Start of Radiation Therapy

[kellyrulez]

Just an update on my situation. Almost 2 months to the day after my I/O and after weeks of consultations with physicians, scans, and pondering about further treatment I started Radiation Therapy today. Total dose of 25 Gy, 14 sessions.

I had my first zap about 3 hours ago and so far I only feel a little queasy. I took a compazine 1 hour prior to the treatment and I guess I'll take another one in in 2 hours.

I hope that it won't get much worse over the next 3 weeks. Right now it's pretty okay except for feeling fatigued.

EDIT: Soon after the post I started feeling very nauseous and ultimately had to vomit. Fortunately, I felt better afterwards.

[rjs]

Good luck to you as you start this new phase. Two years ago this month I also went through the same radiation treatment plan. Unfortunately, the nausea and fatigue is cumulative. Meaning that over the period of the next few weeks it will get worse or at least more apparent. But the weekends off are a good break. I never took any medications for the nausea and ended up alright. The fatigue can be heavy so allow yourself time to REST! Naps are a good thing and I found that the best night sleeps of my life were during those 3 weeks. I kept working half days in my office job and went to my treatments in the afternoon, then home for a short nap mostly to rest my head from the nausea. I suspect the Florida heat did not help me feel any better. But I was able to keep up a light work out schedule just so I would not feel so inactive. Eating was a slow process, but its important to keep replenishing your body. In fact, I found that when I was feeling the most queezy it would help to eat a light snack SLOWLY to settle things down.

In all, the process is relatively mild compared to what others experience. It will be over soon and you can move on with your life. Hang in there and be strong.

[Margaret]

Glad you have gotten started with your treatment. One thing that might help is taking Ativan with your Compazine. Ativan can be used to reduce anxiety...a good thing to have...but they have also found that it helps anti-nausea meds work better. I am sure you can ask your doctor about it. If you ever need names of other anti-nausea meds, in case the compazine is just not working well for you, let me know.

Also RJS is right...eating something small every 2 hours will make a big difference in how your belly feels.

I hope you feel better soon and best of luck!!

[Karen]

My husband had no fatigue, but his stomach was unsettled the whoe time and, like rjs said, it will be cummluative. Listen to your body and nap when you need it. Lots of fluids and increase the protein in your diet. Those healthy cells need fuel to rebuild. Keep up with the anti-nausea meds. It'll be over soon, although it may not feel that way! Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing.

[kellyrulez]

Second zap today and yikes, I had to vomit 7 times starting about 3 hours after the treatment. I guess my rad onc needs to prescribe a different medication because the Compazine isn't working. I'm glad I got the weekend off to R&R.

[Karen]

Sorry to hear that! Can you get a new Rx before the next zap? Rest up and enjoy the weekend

[Margaret]

Ativan helps the compazine's effectiveness if you take them together.

Boyc etook Kytril and it was like a wonder drug for nausea.

Emend can alse be effective, but please, get something better. No need to feel that bad!

[dannysbrother]

Hi Kellyrulez,

Sorry for your troubles.

Be aware that you certainly CAN take multiple anti-nausea medications at the same time. In fact, when Danny was at his worst, he took Zofran, Compazine, Marinol, Reglan, and Ativan all within 1 hour because it was needed.

Danny's miracle anti-nausea drug was and still is Marinol. It works brilliantly as an appetite stimulator as well. I wrote about it last week and included a link to that thread. Ask your doctor.

http://www.tc-cancer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6126

Michael

[rjs]

Sorry to hear you had a tough time on Friday. You might want to look at your diet the 24 hours leading up to your second treatment. Diet can play a role in how your stomach reacts to the nausea. Everyone is different, but you might want to avoid whatever it is you ate prior to treatment #2.

[sldl1106]

So sorry to hear about this. My husband didn't have radiation, but Reglen every six hours w. Ativan helped him through the nausea.

Alot of posts I've seen mention the compezine, my husband was never prescribed that. He took Reglen, Emend (only 1x per day for 3 days allowed), Ativan, and Decadron.

They should be able to come up with a better anti-nausea cocktail for you if you're vomiting so much.

Hope you get some relief soon.

[kellyrulez]

Thanks everybody for the replies and recommendations. If I mixed all of the meds that you mentioned, I'd surely have a nice cocktail.

Seriously, my rad onc mentioned Zofran when I had the simulation appointment, but wanted to go with Compazine first as it's significantly cheaper. Hopefully, he'll add some other medication now that we know the Compazine (alone) isn't working.

[Sans rt1]

Sorry you are having such nausea. My first day was the toughest, I felt close to losing it a couple of times, but never actually did. The second day was better and after that I think I got used to it - always queasy, but never felt like throwing up, never took any meds for it.

Fatigue was my issue. RT kicked my butt. Again, progressively worse through the week, so that I was whipped by Friday (took sick days every Friday). By Monday I felt pretty good. The good news is that even so, it was not too bad.

Take it easy, get plenty of rest, drink lots of fluid, eat well - avoid foods that bother you, try to stretch and exercise a bit every day eventhough you are tired - it helps your body heal from the RT.

So, I hope this week goes better for you. In a few weeks it will all be behind you.

[kellyrulez]

Thanks everybody for the input. My rad onc added Kytril to the Compazine, and voila- no more nausea and emesis. I still feel somewhat queasy, but nowhere near as bad as w/o the Kytril. On more zap and it's already half time.

[Karen]

Keep that countdown going!!!! Glad you feel better!

[kellyrulez]

It's been a while since my last post. I've had 12 treatments, and I have another 2 to go. The Kytril pretty much eliminated nausea and emesis. However, the Radiation is really getting at me. I pretty much always feel fatigued and queasy, and I don't have much stamina. I'm glad that this will all be over soon.