CT Scans

[#1]

Hi all, CT scans yesterday were all clear, chest abd & pelvis not a sign of the nasties anywhere. Thought it nice to share some good news on here, we could all do with some every now & then. Just wanted to ask about side effects any of you have had from radiation to abdomen/ pelvis, its been over 18 months for me since chemo & raditation and I have really terrible pains that come & go 2 or 3 times a week, hence the reason for the scans. There is talk of maybe radiation enteritis, a friend of mine has suffered from the same, just wandered has anyone any experience with this? Butterfly

[ArnZo]

Hi Butterfly   My mum-in-law completed radiation to abdo and lung areas about a month ago and still having trouble from it - still not able to eat whatever she likes (appetite eventually came back) and is still on really small quantities... the pain comes and goes, plus nausea still rampant.  Zofran, stemitil etc only takes the edge off it but doesn't stop it. She recently saw a naturopath up in Sydney who has a special interest in cancer and gave her some yummy (not) remedies.... not sure if they're working or not, but nausea doesn't seem as bad. Docs want her to have a full CT scan as they don't know what's causing the fluctuating temps this long after radiation, nausea etc and suspect the cancer has metastasised again somewhere in the abdomen. To make matters worse, her horse of 20yrs odd had emergency surgery last night for bowel obstruction and it turned out to be a benign tumour which had wrapped around his small intestine... then they found a second one. Poor horse sporting a lovely big wound on his stomach and next few days will be touch and go. She joked last night that she must have done something to jinx herself in a past life.  If the horse dies we think it will be the undoing of her, she's had so much tragedy with everything going on and this would be the last straw.  Sorry to harp on (again), story of my life. Have you tried drinking lemon barley cordial?  For some reason this seems to sit better in the tummy than plain water.  The oncology nurse recommended it and it works a treat.   With regards to tummy pains, apart from Buscopan there didn't seem to be much they could do. The naturopath prescribed Essiac Tea for my MIL - when reading up on it, it is supposed to work a treat managing symptoms.  She brewed up her first lot late last week so is waiting to see how it goes.  It's a bit fiddly with brewing it up etc, but after reading up on its benefits, seems worthwhile giving it a go. take care Zoe

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi Butterfly, What wonderful news! GOD it must be such a relief..... CONGRATULATIONS!! I did not have any radiation, so sorry can not help you out there. I hope you do get some input from others who have or are having similar treatments and issues to yours.   best Nikki

[#4]

Hi there, Thanks both of you for your replies & yes Nikki I am really relieved about the results of the scans. Sorry to hear about your Mum in law Zoe, sounds like she is going through a rough time. I had 28 radiation treatments they went through the front both sides and back, then 3 internal radiation treatments, so I guess I have been well and truely zapped! A friend had the same treatments as I & she had radiation damage to her bowel, she had daily treatments in an oxygen chamber which was like a last chance thing to try and mend the damage to her bowel, if that didnt work then she would have had to have surgery. I think that it is quite rare but sometimes the radiation can permamently damage a portion of the bowel and apparently breathing in the pure oxygen restores the blood flow and is sometimes all that is required. I guess they dont really tell you all of these things at the time as they are too busy saving your life! still a nuisance to have to live with all the same. At least now I know that theres not another tumor pressing on something, anything else I can handle. I have been having really small meals and eating a low fibre diet recommended by my doctors, it is helping a bit but I will have some more tests soon to see if theres anything else that can be done. All the best & thanks for your suggestions. Hope you have some good news soon.

[ArnZo]

Sorry Butterfly, just reread your msg and I ran off on a tangent. My MIL gets intermittent pain too and it comes and goes with no apparent pattern to it (eg not before/after food or anything). She's sick of having CT scans, MRIs etc and is putting this one off as she feels it will only tell them what's going on, but not that anything will be able to be done for her. That's awful to hear you're still suffering so long after having your radiation.  We haven't heard of radiation enteritis, although it makes sense given organs are burnt when one gets radiation thru the front abdo.  They were radiating her lower spine and for some reason radiated from the front... which meant her bladder, kidneys, liver, digestive system etc all got fried (she had over 10 treatments).  Very worried about permanent damage, is that what radiation enteritis is? take care Zoe

[bev]

Hello Butterfly, I had 28 treatments of pelvic radiation. The radiation did burn the skin, and then I had to have a colonscopy a few weeks after the radiation. It was the preparation for the colonscopy that gave me a  hard time. Imagine spending all day on the toilet and with burnt skin didn't help much. I have to have yearly colonscopies from now on, so I figure it shouldn't be too bad from now on. Yes, I got zapped in 4 places. I didn't mind the radiation, as I was probably convincing myself that it was helping me onto the road of recovery. The frustrating part was the time that it took some days to get the right line ups. One particular male nurse, it didn't take too long, others it seemed to take ages. I still get a few aches & pains, so I had another scan a few weeks back, and basically as the doctor said, nothing to do with the cancer or treatment it is just "wear & tear".        

[Molly]

Hi Butterfly, Wonderful news about your ct scan result. It is really great to hear some good news. Molly