Has Anyone had Radiation to the Chest?

Not chest, but...

by donr - 2019-11-24 00:23:24

 ...prostate gland.  I had IMRT (Intensity Mpdulated  Radiation Therapy) back in 2003-4.  I asked the oncologist what the margins were around the beam.  He said 1/4 inch - in other words, thay could control the beam that accurately, that things w/i 1/4 inch of the targeted area were safe.  OK, that was then, this is 15 plus ye4ars later.  My wife faced potential IMRT for breast cancer about 5 yrs ago, and we talked w/ the same man who was in the clinic when I was treated.  He assured us (me) that IMRT was even better todayehan 15 yrs ago, that collateralk damage was lessened even better.

They mark your body very precisely w/ indelible markings that allow them to position you very accurately and precisely every time you go for a treatment.  Unless you are very special, they do not judt spray the breast area with radiation.  It is precisely targeted against the area wgere the tumor was and whatever lymph nodes maybe involved.  They expose the target from different angles with multiple shots of radiation, thus avoiding the PM.

It the people who do your job are as good as mine were, you should be perfectly safe.  DO NOT, however expecct to come away with ZERO after effects from the readiation.  There wil be some fatigue and perhasps nausea.  Ask the oncologist thesse questioins, don't be shy. 

Donr

Thank you

by MathTeacher - 2019-11-24 10:36:18

Thanks for taking the time to respond to me, Donr.  Makes me feel a little better, especially since reading that it "can cause malfunction or failure of the PM device either due to its ionizing effect or via electromagnetic interference or dysfunction."  I certainly don't want a new one on top of everything else.  I'm really hoping to avoid the nausea.

Teach

by donr - 2019-11-24 12:04:37

 just thought of something else.  You did not say exactly where the radiated area is. If ir does not lie close to the ribcage, they will not probably hit the inside of the torso, thus avoiding the vital organs. I am assuming they are talking about IMRT p that is the most common type rad therapy today.  If you have not seen the machine, I suggest you google IMRT and find a photo of it.  You lie on a thin table & the position you bery precisely in the table.  The radiation head rotates around your body - you body is stretched ourr along the axis of rotation of the head.  It is very large.  They shape the radiatiion beam so it is very small, and just the right shape so the radiation hits the target from (Usually) seven angles, thus lessening the radiatioin hitting extraneous tissue.  The head sits still while it is exposing your body at each angle.  If al the target area is in the rightt place they can arrange it so the beam is horizontal most of the time, avoiding your torso.  Ask them - they will tell you exacxtly how they plan to do it.  Also - ask them to describe howmany angles they will use and What the shape of the beam will be and what tissue will be radiated.  They will tell ypou no ,more than what you ask about. 

You will feel nothing while being radiated.  Totally painless. 

BTW: I forgot - if they can stand you up during the treatments, they can arrange it so thet none of the torso gets radiated.  This therapy has changed & improved dramatically in the years since 2004.  Just be prepared for more GOOD information, rather than unpleasant.

They can control the bem so precisely that they should be able to completely miss the PM.  .  Depends on where the lesion was/is.  I talked to my radiation oncologist extensively about these things.  I specifically asked to see what I caslled the "Iso intensity contours"  of the beam.  A prostate is about the size of an English walnut.  There was a cdontour line about a quarter inch bigger than the gland that I jokingly said would fry the thing like a chicken nugget.    He said "No, those are the golden rays of life."  Another 1/4 inch away, the radiation level wass nerarly zero.  AQsk them specifically about your PM, they will tell you.  Did you have a lumpectomy?  Or is the radiation going to be the primary treatment?  That will make a difference in how the procedure is run.  My wife had a lumpectomy, so her therapy would have been significantly less - just to clean up anything missed on the margins.  Hers was fortunately caught early enoughtto totally avoid follow up radiation or chemo.  Also it was still a very well differentiated lesion and small.  There are just so many variables that influence what they do and how they do it.

The best to you throughout.

Donr