Today we met TJ’s Radiation doctor to plan for his upcoming radiation treatment that begins next Thursday 7th June 2018. We initially thought that TJ was only receiving radiation to his chest area but we have since come to learn that they will be targeting three areas; His neck, heart and chest. We were told that they wanted to target all the areas that he had cancer in at the beginning of his cancer diagnosis to minimise the risk of it coming back again in any of those areas. TJ will be receiving EBRT ( External Beam Radiation Therapy) EBRT tightly targets radiation beams at the cancer from outside the body. The radiation oncology team controls the radiation machine to generate and direct the radiation beams to the designated area’s. TJ had CT imaging to map out where the radiation will be targeting his body. This included three tiny tattoos the size of a freckle. I was expecting them to pull out a tattoo gun to do the tattoo but it turned out to be just a drop of ink and basically a pin. Nothing to it! TJ will be receiving 14 days of radiation (not including weekends) Each session will take about 10-20 minutes. This includes helping TJ to get into the correct position for radiation. We have been told that it won’t hurt, it won’t make him radioactive and that he won’t turn into the Hulk or gain any superpowers. Darn! ;) Of course with anything there comes risks and it’s definitely something that you need to take seriously when deciding if you want to go ahead with radiation or not.
For us, we believe that the benefit outweighs the risks- we want to minimise the risk of the cancer reoccurring later in life. We are aware that radiation can also cause cancer but if you don’t have radiation you have a higher chance of it coming back. It’s a catch 22! :( Nonetheless here are some of the possible side effects associated with radiation to his targeted area’s; Short Term:
Long Term:
And the most scariest side effect: Secondary Cancer (As a result of having Radiation as mentioned above) I should also mention that TJ is still taking the medication- Bactrim and will do so until about 3 weeks after radiation treatment ends. Bactrim is used to treat infections as well as prevent them. Have you had radiation before? Did you suffer any side effects as a result from it? Please feel free to comment below with your radiation experience.
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Cold and Flu Season is here..We knew that heading into Winter that there would be a good chance that TJ would get a head cold at some point and unfortunately that time has come :( For the past few days TJ has been feeling pretty rotten. Unfortunately it’s not something that can be avoided when he still has to go out in public and to school. Even if we isolated him and kept him at home, his younger brother would most likely pick something up from his school and give it to TJ. It’s just one of those unfortunate things that we hope will pass quickly. Not only is TJ trying to fight off a cold but he has also been complaining a lot about abdominal pain. He said it feels like the muscles in his stomach have been overworked. From what I’ve read on the internet, abdominal pain seems to be a common side effect of chemotherapy. He is also finding it really difficult to keep his eyes open because most of his eyelashes are now gone. Eyelashes help to keep all the dust and dirt out of our eyes as well as keep them moist, so now his eyes just feel dry and sore. Another horrible side effect of Chemo that fortunately will not last forever. I was hoping that things would start to get better for him now that Chemo has ended but alas. It takes about 21-28 days for one’s immune system to recover after finishing chemotherapy, even though the chemotherapy treatment only stays in your body for a few days. Patience has never been one of my strong attributes but thankfully I didn’t pass that trait on to TJ and he is still being a trooper about it all even though he’s not feeling the best. TJ had another Pet scan yesterday to see how the last 2 chemo cycles went. We should be getting the results back in a few days. When we see our oncologist for the results, we will most likely find out what the next steps are for his radiation therapy. Will keep you all updated. UPDATE- 29 MAY 2018
TJ’s results came back the other day from his Pet/Cat scan. TJ’s neck lump has now completely gone. His chest lump has reduced size from 12cm (About the size of a Grapefruit/Cantaloupe) to 6cm (The size of an egg) The oncologist said that this could just be scar tissue but because of the limitations of the scanning equipment, they cannot be 100% positive that there is no active cancer within the lump*. (Pet scans may not be able to detect tumors less than 7mm) *TJ's lump is not a solid mass but made up of spider-web like fibres (That's the way my husband explained it to me.) For this reason TJ will be going ahead with Radiation as was expected. Radiation sounds like a scary prospect but TJ is happy to do whatever he has to, to help minimise the risk of his cancer coming back one day. Tommorow the 30th May we will be meeting up with his Radiation doctor for planning and TJ will be having another Cat Scan so they can map out where they need to target. Today is a very exciting day for TJ. It’s his last day of Chemotherapy! And what a day to have it on too. May 4th! (Star Wars day!) The Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital really made everyone’s day today by organising an Imperial Pilot and a Jedi Master to visit all the kids and teens in the Oncology ward :) As you can see by TJ’s expression below in this photograph; he was thrilled! And they even gave him a little gift: TJ also had his PICC line removed for the last time! He said he can’t wait to go for a shower now without it and not be restricted in movement. He’s already put in a request to go Go-Karting!
TJ has to get a Pet and Cat scan in a week or 2 to see if his lumps and bumps are gone. Then 1-2 weeks after that he begins his radiation. We have a couple of weeks break now so I’ll keep you all updated when there have been any changes. May the 4th be with you ;) |
AuthorHi, I'm Tj's Mum; Zoie All Blog Entries
August 2018
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