Post Radiation Therapy - Steph

Hello from the midwest. I have been out of treatment now since late
August and gotten good checkups since. First couple of weeks were
euphoric then a down period but since a couple of weeks ago and
beginning to exercise things have gotten better.

I have a question for Steph, I would imagine, regarding life after
radiation therapy. Given 39 treatments of MIRT at a dosage of about
1.7g per treatment I was wondering what the future holds statiscally.
what got me interested in this, Steph, was your commenting to that one
fellow about the differences of dosage ie. an Xray vs a treatment and
so forth. And I recall while being tutored for treatment and signing
disclaimers, I was told that radiation treatment could have
consequences in the future.

Also, a bit of an aside, what do you recommend as far as "sunscreen"
goes, for how long, and how important is it? I know about spf 15 at a
minimum but want to know if that's an everyday thing or what.
Thanks in advance, ipunty

"ipunty" <ipunty@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1162330465.652742.126550@e3g2000cwe.googlegro ups.com...
> Hello from the midwest. I have been out of treatment now since late
> August and gotten good checkups since. First couple of weeks were
> euphoric then a down period but since a couple of weeks ago and
> beginning to exercise things have gotten better.
>
> I have a question for Steph, I would imagine, regarding life after
> radiation therapy. Given 39 treatments of MIRT at a dosage of about
> 1.7g per treatment I was wondering what the future holds statiscally.
> what got me interested in this, Steph, was your commenting to that one
> fellow about the differences of dosage ie. an Xray vs a treatment and
> so forth. And I recall while being tutored for treatment and signing
> disclaimers, I was told that radiation treatment could have
> consequences in the future.
>

In terms of induction of other cancers? It's very rare after H&N
radiotherapy. Other significant late effects like nerve damage,
osteonecrosis, etc are also pretty rare, but more common than second
cancers.
The worst complication of radiotherapy for a curable cancer of course, is
failure to cure the cancer.........
Everything has consequences, from cossing the road to drinking a beer.

> Also, a bit of an aside, what do you recommend as far as "sunscreen"
> goes, for how long, and how important is it? I know about spf 15 at a
> minimum but want to know if that's an everyday thing or what.
> Thanks in advance, ipunty
>

If you get burned in the areas you had irradiated, it might get VERY sore,
at least for the first 2 years after RT.
Hats and good spf protection are the order of the day.
By the way, for those who live in less clement climates.......frostbite in
irradiated areas can be pretty unpleasant too!

Thanks Steph. Needless to say I am comitted to whatever the future
holds and I appreciate your response.