Let the fun begin....
THE FINAL FRONTIER - RADIOTHERAPY
oesophagitis;
inflammation of the oesophagus.
I have noticed from Thursday I have had reflux, so i thought I would make mention of it today after my treatment. My voice is also croaky and I have a slight cough.....
Today was session 13 of 25.....
Treatment went ahead without a hitch, other than they were a little behind...that done I went to my appointment with the RT nurses....
General questions were asked and then I told them of my reflux and croaky voice...The nurse called my Oncologist as I don't have my usual weekly review appointment this Wednesday, it's machine maintenance day, so I get a day off.
The Oncologist saw me straight away.....He suspects I am in the early stages of Oesophigitis....Because I am getting radiation the the lymph nodes on the side of my neck as well as my chest wall, this can have an impact on my throat, causing it to become inflammed and cause reflux burn which can interfere with eating and swallowing....He said although it's still too early to tell if that's what it is, he will prescribe a gel called Mucosoothe....I am also to take Mylanta and Panadol regularly. I was told that if anything changes to go back straight away......
The nurses made note of my skin changes and even though I have no feeling where I am starting to burn, they told me to start applying cold compresses and to keep the sorbolene in the fridge.
The skin on the side of my 'breast' has changed colour...I have a section about the size of a plum now on my breast and my skin is also changing to red under my breast and under my arm.....The section on my breast is a browny/pink now and it does look like it may breakdown.....I am praying it doesn't!.... and my scar is back to looking red and angry....and the sections I do have feeling in are stingy.......The nurses will keep a check on it from now on too and if it gets worse in between I'm to see them directly....
I am tired today, but that also could be because I had another patient in the house last night!......Unfortunately, life doesn't stop! and I finally got to sleep at about 1:30am and then the damn alarm goes off at 5am!.....but I did go back to sleep until 8am...
Overall I do feel good....Shhhhh! not too loud ;).....still a bit sluggish and I run out of energy quickly, but that is way easier to deal with than the other side effects that I suffered from chemo!....So meanwhile I will look after my skin like it is gold......have lots of naps and hope this reflux disappears.....
I am now on the final stretch....13 down... 12 to go!...halfway in the final phase of active treatment! ......I hope it goes quickly!
Have a great week!
