love my OH. At 70 he is not going to change, and quite often recently has gone outside his comfort zone with this whole embarassing ladies bits problem.
but tonight as we got ready for bed he said–and what have you got planned for tomorrow—“er, my first rads appointment at the hospital”
'realy? will you have time to give me a lift to the station for my lunch before you go?"
now i know i am not worried about being nuked. But august has been in the calander for ages as not available for me going on holidays or meeting people for lunch with him. so i was not relying on crystal balls for him to know what is going on.He is not a bad man, and I do not need comfort tonight, but it would be nice for it to have at least registered
I think this is probably more to do with you being so cheerful and upbeat and probably not mentioning it very often. I do agree that he should have remembered, BUT hes a man, they have to be reminded about all important dates, birthday, anniversaries etc things that you and I would never forget.
Hope it goes well tomorrow, will be thinking of you.
Hello - I have only one word to say in explanation of your other half’s request - MEN!!! And a bit louder too OAL - MEN!!! They are just the limit at times aren’t they?! If you looked down in the mouth, maybe he’d realise sometime by the end of the day, but cos you’re being practical and upbeat, he just thinks your calling for a coffee somewhere, rather than going for rads!
So OAL, will be thinking about you today - I remember my first rads 10yrs ago - the worst bit about the first day was how to fasten the gown while I waited for rads - there seemed to be tie fasteners everywhere on it!
Take care OAL, and also you too for your first rads on Wednesday, D.
Best of luck, YAF. I hope your rads people are as lovely as all of mine have been. I know some have had unpleasant experiences with lack of respect, but I have never for an instant felt that of my lovely people, so if anything bothers you about how they do things, speak up straight away.
Be prepared to recite your name, address and date of birth every day, even though they might be the same people every time.
A little tip for you. If you’re given a regular hospital gown, I’ve found it useful to put it on with the opening at the front, and keep the waist tie done up for treatment so the unaffected side stays securely covered when you slip the arm of your affected side out of the gown. If you’re only given a strip of blue paper, ask for a gown, or bring your own wrap-over style top with you to wear.
Good luck with your rads ladies, I finished mine last Friday, apart from a little bit of redness and a big bit of tiredness, it was a breeze.
Remember though slap on as much aqueous cream as you possibly can.
interesting what you say about the gown. at the planning they told me to put the gown on with the opening on the back and not to fasten it.
then when they needed to position me they took it off, but once i was in position they layed it across me and i stayed covered for the scanning. Perhaps they will do something different when they zap me
Re the gown scenario - I had such a laugh when I went for my first planning session!! The radiographer told me to undress my top half and use the modesty panel provided on the chair. It was a hospital pillow case!!! I said I’d never heard them called that before and had quite a few at home and never knew that’s what they were.
Good luck with the rads OAL. You’ll sail through it, I’m sure. Mine finished 4 weeks ago and apart from the horrible tiredness 10 days after they ended, which lasted about a week, it wasn’t too bad at all. Raring to go with life now!!
Pillow case!!! What luxury. I got a bit of what looked like kitchen roll. And it think that was more to keep the draft off than for any modesty prevention exercise. Only time it bothered me really was the time a young trainee lad was involved. All other times all female.
And OAL - I do think it is probably because you are handling it so well. And not just a man thing, one of my sisters did mention that they often ‘forget’ I’ve got cancer cos I don’t talk about it all the time, and no chemo/outward sign helps. Enjoy your rad holiday. Mine was even better in that I got transport provided every day - but I suppose that did prevent me from shopping afterwards.
good luck OAL , u will be fine! wmy team were fab. the nicest rad fellow was a late thirties chap(thanks dave!) even rememberd to call me “alex” instead of “alexANDRA” why do they feel the need to pronounce the last 2 syllables?? i had a stupid gown that i just couldnt do the poppers up on. fab dave even helped me.(slight embarrassment cos he is easy on the eye) love and luck 2 all,(ps , dave was such good guy, made me feel old at 41! but totally put me at ease) xxx
Good luck with your first zapping Im sure you’ll be just fine as for your OH it could be this month has started & he still thinks he is in July LOL … thats the excuse im giving my OH for forgetting our 24 wedding anniversary today ! his excuse Ive had so much on my mind ? ! poor thing huh … how I see that you do less time for murder nowadays haha
I’m half way through now - have had 10 of a planned 20, and skin is slightly pink and no more than that. Aloe vera gel frequently applied, and a cotton-lined bra so I’m not uncomfortable.
good luck with the rads, girls! In Newcastle we got a little tabard thing that we kept for the whole time - didn’t realise how lucky we were. our rads team were gorgeous too.
hope it goes well, the time flies and if you’ve had chemo, its an utter doddle in comparison xx
Best wishes to all of you having your Rads. In Oxford they had some “boob” tops but they only had extra large left when I started.
Decided it was a bit revealing as I’m size 10. Never thought about wearing a wrap around top; or of course a modesty panel! I had apiece of blue paper once to cover right-hand side up.
When radiographers left a bit of a draught as they walked past & it ended up on the floor.
Only a few feet from changing area to rads bench so just stripped off. They offered me a top in correct size; yes at last session!
We had the little short tops at Addenbrooke’s as well - it was great and I kept mine until the end of rads. It was very modest and I only had to uncover the area they were treating. My staff were all lovely and seemed very caring.
I had 15 + 4 boosters. My nipple started to get a bit sensitive half way through and the skin felt prickly so I stopped wearing a bra at that point. It got a worse after I’d finished - I lost some skin in the crease underneath about 10 days after finishing (thought I was in the clear so wore a bra - no such luck!) and my nipple peeled (it was in the boost zone), despite plastering on the aqueous and aloe at every opportunity, even using the aqueous to wash with. My nipple got very sore indeed and even now, five weeks after finishing, it’s still sensitive and my nuked boob is several degrees warmer than the other one.
My boob also felt sore inside and still does a bit - rather like when you’re due to start a period. My onc said it’s all normal as the rads actually cause internal swelling and it can take several months to settle down. Some of the pains (sharp, sudden ones like electric shocks) can continue for years afterwards.
So remember, they’re quite right when they say you carry on cooking afterwards and for most people the SEs don’t really develop until after you’ve finished.
I’m still washing with the aqueous cream and applying the 99.9% aloe morning and night and will do for some time to come.
OAL - yes, your OH is on another planet - it’s called “Men”!
yes they were all lovely. the took me into one room to tell me what they were going to do, then they took me into another room to do it, and then a nurse took me into another room to explain what they had just done and offer me councilling! i went up for my massage but in the end decided not to bother. the cording expert was on holiday and i did not need to relax, so i thought it would be a waste of time.
seperate changing cubicals with a pile of clean gowns and then seperate areas to wait in away from other people. So it was all very civilised
Glad it was better than you expected OAL. Men - why do WE always end up
supporting THEM, even if we are the ones going through it?
Truth is - they are always little boys!
thanx everyone-very reassuring-glad it wqent ok for you aol.i have had a rotten 2 days-just couldn’t stop crying but feel ok today-i’m glad i’ve got it out of my system before i go for my appt on weds.stella x