You are here: Home Colorectal Cancer Rectal Cancer ... Colorectal ... During Radiation ...
Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.

Colorectal Cancer: In Treatment: External Radiation Therapy

During Radiation Treatment

Next » « Previous

3/11

Ask your radiologist whether you can eat and drink before a treatment.

Side effects such as skin irritation and fatigue during treatment are either controllable or there are techniques to lessen the effect. There may also be long term side effects. 

Keep in mind that treatment decisions may change as treatment goes along. A change does not mean that the original treatment was wrong. Medicine is a combination of science and art.

There are do's, don'ts and tips to be aware of during treatment. For example,

  • Don't apply powder or lotion to the radiated area before treatment. 
  • Do speak with your radiologist about what to do if you have to miss a day or two. The efficiency of the  treatment depends on having as few delays as possible.
  • If needed, transportation is available to and from treatment.
  • Call the treatment center before leaving for a treatment to find out if appointments are on time. Radiation therapy machines must be taken offline periodically to recalibrate the machine or for repair.

NOTE: Do not be surprised if the start of radiation brings up strong emotions. To help cope with them, see the documents in "To Learn More."

 

 

Side Effects

There may not be any side effects during the early part of radiation treatment, but they may appear as treatment goes on, and then become more bothersome as treatment continues. Some side effects may linger after treatment ends.

It is worth keeping in mind that side effects are a price for regaining health or at least minimizing the effects of cancer. Most people would say the price is small compared to the potential reward.

To help minimize side effects, start by doing what you can to prevent them.  Try the following:

  • Before a radiation treatment, take some time to relax. Consider meditating or doing deep relaxation breathing. Both meditation and deep breathing can be done anywhere at any time. You don’t need any special training to do either technique. For information about meditation, click here. For deep breathing, click here.
  • After each treatment, eat small, easy to digest, meals  that are easy on the stomach.
  • If you find you get queasy after treatment, it may because you have food in your stomach.
    • Try fasting for several hours before and after each treatment. 
    • If nausea continues, let your radiation oncologist know. He or she can prescribe anti-nausea medication.
    • For other practical tips for dealing with nausea, click here.
  • Keep track of your symptoms. We provide a symptoms diary  to help keep track. When you are ready to see a doctor, you can change your diary into an easy to read graph with the push of a button.

For information about dealing fatigue and other side effects that may appear, see the documents in “To Learn More.”

In General 

  • Do your best to live a lifestyle that helps your body function at its disease-healing best
    • The same lifestyle may also help prevent a future recurrence. 
    • It is not worth spending even a minute worrying about your previous habits. Focus on what you can do now to improve your diet.
    • Don’t expect to make big changes overnight. Start small, with one step at a time. 
  • A healthy lifestyle includes:
    • The food you eat, 
      • Even if your nutritional habits are great, they can probably be improved.
      • Do your best.
      • Be practical, not obsessive.
    • Exercise
      • Yes, exercise - even during treatment  - but only to the extent approved by your doctor. You may have to take exercise easier during treatment .
      • Exercise during radiation treatment can irritate the skin due to changes caused by treatment.  To minimize discomfort, while exercising:
        • Wear  comfortable clothing such as cotton.
        • Avoid excessive sweating
        • Consider wrapping the sensitive area with a gauze pad or bandage.
    • Getting appropriate rest and sleep. Keep in mind that while actively undergoing treatment, you may need more sleep than the average person. For information about sleep, click here
    • Stay hydrated with safe drinking water. (To learn about safe water, click here.) 
  • Reduce risk of infection in all aspects of your daily life. Infections slow recovery. To learn how, click here.  
  • Practice good oral hygiene.
    • If your dentist advised additional precautions to take during treatment, take them. For instance, your dentist may recommend a fluoride mouth rinse or a fluoride gel in addition to daily brushing.
    • An infection in your mouth can lower your body's ability to fight your cancer. Keep your mouth clean. Brush at least twice a day. Floss at least once a day. (If you haven't had one lately, schedule a dental checkup). 
    • Check your mouth every day. Call your dentist immediately if you notice any changes or problems. Any of the following symptoms may indicate an infection.
      • Bleeding or a sticky, white film in your mouth 
      • Lumps 
      • Soreness 
      • Swelling 
      • Ulcerations
      • Pain
  • Minimize alcohol consumption - or eliminate it all together. For example, men should limit drinking to two drinks a day. Women should  limit drinking to one drink a day. 
  • Minimize stress.
    • To learn how, to avoid unnecessary stress, click here.
    • To learn how to deal with stress, click here. 
  • Deal with emotions that surface. Prolonged worry and angst may have an ill effect on your ability to heal physically. To learn how to deal with emotions, see: Tips To Help Feel In Control Of Your Emotions 
  • If you smoke, stop. 
    • Smoking may interfere with the effectiveness of cancer therapy. Cancer patients who smoke have a lower survival rate than nonsmokers. By quitting, you can improve the body’s response to treatments, lessen complications and side effects, decrease the risk of recurrence and enhance survival.
    • Quitting during treatment may be very uncomfortable. It may include a variety of symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety and irritability. On the other hand, it may help keep your mind off of the treatment.
    • For information about quitting, click here
  • Practice smart appointment behavior.
    • Call ahead before leaving for treatment to be sure appiontments are on time.
    • Arrive at each treatment session early.I
  • Listen to your body and take care of yourself.

DON'T

  • Put make up over the site markers.
  • Try to remove the treatment markers.
  • Put powder or lotion on the treatment site prior to treatment.
  • Skip a session if you can avoid it. Effectiveness depends on keeping to the planned schedule. If you have to miss a session, speak with your radiation oncologist to find out how to make it up.
  • Become pregnant if you can avoid it.
  • Be surprised if the start of radiation brings up strong emotions. To help cope with them, see the documents in "To Learn More."

      (Please share additional tips you learn by e mail to: Survivorship A to Z)


Please share how this information is useful to you. 0 Comments

 

Post a Comment Have something to add to this topic? Contact Us.

Characters remaining:

  • Allowed markup: <a> <i> <b> <em> <u> <s> <strong> <code> <pre> <p>
    All other tags will be stripped.