Radium: what is it, and does it hurt?The biggest issue for myself from the Radiotherapy was juggling the treatment with a Job and the commute itself being a daily 5 hour round trip from my house. At this point in the treatment, it felt a lot of people had gotten ‘bored’ of my condition (myself included) and apart from one or two people, the offers to help dried up quite quickly. However, I really did have myself to blame. I played my illness off to a point that my own mother and Nick thought I was ok, It was only when I had to cycle to the train station, catch a train, then a bus, have treatment and then back every day, did my condition start to get me down. Radium is easy compared to chemo, but it does make you tired, so I would not recommend doing daily 5 hour round trips if you can help it. All in all the treatment took me about 10-15 minutes daily, and on the preparation visit, they line you up with the lasers and you get a little permanent tattoo, a black dot, to make future visits quicker whilst lining up the lasers. The machine moves around you as you lay very still as it burns your stem cells, you feel nothing. I suffered from a few headaches during treatment, so try and remember to drink a lot of water and don’t play it down, it is still not a nice thing to live with. After a few treatments, your skin may get itchy and red, its crucial to moisturise the area about 3-4 times a day to prevent it from getting too bad. Aloe vera gel is worth the extra money and keeps things running smoothly, when it dries it looks like your skin is flaking, but don’t panic it is just the gel and you can simply sweep it off.
On a scale of 1-10: 1 feeling totally great and 10 Taxotere level bad, I would put Radium as a solid 3 physically and a 6 mentally. The consistency of this treatment can make you feel like a prisoner to your condition, but remember its only temporary, and is so much easier if you allow yourself some time to rest in the days. |
A ' no holds' page about my life with incurable advanced Breast Cancer, in the hope it will give a realistic, detailed account to other young women going through the unfortunate illness.
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September 2023
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