Here we (I) go

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  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,627 ✭
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    It makes SUCH a difference if you have a 'caring team' backing you up, @cactusk - My Onc, Rad Onc & Surgeon were all fantastic in this area, as were the Onc team giving the rads.

    I found the rads to be the 'easiest' of all the treatments & was lucky not to burn/scar .... so it is very important if you notice extreme redness at any stage of your treatment, or peeling skin etc - let the team know xx

    I like the Pinball Machine analogy!  ;) 

    take care & all the best xx
  • cranky_granny
    cranky_granny Member Posts: 746 ✭
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    @cactusk I did the DIBH. I still have my snorkel though I had 25 rounds. I uses to count in my the breath in and hold now breath  normally and i still remember it was 9 times each session. I also got to choice of music. I didn’t get any burn prevention but it was back in 2017. I went into everything a bit blindsided to it all. I know a lot more now  its called hindsight. 1 funny thing was i used to have the hiccups after the session was finished. They didn’t start straight away.  The rad oncologist brushed it off as nothing to do with the treatment he didn't even check how my skin was holding up it was the girls setting me up each time who spotted the blisters and called the head nurse in. That was the only bad experience in that part of my initial treatment.  Had to deal with him 3 years later and he was just as dismissive so I dismissed him and requested someone else. Turned out he was wrong when i saw the new one she spotted the problem immediately. Its great that we have that choice even going public. 
    I wish i could have practiced the breathing part before I started rads. 
    Just remember moisturise heaps no powder no deodorant. Im sure they will have told you all that and gentle wash. I remember they were very particular about what moisturiser i used etc. they actually gave me tube after tube of it  
    good luck with it the 12 sessions will pass quickly 
  • cactusk
    cactusk Member Posts: 57 ✭
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    Thanks @cranky_granny
    it is weird how much things can change. I was explaining to the radiology technician today my thyroid cancer treatment. It too was radio - more nuclear medicine, but involved me ingesting a radioactive isotope (I131) and waiting until I wasn’t radioactive to leave my lead room in hospital. It was back in 1997 - but she’d not heard of that as a treatment. 
    I have learnt so much from this network - went out & stocked up on QV soap & moisturiser today.
    the nurse practitioner asked me to tell her what I learn from the menopause clinic too. 
    As much as this is a club no-one wants to join, the care, wisdom, experience & love that comes from these forums is so SO important to me right now. It helps me in getting through this, and I know I’m only at the start of my journey.
    i appreciate every comment and check in every day.
    Kelly x
  • cactusk
    cactusk Member Posts: 57 ✭
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    Latest update:
    I attended the menopause clinic yesterday. Here I was hoping for some amazing suite of options, but alas, more medication.
    Given the symptoms I'm feeling now are going to go into hyper mode when I start the Zoladex, what I'm feeling now is only the beginning. 
    I tried one of the tablets last night - gabapentin - but i didn't find it to be good for me.
    Unfortunately I'm already on an SSRI so the option to take a low dose there isn't available to me.
    I will try for a few nights, but in the meantime I'm going to speak to my GP about melatonin for sleep, I'll just deal with the hot flushes, and see if turmeric will work for at least easing joint pain.
    I have an endocrinologist already (for my thyroid management) so when I next see my med onc I'll discuss with her if he could have some options.
    I"m just really reluctant to take more medications if I can find something else that works. 
    I know that post rad onc I'll be on a cocktail of 4 medications, so with the 2 I'm already on, it's just starting to scare me.
    But, day at a time right?
    Harumph.
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,627 ✭
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    @cactusk

    Hopefully you can find other means to control that doesn't cause bad interaction with the other meds you are on. 

    Maybe get your current prescribed med 'audited' by a pharmacist - they will be able to tell you if they contraindications with them ... (message sent)
  • iserbrown
    iserbrown Member Posts: 5,554 ✭
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    @cactusk

    Best wishes with your ongoing treatment.

    I have a sister that was on Melatonin, initially the dosage wasn't working so the GP wrote a script for the Pharmacist to compound the Melatonin.  Once she'd been on it for abt 3 months she was much better at sleeping and eventually weaned off!

    As to Zoladex, I had the Zoladex injections, one every 4 weeks x 26 (2 years).  Fortunately, my Oncologist passed it onto my GP to administer.  The trick is to keep it to the day, every 4 weeks. I didn't have any side effects, so I hope you are the same.  It was an injection in the abdomen area, left side and right side the following month.  Left side sometimes I felt a little uncomfortable.  As a result, the ovaries shrunk, and the need is no longer!  GP always used a numbing spray first!

    Hope you find the treatment path that suits and yes have all your meds checked to ensure that one or more isn't causing problems!

    Take care

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