My Dad has completed 26 radiations out of 30 planned. When the Chemo doctor considering the bad ulcers in the mouth and tongue ordered the radiation to be stopped for few days. The radiation doctor, who is not very responsible did see him 2 days back but never recommended it. Does anyone had to stop radiation in between ?. What is the general experience.
He has one more chemo to go and its also postponed as his blood counts are also too low.

I had a three week break in radiation. They just say it isn't the best thing but it couldn't be avoided. Because of the break they did add 4 more the orginal 30

Stopping the radiation is not a good thing in general. If it is just for a few days it may not matter that much. I too had a break for about a week after my first few (3) treatments, after which they zapped a larger volume.
In a way you are taking a break in the treatment every weekend.

M

My husband had to stop radiation about half way through for a week because he started hemoraging (sorry about the spelling) and was in ICU. I'm happy to report he's 5 year's out now and doing good. Hope this gives you some comfort.

Shelley

I had to stop rads for a week because my throat swelled shut and I could not breathe lying down. After that week I did the rest of the 5 weeks left. It was difficult, but we made it. They do say the breaks in radiation are not good, but sometimes they can not be helped. It seems a shame that you had to break so close to the end.

I too was told that breaks in between were not good but others here have had to have a break for various reasons and they are fine. If a break is needed then it's probably warranted. I had my last chemo cancelled.

i had 7 treatments of radiation left to go and my doctor stopped for a week to have my mask refitted and lasers repositioned as i was loosing so much weight i started to wiggle in the mask. i was upset, but it was a nice break, also didnt make it thru the last chemo treatment because the side effects were so bad. but after the last 7 treatments i can say im done and hopefully cured.last 3 scans have been great. no abnormal activity.

My oncologist stopped my radiation for a week also when my bloodwork came back bad. She sent me for a blood transfusion and I had to get some shots in my stomach for three days. Then it was back to the routine and they just added that week I missed to the end of treatment and adjusted my chemo dates (I had 3 big doses of chemo spread across the 7 weeks of rads).

My son also had his radiation treatments stopped for a week when the effects got so bad and he just announced one morning he was not going to go. I really worried about his missing his radiation appointment, but luckily he also had a doctor's appointment the same day so I was able to convince him to let the doctor check him out and after seeing what his mouth and throat looked like, he gave him a week's break. It seemed to help and he continued on with the treatments and doing fine, now 4 years later.