Day 4 of radiation: DONE. Hope to relax for the week-end

Moki
Moki Member Posts: 53
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hello all

so today I took some pills to calm me down during treatment and I think it helped as I did not have any panic attack.

There are few things I have experienced for the first time: is it again do to me being anxious or is it do to radiation?

1) when I finished the 10 min session, I got up and had pain through my neck up to the bottom of my head and above the ears: same like when you have a bad flu

2) during radiation I smelled like burnt plastic and that smell stay in my nostrils for over an hour and made me a bit nauseous: is it caused by the beam going through the facemask?

3) while driving home I felt very hot, like I was grilled like a chicken; few minutes later I felt cold, almost shaking and than back to hot. This hot and cold lasted again for all my drive home

Is it the result of my imagination and anxiety or are these effects from radiation? Being so early in my treatment, I hope it is not radiation otherwise I do not know how can I survive other 5 weeks.

 

Thanks

 

Comments

  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #2
    Moki

    I did not have any of those sensations. 

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #3

    Moki,

    Sounds like you made the mistake and went to the Barbeque Center and   not the Radiation Center (just kidding).

    1. No pain

    2. No burnt smells

    3. Not hot

    Now taste,  that is another story and acute sense of smell.

    Tell your team and good luck figuring it out.

    Matt

  • KTeacher
    KTeacher Member Posts: 1,103 Member
    #4
    Smells

    I had the smell as soon as the first treatment started.  Went away fast.  Sometimes my husband would say how red my face was after treatment, by the time I got home (5 min.) I was back to normal.

    You will survive this.  Stay in touch, we will help.

  • Moki
    Moki Member Posts: 53
    #5
    CivilMatt said:

    Moki,

    Sounds like you made the mistake and went to the Barbeque Center and   not the Radiation Center (just kidding).

    1. No pain

    2. No burnt smells

    3. Not hot

    Now taste,  that is another story and acute sense of smell.

    Tell your team and good luck figuring it out.

    Matt

    I wish...

    ...I went to the restaurant rather than radio Laughing.

    The interesting story is that I came home, still sick of that intense plastic smell that gave me the bad headache and I drank a juice with cucumber, tons of carrots, kale, 1 banana, 1 apple, ginger and some whey protein powder; As soon as I finished my 24 oz drink, the smell and the headache was gone and I felt like superwoman: full of energy! I went for my afternoon 5K walk that I did in 45 min rather than my normal 1 hour and felt super energetic. I will keep drinking the juice and hope this is my solution. I am reading super sexy kitchen and hope to have other creative ideas to add to the list of superfood

  • Moki
    Moki Member Posts: 53
    #6
    KTeacher said:

    Smells

    I had the smell as soon as the first treatment started.  Went away fast.  Sometimes my husband would say how red my face was after treatment, by the time I got home (5 min.) I was back to normal.

    You will survive this.  Stay in touch, we will help.

    When did it go away?

    Thanks KTeacher

    do you remember how many treatment before it went away? In my case it is becoming stronger with each treatment and it last 1 hour (basically all my drive home). I will try to prepare my super juice to take with me and will drink right after the radiation to see if it help; I was also thinking to put some lavander oil under my nostrils before they put the mask. It is really a bad smell, and get me nauseous just thinking about it. 

    Thank you for your nice words: 5 weeks seem soooo long! And having the friends calling and texting me everyday to ask how am I doing, it does not make any easier to forget about cancer. They are sweet, but sometime I need to be left alone so I can move back to "normality" or at least sort of.

     

  • tjheron
    tjheron Member Posts: 18
    #7
    I just finished my 7th of 30

    I just finished my 7th of 30 treatments today.  Can't say I experienced any of those sensations.  I get a little nauseous after each treatment but it only last about an hour.  I'm definitely more tired than usual but sleep well at night.  

    Good luck on your remaining treatments.

  • Moki
    Moki Member Posts: 53
    #8
    tjheron said:

    I just finished my 7th of 30

    I just finished my 7th of 30 treatments today.  Can't say I experienced any of those sensations.  I get a little nauseous after each treatment but it only last about an hour.  I'm definitely more tired than usual but sleep well at night.  

    Good luck on your remaining treatments.

    Yes, we are. Let's hope it

    Yes, we are. Let's hope it will not get so much worse like my nurses keep reminding me.

    Are you treating the side of your neck? They have shown me my area of treatment and it is pretty much the parotid gland bedding and all the area behind the ear.

