I asked my rad tech how many rads I was getting each dose and he said "Hun you are getting the max because Dr. Levy is gonna kill this thing once and for all." I asked him what is the max and he said 600 per dose.

Now is that why my throat was already sore and I could barely swallow on day 8? I don't understand all this stuff. If I am getting the "maximum" now then will I get the ones they call a boost at the end or will I not get them? Today is the beginning of week four. I am tired as a junk yard dog after a big meal. Is it because of the dose again? I thought fatigue didn't start until around week 5?

Sorry so many questions but I have been wondering about this since week 2.

In foggy mountain town today,
Barbara~

The maximum daily fraction is about 2.5 cGy (or Greys as they are now called) The older unit of measurement was "rads" of which the average total was 3000. I really don't know what numbers they are giving you. Ask the RO at your next visit.

I kind of remember being fairly beat up by week three. I would sleep a lot after I was done with treatment each day.

Thanks gary. I will have to ask him tomorrow. I feel pretty much like poop tonight. Everything hurts. Blah. My neck swelled up so big I thought it was gonna burst for about three hours and then went back to normal. I saw a post somewhere on here about neck swelling so I am running of to see if I can find it again. It was pretty scary. I wish they would just tell you everything you "might" get and not just "the norm."

Bless you,
barbara~

Barbara,

My mom's name is Barbara too...and she was pretty beat up by week 2. We often wondered how she would make it through the entire 6 weeks but she endured it and never missed a day. Some days she would wait hours for the machine to be fixed but she swore she would not drag it out any longer than the 6 weeks she was told she would need. Her neck swelled a couple days and she had really bad burns. She resorted to the pain patches and I think she was up to wearing 3 or 4 at a time to tolerate the pain. If you are experiencing pain you should speak to you doctors about meds to manage the pain. Your over the halfway mark and thats when we started looking at it as a countdown. Hang in there. My prayers are with you.

Dani

I don't know how ANY of us made it 6 weeks lol - but we do because the alternative is looking up at the roots! Of course, I can laugh now since it's been over 2 years now. I wasn't laughing much back then I can assure you. Maybe that's the way to get those terrorists to confess - just slap 'em on a LINAC every day.

There is no "norm" -we all respond differently to treatment. A book I had "Living Well With Cancer" by Katin Moore and Libby Schmais talked a lot about side effects and countermeasures.

Towards the end, and for a month or 2 afterwards, I had horrific days to fair days.

Human's are a lot tougher than we give ourselves credit for.

Hang in there - it WILL pass I promise.

Thanks dears. Well they said my neck swelled up because I got an allergy to the liquid supplement of all things. Now they want me to eat something called "calories" which is fat in a jar with no taste. I can stir it in milk she said. No thank you! That is the grossest thing I can't even think about it. I will just blend anything and everything into liquid and drink it before I go that route.

Dani I believe so many suffer much more than I do. Mine was caught early and though I am having some pain I know it is not as intense as some I have read about in here. Bless all your brave and courageous hearts. My machine, TG has never broken down. I am in and out in 5 minutes unless I have to see the doc, the nurse or the dietician. Praise the Lord your mother is still here and enjoying life. She is a brave soul.

Gary I totally forgot about asking about the rad doses. I talk so much and carry on we all get to laughing and somebody starts looking for the dict tape to tape me shut. LOL

How true about the terrorists. "Get on that chemo machine you dirty killing dog you and here is a shot of 4000 rads of radiation to your face you snake! That felt good Gary. Maybe I should do that more often. LOL
I try and find something to laugh about everyday no matter what. I watched my late husband draw up into a shell and what it did to me and the kids was a sad tragedy. We went into the pit right along with him and I viwed if I ever got it I would never put my kids throught that again and as yet I have been true to my promise.

Man I talk to much. LOL Bless you and be good to one another,
barbara~

Barb, it's really kind of moot. They always give the maximum dose or close to it (i.e. the "boost"). There is no such thing as Lite Radiation.

I can't wait to see OBL's face squeezing out of the mesh. Probably the only person I would wish this on.

Gary, Gary be kind now. You know the devil will get you for saying that. I am sure glad my mask aint that tight. hahahahaahha

well I asked today and he said 180 greys with 200 being the maximum. That is enough confusion for me now. I just want the thing dead, gone and obliterated!

