Treatment with Radiation
One of the most common treatments for a wide variety of tumors and cancers, both benign and malignant, is radiation. Once the initial shock of diagnosis starts to settle in, a long list of questions begins to flash through the average patient's mind with specifics about treatment being only one category. The thought of how long your actual treatment may last may not occur to you until you are walking into the hospital.
Timing and Types of Radiation
Radiation therapy is designed to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors in the body. This therapy does not work instantly. It takes time for the cancer cells to absorb enough radiation and begin to die off, and they can and hopefully will continue dying off for weeks after the treatment has finished.
You may receive a single treatment or a series of treatments over a short (few days or weeks) or long (months) period of time. Your physicians will recommend a course of action based on their assessment of your condition and the aggressiveness of the cancer.
There are a wide variety of treatment options, each designed for specific types of cancer and locations in the body. They can range from external beam treatments to internal beam treatments to implantation of radioactive seeds, fairly common in the case of prostate cancer treatments. Generally speaking, a radiation treatment session will last between 20 and 30 minutes, but it could last a bit longer depending on its specifics.
Side Effects
Radiation therapy by itself is painless, but depending on the individual side effects can sometimes cause pain or discomfort afterward. Side affects also differ based on what areas of the body are treated.
Radiation treatment to your head or neck can cause you to have red or sore throat, dry mouth and even an increased risk of cavities. Some patients with particularly bad teeth have them removed prior to treatment.
Radiation to the brain can cause this as well as hair loss, brain swelling, vomiting, siezures, hearing loss, memory and speech problems and a variety of other issues.
Radiation to the breast and chest can cause shortness of breath, problems swallowing, cough and soreness in the area.
Radiation to the abdomen can cause nausea, diarrhea or vomiting. Your doctor will likely recommend you have this sort of treatment on an empty stomach.
It is very important that you talk to your doctor and understand everything in your treatment plan before starting radiation or any other cancer treatment.
Tags: beam treatments, cancer cells, Radiation therapy, wide variety