

boardwalkgirl

I almost made it without a

I almost made it without a break, I think I had 7 left when I had to take a 3 day break due to my skin peeling off so bad. They really thought I was the one that would make it thru without taking a break but no...

lornal

Break

I had 30 radiation & 3 cisplatin.  I had 2 breaks - 2 weeks on 1 week off, 2 weeks on, 1 week off, final 2 weeks.

I was exhausted and my throat was bleeding - so I took the breaks  (One was the week of Thanksgiving)

CivilMatt

no stopping once you are on a roll

ahollie,

Radiation treatments Monday thru Friday with Saturday and Sunday off for 7 continuous weeks (35 total).

Erbitux loading dose prior to radiation then every Friday following radiation (8 total)

Much, Kleenex, water, Jevity,  Boost, Magic Mouth Wash.

Plus, gagging, choking and spitting.

And sleep, lots of sleep.

Matt

phrannie51

I had chemo and

35 rads....and the ONLY reason there was a break was because the IMRT machine broke down for 3 days...otherwise I would have gone straight through also.

p

Steve5

I stopped for 5 days

My Radiation Oncologist stopped me with the rads when I was near the end, he told me throat was too ripped up and I needed to heal up - it was great and worked, yes it delayed me a little only though because they doubled me up near the end giving me a few days a week with double rad shots one in the morning and one in the afternoon, about 6 hours apart

Steve

Skiffin16

No Breaks..

I had the nine weeks  (three week cycles) of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU, then seven weeks of concurrent weekly Carboplatin, and 35 daily rads sessions (M-F), all with no breaks...

The majority here that had any combination as myself or similar, just the concurrent, or rads only..., had no breaks.

There were a few that had some complications come up, mainly with chemo related side effects that caused a delay.., but not many.

Most everyone here had no breaks with rads...

There were also some that had breaks not due to them.., machine break downs..

John

donfoo

no breasks but...

Most make it through rads 5 days a week for about 7 weeks without breaks. A minority have severe side effects and need to stop for a bit.

I saw your other post where you mention a significant event close after rads are done. The general advise is to plan about two to four weeks once rads are done to let your body finish cooking. It is a fallacy to think you will start feeling better once rads are done. Hope for the best but plan for the follwing few weeks to be worse than the rest.

ahollie

Skiffin16 said:

No Breaks..

I had the nine weeks  (three week cycles) of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU, then seven weeks of concurrent weekly Carboplatin, and 35 daily rads sessions (M-F), all with no breaks...

The majority here that had any combination as myself or similar, just the concurrent, or rads only..., had no breaks.

There were a few that had some complications come up, mainly with chemo related side effects that caused a delay.., but not many.

Most everyone here had no breaks with rads...

There were also some that had breaks not due to them.., machine break downs..

John

John..my husband is receiving

John..my husband is receiving the exact same treamtent as you did..he did get a peg tube though...his oncologist almost twisted his arm to do it..we weren't happy about the idea but i suppose we would rather to be safe than sorry...and he can always use to for extra hydration if nothing else...thanks!

ahollie

CivilMatt said:

no stopping once you are on a roll

ahollie,

Radiation treatments Monday thru Friday with Saturday and Sunday off for 7 continuous weeks (35 total).

Erbitux loading dose prior to radiation then every Friday following radiation (8 total)

Much, Kleenex, water, Jevity,  Boost, Magic Mouth Wash.

Plus, gagging, choking and spitting.

And sleep, lots of sleep.

Matt

Hi matt! what is erbitux?

Hi matt! what is erbitux? thats something i havent heard of before..

ahollie

phrannie51 said:

I had chemo and

35 rads....and the ONLY reason there was a break was because the IMRT machine broke down for 3 days...otherwise I would have gone straight through also.

p

thank you for the

thank you for the encouragement!!! were you also receiving chemo at the same time?

ahollie

donfoo said:

no breasks but...

Most make it through rads 5 days a week for about 7 weeks without breaks. A minority have severe side effects and need to stop for a bit.

I saw your other post where you mention a significant event close after rads are done. The general advise is to plan about two to four weeks once rads are done to let your body finish cooking. It is a fallacy to think you will start feeling better once rads are done. Hope for the best but plan for the follwing few weeks to be worse than the rest.

Yes..we were aware of

Yes..we were aware of that..just hoped that 3 weeks would be at least a long enought time for him to be able to make it to her graduation..being able to travel etc....they said they would give him a break if needed but then it would be right at the same time as she grads...

phrannie51

ahollie said:

thank you for the

thank you for the encouragement!!! were you also receiving chemo at the same time?