Bless you all,

Barbara~

I got it now - I'm actually more used to the older method of measuring in rads:
8.1cGy x100 = 8100Gy/33=245Gy or
7.2cGy x100 = 7200Gy/33=218Gy or
6.0cGy x100 = 6000Gy/33=181Gy

The last number being the daily "fractional" dose.

Some people get 35 treatments, which would lower the daily fraction a little bit.

My mask was so tight in the beginning that my face looked like fish scales from the impression left by the mesh. It loosened up as I lost weight.

Barb, I guess since you are caught at stage 1, you shouldn't be receiving the maximum dose. I was scheduled for 42 treatments and towards the end, I was given 6 more as the boost because my doctors didn't want to miss anything and they thought my body could stand it. Well the journey was really tough but as far as I remember, I was still OK until week 5 when I could no longer swallow or talk clearly. The pain was never too much for me and my doctor said maybe it was because I kept on taking pain killers every day even though I didn't feel the pain. But the constipation was a big problem.
Gary, I also had the fish scales on my face for a few hours after treatment and on the first few days, I dare not look up feeling very embarrassed in case passers-by caught my sight. Then my sister-in-law told me not to feel ashamed of myself. I should look up telling everybody that I was a cancer fighter and I could make it through. So here I am, nearly 4 years after treatment with almost everything going back to normal. Don't worry, Barb, you can certainly win the battle.

Karen

Hi Karen,
I has fun with it - I tinted a digitial photo of myself green and sent it out to everything telling them I was the "Creature From The Black Lagoon".

Gosh a mask that tight sounds horrible. It must be different for each cancer? Mine is not tight at all. I have to hold my chin up in it when they are ready. No wonder so many say they are so bad. I am sorry you two had to go through that. Okay gary you can put one on him now. I will not tell.

I get 33 treatments of 180 greys per. Man the side affects are the pits. My neck itches so bad today and that Biafine seems to be doing nothing right now. Do they have some anti-itch stuff or do you have to feel like you have skitters living in your house with you?

Karen...congratulations on the 4 years. I hope you enjoy many, many more.
Gary...You are so funny! I love it. I am making paper mache and turning my mask into a MartiGras mask with feathers, sequins and the works and hanging it on my wall. You need to put that picture in your profile. I will when I get mine done. hahahaahahha

Laughter is the best medicine,
God bless and keep you,
Barbara~

Paper mache on the mask-what a great idea-I wonder if John will let me do that! Gary and Barb, please clarify something for me [I've been wanting to ask for a while but didn't have the guts being the shy, retiring Southern gal I am] WHAT does LOL stand for ? Could be "lots of luck",or "lack of luck" or "Lord Oh Lord",or "last on line",etc. Do you think I may have had one too many glasses of wine tonite? Amy

LOL is internetese for "laughing out loud". There are many others like ROTFLMAO "rolling on the floor laughing my ass off" or shortened to ROTFL "rolling on the floor laughing" and SWMBO "she who must be obeyed" aka "the wife".

Larry likes to use CU "see you". There are sites that have lists of all the acronyms.

Amy! HAHAHAHAAHAHHA Because of your post I am now ROTFLMAO

Gary,thanks for the enlightenment It is truly amazing what one can learn here. John has started calling me his "2Cal" girl[because I wake him up every 4 hours or so to do the tube feed] But I am gonna tell him my new name is SWMBO. Amy

Other common ones - IMO "in my opinion" IMHO "in my honest opinion". See http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/?lookup=R for a complete list


Some that are unique to here:

RO "radiation oncologist"

IMRT "intermodulated radiotherapy

XRT Standard radiotherapy

XRT. So thats what it is. Remember when I thought I was having IMRT? I finally remembered to ask and I am having the standard so now at least I "know" what I am having even though I might now know my butt from a hole in the ground today.Now I can put that in my profile and be correct.
Feeling a bit yucky but the end is now exactly 3 weeks away. yeeeeeehawwwwww
Bless you,
Barbara~

Congratulations, Barb on being OVER halfway there. That's a bog deal. Hang in there.

Nelie

Thank you babe! I will be glad to get it over with even though I know I won't be feeling fab anytime soon I can sleep late. I arranged my apts. early because the ACC was providing my transportation and now I only have one person from there and everyone else wishes it were later including me.

Gods love to you,
Barbara~