update on lisa with a question

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Nov 12, 2004

I used to work radiation oncology and that is definetely a normal and effective therapuetic schedule. Make sure she takes really good care of her skin and gets anything the rad. nurses reccomend and use it religiously. I hope she does well and you hang in there too.

aimeee, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2004

My mother mixed aloe vera gel and vitamin E oil and applied to her site and she suffered no radiation burn at all. The staff kept exclaiming over how good her skin looked. She refused to tell them what she was doing because she was afraid they would tell her not to anymore!

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Nov 12, 2004

That is actually something we advised, and it works great, and is cost effective. Your mom must be a smart lady! She should check with them though to be sure when she can apply it (not too close to a treatment time).

leslie :-D · Nov 12, 2004

crunchrn- i appreciate your response and thank you.

as for the aloe vera gel/vit e.....what would be considered too close to a treatment if she's having them 5 days/week? what would be considered the ideal time to apply this concoction?

and honeslty, lisa is SO incredibly fatigued now because of chemo's cumulative effects; i just cannot imagine how much more fatigue can set it....

and if the cancer went to 4 of her lymph nodes, what parts of the body will they be irradiating?

leslie

chemoqueen, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2004

Leslie, the schedule sounds perfectly on target. Hope she does well.

Ted · Nov 16, 2004

Hi Leslie -

Thanks for the update. Hope she does well! And I hope the aloe vera gel/Vit E works if she decides to use it. I am a little bit out of the loop with regards to current management of oncology stuff (including radiation tx's). But this particular skin treatment seems pretty cool. How about discussing this treatment and when to apply it (and not to apply it) with the radiation oncologist???

Ted

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Nov 16, 2004

Sorry - I really think you need to speak with her Rad. Onc. about how much time between applying skin emolients and therapy time, and also about which area they will target and why. Even in the group practice I was in they all had there own preferences. I have noted some regional differences also. I do not want to duck your questions, but want you to have the best answers you can get. As to fatigue - the patients I observed who had fatigue from chemo did not get even more fatigue from radioation (thank goodness). The one thing we found was people who maintained the usual routine of activity did better fatigue wise than those who "rested" more. My thoughts are with you - please keep us updated.

aimeee, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2004

The one thing we found was people who maintained the usual routine of activity did better fatigue wise than those who "rested" more. My thoughts are with you - please keep us updated.

I don't mean to be argumentative but when I think about this, the question that immediately comes to mind is:

Wouldn't you expect people who are experiencing less fatigue to be able to stick to their routines better and not need as much rest? In other words, is it possible that you have mistaken correlation for cause?

skislalom · Nov 18, 2004

Leslie, that sounds right about the same as my mom's rads treatment. She kept aloe in the fridge and would apply it after treatment (but washed off before) Aquaphor is another good thing to use. If I recall...they don't want ANYTHING on the skin during the treatment...I agree with asking the nurse or rad/tech about it. I think with a little recoup time, she'll do fine with rads. I think the treatments usually are between 5-7 weeks.

So glad she sounds so good and so glad to hear an update!

~T

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Nov 18, 2004

I don't mean to be argumentative but when I think about this, the question that immediately comes to mind is:
Wouldn't you expect people who are experiencing less fatigue to be able to stick to their routines better and not need as much rest? In other words, is it possible that you have mistaken correlation for cause?

It was actually shown via a study...but of course no study is perfect and the data was "subjective" from those involved in having treatment.