Radiation

Ronnie10
Ronnie10 Member Posts: 20
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
Hey everyone. Hope all is well and everyone is winning their battles. I have had 9 doses of chemotherapy. There is only one little small spot left that is probably scar tissue..so now I will be starting radiation. It is in the high upper chest/lower neck area I believe. (I see the radiologist on Monday so I will know for sure then). I just want to know what radiation is like and what I should expect to feel during it and after it. I will only be getting it in a very, very small area...so keep that in mind. So, basically, just tell me what you know about it and how you felt while getting it! Thanks so much!

Comments

  • stepet
    stepet Member Posts: 69
    #2
    I had radiation to the mantle field as they call the chest and neck area for radiation. I was fortunate not to have to have chemo. I had my radiation every day for a month last winter. It was the longest month I ever had. I don't want to scare you so all I will tell you is to make sure you get all the side effects information from your radiation oncologist. Make sure to let the people you see every day know how you are feeling and don't hide anything because you think it shouldn't be happening. Everyone is different and their bodies react differently to things. If you would like to chat more feel free to write. S
  • karieallen
    karieallen Member Posts: 23
    #3
    I had radiation over a fairly large area of my chest....about 1/3 of my lungs, and 1/3 of my heart was radiated..I had 18 radiation treatments. the biggest effect: I was TIRED. I would get up in the morning go have radiation, drive to work, work six hours, then go home and nap for 2-3 hours, then get up have dinner...and then go to bed at my usual time.... I occasionally had a little bit of pain swallowing. but not bad. It was a different tired then during chemo... I was tired a few days after chemo, then bounced back a little in time for the next one. with radiation, it was a steady, slow tired.

    good luck to you. PS I am winning -- I'm 3 1/2 years cancer-free
  • mommom2000
    mommom2000 Member Posts: 3
    #4
    karieallen said:

    I had radiation over a fairly large area of my chest....about 1/3 of my lungs, and 1/3 of my heart was radiated..I had 18 radiation treatments. the biggest effect: I was TIRED. I would get up in the morning go have radiation, drive to work, work six hours, then go home and nap for 2-3 hours, then get up have dinner...and then go to bed at my usual time.... I occasionally had a little bit of pain swallowing. but not bad. It was a different tired then during chemo... I was tired a few days after chemo, then bounced back a little in time for the next one. with radiation, it was a steady, slow tired.

    good luck to you. PS I am winning -- I'm 3 1/2 years cancer-free

    I also had radiation to the chest; the tumor was under my ribs just to the left (if you're looking at me) of my heart. I also was tired and had some soreness in my throat but not bad. I'm very interested if anyone has had any heart problems resulting from their radiation treatments?
  • shintoway
    shintoway Member Posts: 2
    #5
    Hey Ronnie,
    I had the radiation treatment about 10 years ago over the same area. I had about 5000 rads. I just had some redness in the area being treated. It was a breeze in comparison of ABVD chemo! Congratulations on your successful treatment!

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