Radiotherapy

Hi @KatherineH congrats on finishing chemo. Best feeling achieving that one. Don't be too nervous about radiotherapy. I found it a breeze compared to chemo. The set up appt usually involves positioning you with a CT scanner and a few tiny tattoos to mark your skin so you are correct in the radiation machine every time. The tattoos are basically painless and the CT requires no tracers or dyes.  I had 6wks of radiotherapy and burnt and peeled quite badly. It was a bit sore, but just when I started to get stressed about it, it was over. A lot of people get minimal skin breakdown. I guess I was unlucky. The peeling heals really quickly though. Still a breeze next to chemo. Some people get bad fatigue, but I wasn't too bad. I had mastectomy, not a lumpectomy, so I understand the skin usually suffers more as the skin itself is in the treatment zone. I guess it's individual, depending what your radio oncologist plans for you. I started out with Mepitel film, like porous gladwrap, over the treatment area, which a lot of people have great success with for protecting the skin, but I couldn't keep it on for any length of time. One of the nurses decided the constant repatching was probably doing more harm than good, so we gave up and switched to creams. A nurse will talk to you about care at your appointment and you can see nurses at any time during treatment. You'll be closely monitored and well looked after. Good luck!!