Radiation, driving and fatigue

I'm out the other side now so I wanted to share my personal experiences if someone comes across this thread in the future. Everyone is different but it can be helpful to know possibilities.

I experienced light fatigue but it came in waves. I didn't have my usual enthusiasm to leap to action at work and took things at a slower pace. While I did over 11k steps some days, I felt better on days I limited myself to 6-8k steps. 

After the first few sessions I got help with the driving so I only had to drive half the journey each day. It gave me a chance to rest for an hour and not have to concentrate between getting zapped and working. 

Doing zaps during the week and then working 9-5 on a few of the weekends was a bit tough - in hindsight I would have asked to swap shifts so I would have had a rest from both work and zaps.

I made sure to stay extra hydrated especially as we went through a heatwave with days over 40C and I was working outside for part of the day.

I went to sleep earlier than usual and slept longer. On my days off work I took short afternoon naps. 

For the duration I skipped doing anything other than getting zapped, work, eat and sleep. I'd made sure to stock the kitchen cupboards before hand so I only had to pick up a bit of fresh fruit and veg from a small shop a few times rather than doing a big shop.

5 days later I'm still feeling a bit tired but it should start easing off soon. 

Hi Moomincorn​ 

I completed 15 days of radiation in November. It was a one hour drive door to door for me as well. I asked for morning appointments if possible, luckily they were able to do that, with the intention to work when I got home. I didn't find the driving an issue at all - just put on an audio book which was great! I managed to work fine for the first couple of weeks (desk job), but started to get fatigued in the third week. For the first 2-3 weeks I took 2-3 hours off a day to factor in the travel and treatment. Then I worked half days for the last week and the next week or two after I finished. There was definitely  a struggle to be motivated to work but the fatigue really kicked in around week 4 (I think I hit the peak then and it started to improve after that) as did the crankiness!! (I think that was because I was so tired and frustrated.)

Regarding exercise, I walked most days, tried a short run a few times early on but found a bra too uncomfortable to wear due to the skin irritation so didn't run in the later weeks. Walking was great and made me feel a lot better, I walked at least 5km most days. I'm not sure how I would have been if I was on my feet all day though, it's just this bone-deep weariness and sometimes I had to drag myself around the house and didn't want to get out of bed.

My reflections / feedback are the driving was fine, I didn't ever feel too tired to drive but it was mornings. I was often wrecked by the late arvo / early evenings in the later half of treatment and in bed quite early, so the ability to drive myself might have been different if my appointments were late in the day. And I tried to give myself permission (and my manager at work encouraged me to as well) to take the opportunity to rest and take it easy. Honestly I feel so much better now than when I was going through the rads. It does take its toll, and I was so frustrated and cranky during that time. I look back and realise just how flat and tired I really was compared to how I feel now. Rads started on Nov 6 and I probably only now feel like my (new) normal self - way less cranky!! And back running and exercising as normal.

Hope this helps. All the best with the rads and recovery, take care x

PS If you can get the StrataXRT cream I recommend it! I did develop folliculitis in the last week which persisted for a few weeks and was annoying (itchy!!), but that was the worst of it. I think the Strata really helped.

Hi Moomincorn​  - Are you in NSW?  Definitely check out the IPTAAS - which hospital will you be having your treatment? Some have accommodation in the grounds for patients undergoing radiation & other treatments. 

I was at Port Macquarie Hospital for my Rads & stayed at the Rotary Lodge, going home on weekends.  It makes it much easier, not having to travel 1hr each way.  
Even if it is not 100k each way, IPTAAS will still pay for consecutive trips that total over 200k within a week ... so you'll be covered xx

The details for all state's travel schemes is here:

https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PATS-Fact-Sheet-and-Guide-2025.pdf

Take care & all the best 

HiMoomincorn​ 

arpie​ posted a useful link and info about travel for treatment a couple of months ago 

Do you have to travel 1hr+ to your appointments/treatments/surgery? | BCNA Online Network

I had 15 doses and mostly drove myself the 30 minute trip to treatment (scheduled first thing in the mornings when I had a good bank of energy). I did have fatigue but I think it was because of the chemotherapy, surgery and covid19 I had already received. I tired by early afternoon and would need to rest for an hour or so.

I was working, a desk based job, but only very part-time; when I was having radiation I would have been lucky to do 5000 steps a day, I was doing oncology exercise rehabilitation and I was already pretty run down by the previous 7 months of chemo and surgery etc, so my situation might be different to your treatment regime.