Radiation Fibrosis of Lung

[LargeGlassOfRed]

Hi Everyone,

My mum completed 15 fractions of radiotherapy during her breast cancer treatment and we have now learnt that this has caused fibrosis of her left lung.

Does anyone have any information on this? I have been on Google and scared myself senseless!

Thanks x

[peege]

Hi, best to stay off Google LargeGlassOfRed!I'm afraid I know nothing of lung fibrosis caused be radiotherapy. Hopefully others who do will be along soon. Just a warm welcome to the BLF patients forum , very kind knowledgeable members here plus the helpline via email or phone. Very best wishes for your mum's recovery from the breast cancer too. P

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to peege]

Hi good morning,

Thankyou for your warm welcome and kind words x

[CDPO16]

Hi and welcome. If your mum has a follow up appointment as a result of completing her radiotherapy, you could perhaps raise your concerns at that appointment. In the meantime, as peege said, Google isn't the best place to read up about things but the BLF helpline may be worth contacting. Hope your mum is doing OK after her treatment.

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to CDPO16]

Hi good evening,She has a follow up appointment with the consultant at respiratory, so we will ask a few questions then.

Thankyou for your reply x

[skischool]

HI.One of the members on here who has since left the site developed a degree of fibrosis on his treated lung after radiotherapy for lung cancer.If i remember correctly this showed up on a follow up CT scan some time after his treatment,to the best of my knowledge it was not considered extensive and probably not going to be progressive and would .like his tumour be monitored in the future.

I hope this gives you a little reassurance but it is obviously something the patient needs to discuss with thier consultant on an individual basis.

Best wishes

Ski's and Scruff's

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to skischool]

Hi good evening,Thankyou for your reply.

This all sounds promising and we will be sure to ask lots of questions during follow up appointment with consultant.

Thankyou for the reassurance x

[skischool in reply to LargeGlassOfRed]

I hope all goes well for you but as i said i think it is quite a common occurrence and the severity will be very much on an individual basis probbly very much dependant on the target area of the radiotherapy.

[Oshgosh]

If you need to research online,the safe sites are the NHS website,or the BLF site.BLF also provide.Telephone support.

The rest,don’t even go there. I hope your mum is ok.make a list of your concerns.c

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to Oshgosh]

Hello Yes I’ve learnt quickly to not search for anything on Google!Thankyou for your reply x

[Digger0]

Make sure you write down all your questions before you go to see the consultant. Good luck.

[mylungshateme]

Hi and welcome 👋. First stay away from dr google!!!!! Write a list of all those questions you have going around in head and take to appointments or take photo on your phone, or do list on your phone so you can't forget it.

This is a fantastic way to get support of others and advice so please use. 🙂

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to mylungshateme]

Hello, thankyou for your reply. Everyone has been very welcoming. Yes, I will make sure to write some questions on my phone. Thanks for the suggestion x

[goathead53]

hi i had prostrate cancer nearly 4 years ago. treated with radiotherapy and have recently being diagnosed with emphysema, after never smoking in my life, im now thinking is there a link

[peege in reply to goathead53]

Some people who've never smoked do get emphysema unfortunately. There's genetic Alpha 1 Deficiency diagnosable with simple blood test. Or can be due to childhood environment (household full of smokers), work environment (fumes, particles of dust/ mdf for instance).

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to goathead53]

Hello thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you have developed Emphysema. I hope you are fully recovered from prostate cancer and feeling well x

[Mavary]

Hi I’m in the same situation as your Mum. Not through radiotherapy. In fact I’m not 100 per cent sure of why. I found out from a discharge sheet that I have Interstitial lung or lungs. Which means fibrosis. Nobody has said anything about it and to be honest I’m half afraid to ask. My Husband had IPF which is different from pulmonary fibrosis so I’m burying my head in the sand at the moment. If it’s not said it doesn’t exist. .

[Mavary in reply to Mavary]

Oh by the way. A large glass of red would be lovely. 🤣😂

[LargeGlassOfRed in reply to Mavary]

Hiya god afternoon,I’m sorry to hear your husband had ipf.

My mum is like that in a way, she doesn’t ask questions because she doesn’t want to hear anything awful. Do you know what the difference is between ipf and pf? Would radiation fibrosis be classed as pf? X

P.s it’s Friday - treat yourself to a large glass of red haha

[Mavary in reply to LargeGlassOfRed]

Any type of scarring to the interstium is fibrosis. It’s scarring of the alveoli. IPF has a lifespan of between two and five years. My Husband had four years. PF however has a much longer lifespan. It depends on the scarring and what has caused it. It maybe that your Mum and indeed I may not get any more scarring and we could go on for years. The thing to look out for is if she gets any more breathless. I know all about it because I looked up a lot when my Husband had it. They didn’t want to tell us then what it was. I said I would look it up and I also joined a Pulmonary Fibrosis group.

He did say to me when I said I would look it up not to believe everything you read. They haven’t even mentioned to me about interstitial scarring.

If I were you I would go with her and ask questions. You can tell them what you know already.

Oh No I forgot the red! Xxx🤣😂

[Izb1]

I cant answer your query LGOR but would like to welcome you to the site and wish your mum a speedy recovery x