Has anyone had experience with radiation for recurrence in pelvis?

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Mike starts his first radiation treatment tomorrow morning and we are both pretty nervous about it. We’ve had some people tell us it is nothing to worry about and they have had no side effects. The Radiation Oncologist told us there was a possibility of nausea and vomiting.

Has anyone here had a recurrence and had radiation to treat it? What, if any side effects did you have?

Does it take long for the radiation to help with the pain?

Any tips anyone has would be appreciated.

Thanks
Monique

[Greg]

Monique:
Not sure if any of the information on the American Cancer Society website will help, but here is a link relating to radiation therapy:
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/physicalsideeffects/radiationtherapyeffects/index

Greg

[Anonymous]

Thanks Greg…you are always there for us.

Mike had his first treatment this morning and it went well. They gave us a tour and answered all of our questions. We also managed a stop at the Pain Management Clinic so they were able to give him a lidocaine infusion which helps the pain a little. The doctor did tell me, though, that Mike will likely not get to a 0 out of 10 on the pain scale now that it is in his pelvic bone. Apparently that is one of the most difficult types of pain to control.

We are trying to just focus on one day at a time right now.

So, for all who might be interested, here is what we found out.

1. the effects of the radiation are cumulative so it will take a few weeks before he gets any pain relief or likely has any side effects

2. it can cause the skin to become irritated so they recommend unscented soap and a particular unscented skin lotion called Glaxal base

3. because the tumour is in the pelvic bone, he may experience some diarrhea (but he might welcome that since he has been constipated due to the pain meds lol.)

Overall, things went well. We are now home and resting.

Monique

[Greg]

Monique:
How long is each session supposed to be? It probably depends on where the tumour is, I expect. A friend of mine is starting radiation this week for breast cancer – ten minutes a day, five days a week for five weeks.
Thinking of you and praying!
Greg

[Anonymous]

Each treatment is about 10 mins and it is also five days a week with weekends off. Mike is scheduled to have 10 treatments as of now. The tumour is located on the pelvic bone, almost where your leg joins into the pelvis and it is apparently about 1 cm in size plus there is cancer in a lymph node in the pelvic area and a nodule in the belly. Apparently the main focus is on that bone tumour though because it is the one causing the pain.

Thanks for praying…Mike isn’t sure God wants him and he figures the devil can’t handle him. That makes me one up on the devil then I guess….cause I’ve been handling him for 14 years…oooh…I’m not sure that sounds like I mean it…kind of sounds X rated.

Monique

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