I'm new to all this radiation talk!!!
My mother just finished 8 cycles of cisplatin/gemcitabine/taxotere every 3 weeks...her doctors have now decided she should have radiation along with a low dose of gemzar, to try to shrink her tumors. So far, her tumors have grown, however growth has been limited to just over 1 cm since February when she began her chemo regimen, and her cancer has not spread anywhere else in her body.
So now next week she begins radiation every day. She has been told that she will need a minimum of 6 weeks, more close to 10 weeks of radiation 5 days a week. They are going to begin her radiation with an IMRT machine, and possibly end with Tomotherapy.
Anyone familiar/had the same sort of radiation schedule?? Just not sure what sort of side effects to expect. I'm just really concerned about damage to surrounding tissue and those lasting effects. Thanks for listening!