Any Peas that have had radiation treatments?

Sorry, I can't help with info on the radiation.

However I can understand the difficulty trying to explain the tipsy v dizzy. Unrelated to your situation I was in the ER with a medical emergency and they kept asking me if I was dizzy... No no I said it was different, not dizzy, not light headed, just different...

Wishing you the very best!!

DH had 42 treatments and was so tired he could not do much of anything by the time it was over.
He doesn't remember exactly when he got his energy back but in a few weeks he began his morning walks (1/2 mile) again.

My late DH had 5 treatments on his femur and hip. It wiped him out! I still don't know how my BFF got through 35 treatments.

Don't overdo it. Take the time your body needs.

I had 10 doses of radiotherapy for a secondary breast cancer tumour in my spine.

Yes it is brutal, exhausting, and the fatigue is dreadful. I still get days, 16 months later, that wipe me out and I have to rest. Doing one thing a day is absolutely fine, don’t beat yourself up about not doing more. Rest as much as you can/need just listen to your body.

I know it is frustrating not being able to do what you want, but pushing yourself too much may hinder your recovery.

Sending you lots of love, you’ve got this

I agree radiotherapy is awful. I had it following cervical cancer. Initially it was ok, but once they started giving me chemo prior to the radiation to heighten the effect I had such a toxic reaction they stopped me at treatment 18 ( of 25). I was not only exhausted but had awful diarrhoea ( sorry tmi) which got worse and worse . It continued to worsen for 2 weeks after they stopped my treatment, I then gradually felt better over about 6 weeks.
One of my friends had a very different experience following breast cancer however. She had dreadful burns in her irradiated area, but continued to feel well and carried on working all the way through.

I had breast cancer 30 years ago. I was totally surprised at how radiation affected me.  Tired beyond belief.  I basically took a 6 month nap.

I completed six weeks of radiation in 2020 and I don't remember crazy exhaustion but I also already felt exhausted from six months of chemo, a pandemic and caring for three small kiddos. Cancer sucks. The thing I can say with confidence is, I feel better now. It takes a lot of time, and I still feel like when I do get sickies from family/kids it hits me harder. BUT I'm here and for that I am forever grateful! Sending you lots of love and healing vibes. You can do hard things!!

I had chemo for breast cancer and that was fatiguing, but not radiation therapy. My Mum had radiation, just 5 sessions daily for a week. She was pretty tired but it was a 40 minute drive each way which is tiring in itself at 86.

One of the things that surprised her was that other than the tiredness, she felt pretty good at the time, but the treatment was cumulative and just as she was thinking she'd got away with it, the fatigue and burns hit. It takes a while to get back to whatever now passes for normal.

Hugs. Things will improve for you, but it could take longer than you think.

Radiation therapy wiped me out. I had about 20 sessions starting 6 weeks after breast cancer surgery, thankfully no chemo needed. My appointments were usually around 10 am and when I got home I was done for the day. I mostly sat on the sofa and binged mindless TV shows - even reading and knitting were too tiring.

I’m really sorry. Radiation is draining. I had mine while I was still pretty sick and it helped my pain a lot, but it was a mixed bag. I’ve been dealing with fatigue the entire time I’ve had cancer. It really is frustrating and difficult. I’m tired all the time, even when I’m feeling pretty well. My cancer is currently controlled but I have a lot of side effects, fatigue being a big one. Like you, I don’t look sick. You wouldn’t see me and think “cancer patient”. I wish I had some words of wisdom or a quick fix. I don’t, but I can tell you that I get it. Be kind to yourself. Try to ignore the outside chatter, easier said than done, I know, but don’t waste your energy on it.

I am sorry you are having so many bad side effects. Please, please take care of yourself - even if others think you are all healed. YOU know you aren't and that is just going to take time.

I'm re-reading this (and bookmarking) with a new focus. I am likely to need radiation at some point after my surgery.

Sending you double hugs.

Radiation for cervical cancer. Six weeks of once a week chemo and 5 day a week radiation. I also had 5 high dose internal radiation treatments. I worked full time only taking off Mondays because chemo/radiation days took all day. I made up as much time as possible working 9-10 hours a day Tu-Fr. It was brutal. Weekends I would lay down at noon and not wake up until the next morning.

Some unexpected side effects:

- radiation sunburn on my butt. My butt had never been so tanned. It eventually went away. But it was almost always tender like a new sunburn.
- radiation burn of my urethra. Felt like the worst UTI ever and took weeks to go away. I ate those orange pills like candy.
- hair loss, not on my head! The targeted radiation beam left a circular bald spot right in the middle of my pubic bone.
- tiredness, it was so bad. Working to make up my time didn’t help, but working did help psychologically. It gave me something else to focus on.
- sudden onset menopause and the hot flashes and brain fog and crazy emotions hit me hard and fast.
- loss of appetite. Not sure if it was chemo, radiation or both. I wasn’t really ever nauseated, food just wasn’t appetizing. I also couldn’t tolerate coffee, so switched to hot tea. I didn’t lose more than 5 lbs because it was not allowed. I ate even when I didn’t want to.

My advice, when you’re tired sleep. Communicate with your oncology team. Nothing is trivial. They can either reassure you it’s normal or investigate if not. They might also have meds that will help in the short term. For example, those pills for UTI pain, I was taking way more than prescribed because the pain was miserable. I asked my doctor and he said it was fine to take what I needed to get relief.

Hugs to you!