Yes....I had

3 Cisplatin treatments during the time I was doing the rads.....AND, I was getting Amifostine on a daily basis (I called it my "daily sick")....and I still would have gotten through rads without stopping if the damned machine hadn't messed up.  One thing that could cause a break would be the condition of the neck skin....mine wasn't all that bad.....but some folks here had cracking, oozing necks....THAT would be a reason to take a break.

Do this one day at a time....even with a break, he may very well feel up to going to the graduation, even if he doesn't feel like attending any of the celebrations afterwards.....one day at a time.....one foot in front of the other.....don't let what may or not be happening in May suck up room in your head right now.

p 

CivilMatt

ahollie said:

Hi matt! what is erbitux?

Hi matt! what is erbitux? thats something i havent heard of before..

Erbitux

Erbitux is a targeted therapy that targets and binds to the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) on the surface of the cell. EGFR is found on the surface of many normal and cancer cells.  By binding to these receptors, Erbitux blocks an important pathway that promotes cell division this results in inhibition of cell growth and apoptosis (cell suicide).

Erbitux may be used in-place of or in-addition too traditional chemotherapy drugs

CM.

HAWVET

ahollie said:

Yes..we were aware of

Yes..we were aware of that..just hoped that 3 weeks would be at least a long enought time for him to be able to make it to her graduation..being able to travel etc....they said they would give him a break if needed but then it would be right at the same time as she grads...

I was also one that had

I was also one that had continuous radiation.  Back then in 1998, I went through almost nine weeks, except weekends and one holiday.  At the end of the 8th week, my oncologist determined I needed a few more days so completed three more rads on the 9th week.   I volunteered for this new radiation implant procedure for a lymph node and returned a couple of months later and was hospitalized for two nights.

I asked to have chemo and after the second treatment, I was too sick to continue.  That was postponed until after completion of rads.  At the end, I decided not to continue chemo treatment.

Ladylacy

Breaks

First time my husband had to take a break due to chemo lowering his blood counts too much -- 3 day break (35 radiation and three cisplatin treatments).  Second time the only break was when the machine broke down -- one day break and he was also on chemo the second time (37 radiation and 7 carboplatin treatments).  PEG tube inserted both times before radiation started which after 2 weeks was needed.  Better to have it inserted before treatment starts then during treatment.  He refused a port the first time but had to have one about half way thru.  Second time asked for a port but was told it would be inserted if needed -- wasn't needed.

Main thing to remember is that everyone is different in how they react to their treatment plans.

Wishng you the best -- Sharon

D Lewis

Nope...

Didn't make it all the way through.  Had to take a week off, about half way through, owing to severe burns of the neck.  I had a PEG tube installed mid-stream, the gastro doc gave me some antibiotics to prevent a skin infection around the incision, and the antibiotics (you know, the ones that tell you to avoid sun) made my skin more prone to burning. No harm, no foul, healed up fast with Biafine cream, and I was right back into the mask.

Deb

ratface

D Lewis said:

Nope...

Didn't make it all the way through.  Had to take a week off, about half way through, owing to severe burns of the neck.  I had a PEG tube installed mid-stream, the gastro doc gave me some antibiotics to prevent a skin infection around the incision, and the antibiotics (you know, the ones that tell you to avoid sun) made my skin more prone to burning. No harm, no foul, healed up fast with Biafine cream, and I was right back into the mask.

Deb

plan on attending

I didn't see any details about travel, will you be flying? Could be a bit uncomfortable, especially if he has a peg and port. There is a travel card for "ports" I forget why, perhaps they have metal in them?? He might want to wear a mask to keep germs down to a minimum, not too much hand shaking I hope. Remember his immune system is somewhat compromised at this point but I think the pshcological aspect of it will be huge. Congrats on the graduation! 

hwt

ratface said:

plan on attending

I didn't see any details about travel, will you be flying? Could be a bit uncomfortable, especially if he has a peg and port. There is a travel card for "ports" I forget why, perhaps they have metal in them?? He might want to wear a mask to keep germs down to a minimum, not too much hand shaking I hope. Remember his immune system is somewhat compromised at this point but I think the pshcological aspect of it will be huge. Congrats on the graduation! 

No break

I went straight through rads but did not finish my Cisplatin as counts were too low. Everyone says you continue to cook for weeks following but I had steady improvement at the end of tx. My neck turned dark but never broke open or hurt. At week 5 post, I turned the corner with energy and at week 6 post, I was loaded with energy. I had a g-tube, similar to PEG, that ONC wanted to keep in for 12 weeks post tx. just in case I needed it. I made a decision to have it out as soon as I was eating & drinking without issue and am glad I did. My Hohn catheter (like a port) came out as soon as I finished tx. Your husband maybe tired and will need to pace the activities but he should be able to go and enjoy the graduation. If flying commercial, do use a mask on the plane. If driving, ask the doctor for a temporary handicap sticker to help conserve his energy.