Hello everyone
This is my first post and that in itself is a bit scary! I have my CT scan on Monday as part of radiotherapy planning. I had a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy which was negative. Diagnosis of ‘23mm grade 2 invasive duct carcinoma + DCIS extending to 27mm ER + HER2 negative’ (sorry , don’t know how much is relevant to my question) my surgery was on 4/7. I am on hormone therapy and will need 5 radiotherapy sessions. I had to cut short my holiday to come home for my ‘sorry, you have cancer’ appointment. I have a 1 week holiday booked from 29/9. I don’t know if I should ask if they could do it after my holiday. So many people have told me I’ll be tired during and after for a few weeks and I so want to have a good holiday. I know some people will think I should just be grateful I can have radiotherapy and take it whenever, but I’ve been so low in mood and felt so lonely, I desperately want some good time.
Hi Crescent
I’m sorry you’re on this rollercoaster journey and wish you the very best. Regarding your question, I had my Lympectomy and mammoplasty on 1.9.23, as the surgery was more extensive than anticipated, I had to wait until December 23 to start the Radiotherapy.
If I’m honest, I wanted to have a good Christmas without the fatigue (which is I think inevitable undergoing Radiotherapy), and to forget about everything until after Christmas.
My Cancer consultant and Radiologist both agreed to delay the 5 sessions of Radiotherapy for me until 3.1.24 so long as I had the CT scan and Tatoos in December 23, as this meant they could hit the ground running on 3.1 to start my sessions.
So my advice to you is ‘ask the question’, it depends on your particular situation I’d assume but the worst that can happen is they say No I guess.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get the response you would like. The staff throughout my pathway were excellent and hopefully you’ll have the same experience. I’m now coming up to the first anniversary after my operation and life is as much back to my normal life as it can be…. Take care of you!!
Xx
I would ask that question - it’s only a week and not likely to make a difference to you it’s whether they can switch things about to change your treatments without causing a problem for someone else or leaving an empty slot ( I suspect they could fill that easily ). I totally get the fact that you need a break and I think they will too xx
Hi Crescent, I would agree with the other posts ask the question. My story is very similar to yours my surgery was in June. I recovered quickly and back to all usual activities only a numb arm to deal with. After the radiotherapy really floored by fatigue taking some time to get functioning again very frustrating. So definitely if you can have the holiday before it will give you a real boost before your treatment. Good luck.x
@crescent
I had similar grade 2 WLE and SNB and had 3 months between surgery and rads- due to wait for results and then Christmas
Your insurance may not cover you if u are still awaiting treatment hun x
That’s a good point @crescent - you should probably check but if you have it scheduled it may be ok. I went abroad this year and there were lots of questions in relation to the cancer and the treatment . Having said that I have a few other health issues as well so there are always lots of questions for me xx
thank you so much everyone for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your thoughts and encouragement. I will ask on Monday. I hadn’t thought about the insurance cover so thank you for the heads up on this. So much to think of when your head is mushy!
Sorry, I don’t know why I seem to have changed my name to daffodils! That is weird!
Very difficult and expensive tp get insuranxe mid treatment if you are going abroad…check it out first …wishing you well