Radiation…
What is it and what happens afterwards?
RADIATION
Side Effects of Radiation:
Radiation is aimed at the cancer cells. It can also affect healthy cells near the cancer. This may cause you to have side effects. Some people do not have any side effects. Other people have a few or many side effects. No one knows exactly which side effects you will have until you begin radiation.
The side effects you may have depend on the part of the body that is being treated.
Some of the most common side effects are:
Feeling very tired (fatigue)
Losing hair (may be permanent or temporary) in
the part of your body that is being treated
Having skin irritation on the part of your body
that is being treated
You may also have other side effects depending on the area of your body that is being treated. You will be given information specific to the side effects you may have. Your doctor may prescribe something to help deal with side effects.
Most of your healthy cells will go back to normal after radiation. For most people, the side effects go away gradually after the radiation
ends, usually within 4-6 weeks.
Please keep in mind that side effects are NOT a sign of how well radiation is working against your cancer.
It is normal for you and your family to have many feelings at this time. Talk with your doctor, nurse, or radiation therapist about your
feelings. Your health care team is there to answer your questions and to help you. Your emotional health and well-being are very important.
Skin Reactions:
Most common side effect from radiation therapy treatments is a skin reaction. Regardless of what area of the body is being treated, most patients will have a skin reaction. It is important to remember
everyone is different and will have a different skin reaction. Skin
reactions happen gradually and usually affect fair skinned patients
more than dark skinned patients. Generally there are several stages to a skin reaction:
First signs of a skin reaction will usually show up within the first 7 to 10 days of treatment. You may notice warmth and redness of the skin in the area being treated. At this point, the skin may be itchy and dry.
After the skin has become slightly dry, reddened and mildly itchy, it may become more intense with increased redness and itchiness that may be quite bothersome.
Towards the end of your treatment, the skin being treated may actually become more reddened and moist. For some patients, small areas of skin may actually breakdown and have tiny “blister-like” open areas.
It is important to have daily sitz baths to help get rid of the dead skin so that infection does not set in. Using the green aloe gel to
keep the skin moist is of a big importance, and you will find it cooling as well.
Black spots as well developed on his behind.. It was a few weeks before the blisters broke & peeled. VON had placed penaten cream on the skin. Then we found the green aloe to be the best.
