Post Radiotherapy Pre Surgery - Not for the squeemish

I am currently in the recovery period after radiotherapy which finished almost 2 weeks ago now. During a recovery period, I'd imagine its best to kick back with the feet up taking in as much daytime telly as possible, but for me, I have continued working which cannot be helping the healing much.

That will have to stop this week, which means finishing work a short period before I intended. So I am planning to call it a day this Thursday and enjoy the Easter holidays with the family. There is also so much to sort out for myself and Emma in relation to our hospital stays, and both outcomes will be life changing. We are really excited about Arlo joining us soon. 

The pain on the back of the leg is getting worse. Surely this is now at its peak point? Not only has the skin gone from the back of the knee now, but it has also disappeared from the back of my thigh. Not a pretty sight. I have had to modify my Polymem dressings now to accommodate the larger area which needs covering. A delicate operation which involves the use of lots of electrical tape.

I was recently prescribed Zapain by my GP to try and ease the unpleasant pain, but that doesn't seem to be having much affect, so last night I stopped off at Clatterbridge to see Bev the Radiotherapy Support and Liaison Practitioner who arranged for me to collect some Oramorph which should do a better job. I'm a bit reluctant to start taking that until the weekend though. The side effects will be enough to stop me from driving, which is not going to help me see the week out at work. Bev also took a swab of the area on my leg to test for infection so I should hear about that in due course.

On Saturday I attended Clatterbridge to take part, with 11 others, in the Oncologist examinations. Trainee Oncologists/Registrars came from all over the world to carry out a practical segment of their examinations and of course, this is best done with real living patients. They were called in the room one at a time to assess the condition and to come up with a diagnosis and prognosis, and basically just looked at each patients symptoms and asked plenty of questions. It was clear that they were very clever people, although their nervousness was obvious.

Hopefully this is as bad as the side effects are going to get. It reminds me of the Terminators face