The intended benefits:
To reduce the size of the tumour prior to the operation
Significant, unavoidable or frequent occurring risks:
Early - Tiredness, skin redness, soreness and dryness
Late - Skin scarring, pigmentation, risk of bone fracture, small risk of a second malignancy, risk of delayed wound healing following operation.
All in all, side effects I would happily live with to be rid of this tumour (except the risk of a second malignancy).
Hopefully one day this week I will be off to Clatterbridge Hospital for a few hours to have some kind of mould or cast made up to ensure my leg is in the exact same position for every treatment session. Apparently this has to be millimetre precise and this is the best way of achieving that. Then 5 weeks of being zapped, for about 10 minutes at a time.
Fortunately with the treatment being carried out on my leg, there is no chance of this causing any sickness which I was not looking forward to.
We met Sarah the Sarcoma Nurse again on Friday, that woman could brighten up anyone's day, so positive and helpful. My current employer has a Duty of Care to ensure that I will be fit and well to continue working during the Radiotherapy and she is happy to write a letter clarifying this. The staff at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital are a real credit to our NHS and I really appreciate the hard work they do.
Tom, keep being positive, enjoyed your blog, thinking of you. Love Joan and Bill xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you both, hopefully this is a good way of keeping everyone up to date x
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