    Did they suggest anything about the nausea? I thought the smell of plastic triggered headache and nausea, but maybe it is just the effect of the radio? It remind me a lot the symptoms of my first trimester of pregnancy....

     

    Good luck with your treatments as well

     

    Monica

  • KTeacher
    KTeacher Member Posts: 1,103 Member
    #9
    Moki said:

    When did it go away?

    Thanks KTeacher

    do you remember how many treatment before it went away? In my case it is becoming stronger with each treatment and it last 1 hour (basically all my drive home). I will try to prepare my super juice to take with me and will drink right after the radiation to see if it help; I was also thinking to put some lavander oil under my nostrils before they put the mask. It is really a bad smell, and get me nauseous just thinking about it. 

    Thank you for your nice words: 5 weeks seem soooo long! And having the friends calling and texting me everyday to ask how am I doing, it does not make any easier to forget about cancer. They are sweet, but sometime I need to be left alone so I can move back to "normality" or at least sort of.

     

    No oils

    No oils or creams before rads.  You might use it after treatment or have a scent in the car.

  • corleone
    corleone Member Posts: 312 Member
    #10
    #2 & #3 - Somewhat similar

    During the radiation the smell (like ionized air) was really nauseating, especially the last 2 weeks. When the beam was focused around the nose area (diagnosis was nasopharyngeal carcinoma), that nasty smell was worst.

    As for the temperature, I only experienced cold, again mostly during the last 2 weeks; I was always cold.

    No such pain though.

     

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    #11
    sorry, I can't help either as

    sorry, I can't help either as I did not have those problems either.  I hope they go away with time.

    God bless you,

    dj

  • Moki
    Moki Member Posts: 53
    #12
    debbiejeanne said:

    sorry, I can't help either as

    sorry, I can't help either as I did not have those problems either.  I hope they go away with time.

    God bless you,

    dj

    Thanks. I've been researching

    Thanks. I've been researching and the smell seems to be triggered by ozone that develops while the beam start. Many people cannot smell it, but for some people like me ti can triggered nausea and headache. Now I will need to find a solution that works Smile

     

    Monica

  • tjheron
    tjheron Member Posts: 18
    #13
    Moki said:

    Yes, we are. Let's hope it

    Yes, we are. Let's hope it will not get so much worse like my nurses keep reminding me.

    Are you treating the side of your neck? They have shown me my area of treatment and it is pretty much the parotid gland bedding and all the area behind the ear.

    Did they suggest anything about the nausea? I thought the smell of plastic triggered headache and nausea, but maybe it is just the effect of the radio? It remind me a lot the symptoms of my first trimester of pregnancy....

     

    Good luck with your treatments as well

     

    Monica

    Yes, I'm getting treatment on

    Yes, I'm getting treatment on the left side of my neck around the bed of where my ex-submandibular gland used to be (that's where my ACC was found). They're also treating the area where the nerves travel up towards the top of my nugget.  I was offered a drug for the nausea but I've declined for now.

  • tommyodavey
    tommyodavey Member Posts: 728 Member
    #14
    Moki said:

    Thanks. I've been researching

    Thanks. I've been researching and the smell seems to be triggered by ozone that develops while the beam start. Many people cannot smell it, but for some people like me ti can triggered nausea and headache. Now I will need to find a solution that works Smile

     

    Monica

    Smell

    Hi Moki,

     

    With me, the radiation did something to my sense of smell.  I swear I could smell someone cooking a mile away.  It was like I had a nose like a dog, I could tell every ingrediant of whatever food I smelled.  That didn't help much because I couldn't eat anything other than very soft or liquid food.

     

    Several weeks after my treatment it went back to normal.  Hopefully yours will too.

     

    Hang in there!

     

    Tom

  • Moki
    Moki Member Posts: 53
    #15
    tommyodavey said:

    Smell

    Hi Moki,

     

    With me, the radiation did something to my sense of smell.  I swear I could smell someone cooking a mile away.  It was like I had a nose like a dog, I could tell every ingrediant of whatever food I smelled.  That didn't help much because I couldn't eat anything other than very soft or liquid food.

     

    Several weeks after my treatment it went back to normal.  Hopefully yours will too.

     

    Hang in there!

     

    Tom

    My sense of smell is

    My sense of smell is definetely stronger, similar to when I was pregnant. I did research this matter over the week-end and found out the nasty odor is ozone, produced by the beam. Today I hold my breath while the beam was coming through and I did ask for more oxigen to be blown on my face. It helped. Tomorrow they will also put some peppermint oil on my mask to see if it will improve .

    Have a great rest of your day

     

    Monica

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