Can anyone share their experiences of Radiotherapy to the lungs with me please? I think the plan is to treat a sub pleural nodule on the lower edge of my right lung and also taking the radiation beam through my body to another tumour in the left upper mid lobe. 5 days a week for 4 weeks and I will have to drive myself 135 mile round trip everyday. I have no idea what side effects might develop but I am thinking pneumonitis or possibly plural effusion...neither of which are good things to have in a Covid 19 pandemic...already been told that if either of these things happen I would be admitted to hospital and assumed to be Covid positive until proven otherwise and placed on a Covid ward!
Does radiotherapy cause you to lose lung function?
I’ve tried talking to my lung nurse about it but I would really appreciate getting understanding from people with some real life experience. I have no experience of any treatment beyond Keytruda Pembrolizumab which ended for me 9 months ago. I’ve just started to get a bit of energy back but still have all kinds of pain and stuff going on.
Also I cannot understand why they can’t limit the field of damage by treating each area with separate beams? Any information on that would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Llanigirl
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The radiotherapy you are talking about may possibly be Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), also known as RapidArc, which is a new type of radiotherapy where the machine rotates around you, changing the beam size to provide a more accurate dose and can shorten treatment time.
You will have a planning session at the Radiotherapy department where they scan and mark where you are to have your dose targeted, which will be a great opportunity to ask all your questions and concerns that you have.
It is normal to have sessions daily for 4 weeks and the treatment time can be around 10 minutes.
This link will take you directly to our information booklet on Radiotherapy:
It is a long drive that you have for your treatment, hopefully someone can assist you with this or you could ask the hospital about patient transport. The radiotherapy itself is not painful to have, however as it builds up in your system tiredness and fatigue can set in, especially near the end of treatment.
Not everyone has Pneumonitis or pleural effusion from radiotherapy, in fact the numbers are between 5-15% and although it can happen anytime during treatment, generally it can be 4-12 weeks after treatment. What is important if you do develop any change in health/symptoms to report it early.
You may find that your lung function may reduce slightly with some shortness of breath from the treatment, again everyone is different in their experience of radiotherapy. What is important is to rest in between treatments and pace yourself as your body allows in doing things.
Please do not be alarmed by what you have been told that you would be admitted to a Covid ward if you do develop any side effects, if anything you would be so well looked after, with even more care in cleanliness and attention to detail and it may be you would be in a single room. But hopefully all your treatment will go well.
If there is anything else you would like to discuss you can either email us at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org or call our freephone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200
I had twenty days of radiotherapy about four years ago. Given Monday to Friday. Weekends free.
Treatment only lasted about ten minutes each time but lots of travel stress as lived a long way from hospital.
I had a tumour in my lung. Painless each time. Only side effects I had was pain swallowing in morning and given liquid morphine which relieved problem.
Radiotherapy remains working for a long time afterwards.
Took a long time till they could see benefits as lots of fibrosis caused by treatment so hard to see from CT scans.
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