What Your Medical Team Forgets To Tell You

 

 

It happens. 

Especially when they see things day in and day out.

I don’t fault them in the slightest. 

I also think this is why the staff encourages one to join various support groups. Because often, it's the simplest of things they forget to mention. 

And sometimes those simple things can be important to know. 

Take for instance - back in 2020 I had my first external radiation treatments, 

followed shortly by internal radiation treatments.

While they told me to keep an eye out for pressure wounds (Glad for that - because I did get them), they forgot to mention various side effects of the radiation. 

Some of the things my medical team forgot to mention:

Scar tissue from radiation. Not just any regular ole scar tissue. Mine, due to the location, I’m assuming, was not very fun at all.  How do I put this delicately? Hmmm. I’m just going to come out and say it. The skin tissue in my butt crack kept breaking open and trying to reheal. Repetitively.  Do you know what it’s like to approach your nurse and ask ‘Hey, can you check my butt crack?’ The answer was ‘How much of the crack is cracking? And no, I don’t want to check your butt crack. Here’s some ointment. Let me know if it doesn’t clear up soon.’  Thankfully It cleared up fairly quickly.

Electrolytes are your best friend during treatment. Everyone stresses the importance of drinking plenty of fluids, especially during treatment. But they fail to mention that you should be adding electrolytes to your water as well. Even though I was getting plenty of fluids, I practically passed out from not having electrolytes in my system. I was literally running on empty. 

Fatigue. This is something they forget to mention. It typically comes with radiation, but it can also come with the other treatments as well. It’s not something that ends as soon as treatment ends, either. It can take several months before your body fully recovers from radiation. Now factor in having radiation treatments at least twice a year that are anywhere from one to six weeks in length. No wonder I’m always tired!

Nutrition. This one they do talk about, but I don’t think they’ve ever really stressed the importance of getting extra protein in while doing treatment. Protein helps with the healing process.  And while I’m on this subject - the dietician will try her best to tell you to not gain or lose weight during treatment. But it’s been my experience that my body has a mind of its own. And it’s going to do what it wants no matter what I do. My advice - just go with the flow. The doctors will adjust treatment as necessary (one of the reasons they check vitals, weigh you, and do labs before each treatment). 

 

Constipation/Diarrhrea. Your treatment will give you one or both of these. Stock up on both Laxatives and Imodium. Be sure to let your medical team if you experience this so they can also monitor your kidney function.

 

And a really big one that sometimes they forget to mention - Continue to live a meaningful life! 

Go out to dinner with friends. Take that road trip or vacation. 

 

You may have cancer, but cancer does NOT have you! 

Some days it can be difficult to keep a positive outlook, especially if you are undergoing some very serious treatment. But try to find something good in each and every day. Stay hopeful. Don’t dwell on the negatives. 

There may be a stigma attached to having cancer, but you don’t have to live your life that way. Choose to be happy. It will definitely make a difference in your healing process. 

Until next time… 

 

This week’s #WhenIDieMakeSureMyNailsAreDone