Radiation and Chemo Combined and the effects

Ok first there are pictures that are to follow that may be hard to look at but its the reality that I am living so I want to be honest and show people. 
1. So that people can better understand why I haven't been out and about and why sometimes its even hard to talk, I have been sleeping a lot over the last week. 


2. To help anyone just about to go through it and be honest so they are prepared for it. 


Here goes 6 weeks everyday (week day) I went onto the machine that was shown previous post for a round 10 -15 mins for radiation therapy. 
I as doing ok as late as Mothers day I went to school and had a pamper session with Ethan who painted my nails, massaged my hands and gave me a tattoo :) The children put on a concert then we got Involved. 
This is the picture of me then. I was using QV Cream and it was doing really well and I was really happy with it until I had chemo 


Combination of drugs for CMF 

• cyclophosphamide
• methotrexate
• fluorouracil, also known as 5FU.

and the Methotrexate is  possibly the one that caused my reaction. 

Dont know why this is sideways sorry :) 

On the 16th May I had Radiation in the morning then Chemo and that afternoon this is the reaction I had come out with 

By Monday the 21st May it was this bad 

Tuesday 22nd 

Neck getting better but the chest wall isnt 23rd May 

Wednesday in Hospital the radiation burns were bad enough for them to start giving me antibiotics and strong pain killers to help with the pain these are the pictures 

This is over night so the 24th May 

Neck is getting better but still hurting 

This is this morning 25th May 

I am hopefully now that I have antibiotics can start healing ! 
Please don't think I did this for shock value as I just like to keep everyone informed and a lot of readers are about to go through this so its helpful to them to know the possibilities.


Although my reaction is bad due to chemo it still can get bad depending on treatment and the person. 

Putting your body through the Ringer !!

OK well I have started Radiation treatment and I was so glad that my dad was over as he came to the first session with me. It was great having him there as a a support our relationship has grown through this and I am forever grateful for that. 


First step is the CT scan 

Computed Tomography Scanner

CT scans are often used in treatment planning for radiation therapy. During CT scanning, pictures of the inside of the body are created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine.

This is also when I was tattooed with ink spots for the markings so each day you are placed in the same position for radiation. 


So what's radiation treatment ?? 

• Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA.
• Radiation therapy can damage normal cells as well as cancer cells. Therefore, treatment must be carefully planned to minimize side effects.
• The radiation used for cancer treatment may come from a machine outside the body, or it may come from radioactive material placed in the body near tumor cells or injected into the bloodstream.
• A patient may receive radiation therapy before, during, or after surgery, depending on the type of cancer being treated.
• Some patients receive radiation therapy alone, and some receive radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy.

What are the side effects ??

Radiation therapy can cause both early (acute) and late (chronic) side effects. Acute side effects occur during treatment, and chronic side effects occur months or even years after treatment ends . The side effects that develop depend on the area of the body being treated, the dose given per day, the total dose given, the patient’s general medical condition, and other treatments given at the same time.

Acute radiation side effects are caused by damage to rapidly dividing normal cells in the area being treated. These effects include skin irritation 

Most acute effects disappear after treatment ends, though some (like salivary gland damage) can be permanent. 

Fatigue is a common side effect of radiation therapy regardless of which part of the body is treated. Nausea with or without vomiting is common when the abdomen is treated and occurs sometimes when the brain is treated. Medications are available to help prevent or treat nausea and vomiting during treatment.

Late side effects of radiation therapy may or may not occur. Depending on the area of the body treated, late side effects can include 

• Fibrosis (the replacement of normal tissue with scar tissue, leading to restricted movement of the affected area).
• Damage to the bowels, causing diarrhea and bleeding.
• Memory loss.
• Infertility (inability to have a child).
• Rarely, a second cancer caused by radiation exposure.

Second cancers that develop after radiation therapy depend on the part of the body that was treated (16). For example, girls treated with radiation to the chest for Hodgkin lymphoma have an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life. In general, the lifetime risk of a second cancer is highest in people treated for cancer as children or adolescents Whether or not a patient experiences late side effects depends on other aspects of their cancer treatment in addition to radiation therapy, as well as their individual risk factors. Some chemotherapy drugs, genetic risk factors, and lifestyle factors (such as smoking) can also increase the risk of late side effects.

 This is my machine that I have become friendly with over the past few weeks half way mark now and finish on the 30th May. 

This is my home for 8 weeks every morning :)

The hall way leading to the treatment room and my Acacia waiting room 

And this is the machine that is doing the work on my body I call it the big cake mixer another thing I said I wanted just not like this :) 

This is Joe one of the wonderful staff that have been taking care of me they are all amazing :) 

Here are some pretty harsh pictures of me so far I have taken these in the first week of radiation and now being half way through to show you the colour difference in my skin and its to only get worse over the next few weeks.  

 me looking like I have receding hair line !!!! :)

My scar from the mastectomy its pretty ugly and  I hope that when I have reconstruction surgery It will be turn out ok as the puckering is because my breast size at surgery!! 

This is me today sitting in bed due to another condition will go into shortly :) 

There is a little redness starting to show now I am using QV Cream and its doing a good Job I think!! 

Hair is growing back but I am looking a little yellow due to being sick atm thats my next post :)