just fished head radiotharpy for prevation ,no side affects s yet has anybody else been through this

[jaynecarol]

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My relative finished the same treatment in early October.

At the time the decision to go for prophylactic cranial radiotherapy seemed like a no-brainier (excuse the pun!) as the clinical oncologist suggested that it would reduce the likelihood of brain metastasis of the small cell lung cancer from 80% to 40%.

Now, with hindsight she is regretting having the treatment. Side effects include a total loss of appetite (she hasn't eaten a savoury meal in months and is living off sweet things and Complan), physical weakness, a notable deterioration in short term memory, and most disturbing a degree of mental confusion that borders on that of an Alzheimer's sufferer. Not all the side effects came on straight away, some took a couple of months to develop.

Was it worth all this to reduce an almost certainty (80%) to a medium likelihood (40%)? In my relatives case most definitely not - she is cursing the decision to go ahead and thinks the life she is living now is no life at all. If her quality of life post-chemotherapy was 80% compared with full health, then she is now at 40% and lays the blame squarely with the radiotherapy.

I hope you have none of these problems, but equally I suggest you are realistic in your expectations and don't assume after a couple of weeks that things won't change any further because the brain is a highly complex organ.

Good luck!

Edward

[jaynecarol]

thanks for replay just hoping things stay as they are, no hair again

wish they would explain the worse that can happen and then you have a choice, but the way

they put it , its the best thing for you

hope your relative gets back to some normal soon best wish to her