Radiation or not after adenocarcinoma?

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  • daisy366
    daisy366 Member Posts: 1,458 Member
    #22
    maggie_wilson said:

    mary ann

    yes, i agree good to chat with you, too. and yes, please let us know the results of your first blood work post diet! i just think it' going to be a good one. and, i'm going to order that simonton book right away! i do know what you mean about complacency, or maybe it's just a well needed/deserved r & r after all we've been through, but for the first 6 months post chemo i changed nothing!! ate everything i wanted, whenever, walked only a little, and basically acted like i was done with cancer ( though still had my massages and acupuncture).

    then i woke up and realized that i had to take more charge. i've always been a believer in alternative methods of healing and the mind-body connection, so it makes sense to me now that this is where i'd land, after the initial shock of treatment and diagnosis. now it's for the long haul, and no quick fixes. so be it.

    it really made me so sad to recount all the deaths of such old, long term friends, the shortest of which was 20 years for 2 friends , 30+ for one, 40+ for two others. irreparable losses and so irreplaceable in my life. they were so much the pillars that held me for so, so many years.

    fortunately i still have some long term friends, and my dear family that keeps expanding, unexpectedly. my single daughter decided at 39 that if she didn't act quickly, she wouldn't have a child, so got pregnant and now we have this pistol of a two year old granddaughter, not unlike her mother (3rd degree black belt). then my son, not to be outdone by his younger sister, visited africa and fell in love with an african woman, got married and brought us a new, wonderful daughter-in-law, her 9 year old daughter and now our granddaughter, and their 1 year old son, our new grandson. so, from zero to 3 in a little more than a year. so, lots to live for! our daughter in law really looks to me as her new mom, which i love, but am sorry can't be there a little more for her than i have been. my son brought his family here once they all got their green cards, etc., not easy, right after i had my surgery. so our new, infant grandson would sleep on me as i snoozed off and on on the couch while everyone just did what they did around me. it was so sweet and so healing to have his little body resting on mine.

    so, we'll keep up our good work, and i'll await your good news.

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    Maggie
    Your family sounds awesome. I'm jealous!! :)

    more to come. I'm adding you to my friends list. I tried the email thing within this site and it works.

    Take care, sister. Mary Ann
  • Kat Lady
    Kat Lady Member Posts: 13
    #23
    Kaleena said:

    Hello Julie:
    I did not get
    Hello Julie:

    I did not get external pelvic radiation. I did, however, do the brachytherapy. I received three doses. Just to let you know, once you get the brachytherapy, that will be the only time you can have it. My radiation/onc advised against pelvic radiation because I scar a lot and the risks of radiation outweighed the benefits. Further, they really do not know the long term effect of radiation.

    Recently, I was believed to have a recurrence. Was told tumor could not be removed. At first wanted me to do chemo. I switched doctors. Had a positive biopsy. Said it could not be removed (Not enough margin), and wanted me to have seven weeks of radiation. My radiation/onc indicated that once he would radiate that area, that would be the only time I could get radiation in that spot so if it came back again I was out of luck. (I opt out of it).

    I would go with the brachytherapy only if it makes you feel comfortable about that type of treatment. You just have to get checked yearly with the radiation/onc to check out scarring and/or thickening.

    I feel if they do not give me options or if I feel pressure, then I say no until I have had a chance to think about it.

    Wishing you well.

    Kathy

    P.S. By the way, I had surgery to remove tumor. No cancer found and they fixed my hernia from my initial surgery back in 2005!

    Thank you all who shared their stories with me. Kathy, I did not know they can do the Brachytherapy only once, but it figures, so that would put us "out of luck" in case of a recurrence, when we really need it. I am so glad they did operate on you and that your tumor was benign! I am leaning strongly toward doing nothing more at all and just getting my regular check ups. Then, if anything turns up, they will be able to treat it. You are correct, you do have to be your own advocate, question everything, follow your own best guess at what should happen. It takes a lot of effort to correlate between providers. I set up my CT scan Monday at one provider, to be sent to the other; it took multiple phone calls, I had to ask this one to call that one, no one would take my word, and the fax at the one place wouldn't go through for the letter from the doctor. I felt bad that so many people had to take so much time when they had better things to do; the system should be easier, but it is not. Anyway, after I got the CT set up, I opened my new "Good Housekeeping" magazine to relax, and they had an article on how dangerous CT's are for you! Go figure! Some said it is a big guessing game, they are right, no one really knows. My step-son, who is a radiology technician, said they know how to cure cancer, but they won't because it makes so much money for them. I have to agree, in some cases (not all) that may be true.

    Take care all!

    Julie

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