2 Weeks after Radiotherapy

It's been just over 2 weeks since my last dose of radiotherapy and my leg has now reached the peak of soreness. Over the last 14 days it has gradually become more and more red and sore. It's a little like leaving your leg out all day in the hottest sun you can imagine, and getting a really bad sunburn . It has sore red patches and blisters, although I have to say it's not as bad as it looks.

Not a pretty sight !!

I spoke to the Consultant at the Prosthetics Unit at Stanmore Hospital to ask if I could transfer to the Prosthetics Department at Colchester Hospital. He said that this would be no problem as Colchester is a satellite unit and is under his care. This means that I can get my new socket measured and made at Colchester rather than Stanmore. Any medical problems would still be dealt with at Stanmore, but all mechanical settings etc will now be done at Colchester. This will reduce our travelling considerably.

I now have to wait approx another 2-3 weeks in order for my leg to get better and for the slight swelling to go down. Then I can get a new socket made for my leg and get back to some normality. I've been on crutches now since August last year and it will be really nice not to have to use them all the time.

Another update to follow when I get my leg sorted !!

Radiotherapy Finished

33 treatments finished last wednesday, and also the daily commute to London. I wont miss the commute but I will miss the staff at UCLH Radiotherapy Department. Over the 33 days I was treated by 14 different staff and they were all wonderful. There are 5 machines at UCLH and I was generally on No's 2 & 3 the only exceptions being breakdowns and routine maintenance. Each machine in manned by 3 to 4 staff with floating teams to cover tea breaks, lunches etc.

Before leaving last Wednesday I was seen by one of the Oncology Team doctors for a welfare check, and to to say that I would be bought in for a scan in March. Friday morning the appointment arrived and I have CT Scans to my chest, pelvis and abdomen on March 12 at 9.15. This is really early for me, and it means that I will have to be up early to join the commuters for my journey to London. My next meeting with the surgeon is due on February 25th for a routine check up

I now have to wait 4-5 weeks for my leg to rest from the radiotherapy and I can then get a new socket made for my prosthesis. At the moment my leg is pretty red, and a little sore from the treatment. However it's not to bad considering that I have had 30% more treatments than last time, and the skin on the top half of your legs is somewhat more sensitive than the lower leg.

All going Well !!

It's Wednesday 16th and I have just finished treatment No 23. After my 1.30 treatment I was seen by one of the Oncology team doctors for a welfare check and review. He was really happy with progress and will see me again on my last day Wednesday 30th for a final check.

Yesterday I found out that my treatment is being done in two phases. Stage one finishes on Friday after 25 sessions, and Stage 2 starts Monday for the remaining 8 sessions. During the first 25 sessions they have been treating an area of approx 20cm x 19cm, which is is most of my leg. The second phase starting Monday will focus on a smaller area of approx 13cm x 18cm, generally the area where the tumour was removed from.

Over Halfway !!

It's Wednesday 9th and I have now completed 18 treatments, so well over halfway, and I can't believe how quick it's going. Nothing really to report except that all appears to be going well so far. I'm expecting to have an appointment with Dr Seddon the clinical oncologist at UCLH fairly soon after I finish and also a CT scan to check on the results of the radiotherapy.

I have an appointment with Mr Skinner at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore arranged for the 25th February for a routine check on the operation.

Six Treatments in !!

Sunday 23rd December and I have just returned home after my 6th treatment. The reason I had a treatment this Sunday is to balance out the missing treatment on Christmas Day. I also have a treatment on Saturday 29th December to cover for Boxing Day, and also Saturday 5th January for New Years Day.

Interestingly I was talking to one of the Radiographers yesterday, and my treatment this time is different from the Radiotherapy treatment that I had prior to my first tumour operation last year. The treatment last year was pre operation and the machine doing the treatment used electrons as the X-ray beam. This time my treatment is post operation and I am being treated with a Photon beam. The photons are generated by the electron beam being fired at a tungsten target within the machine, this causes the electrons to dissipate their energy as photons. The photons, which scatter in all directions, are then re-focused into the beam which is then directed at my leg. All this is happening at close to the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) which for us mere mortals is somewhat difficult to comprehend. But it works !!

This a picture of the actual machine, also you can see the treatment table bottom left. This is almost identical to the machine I was on last year. A little worrying to see the workman's step ladder against the back wall, but I guess these are needed to do maintenance on the upper parts of the machine, gives you an idea of the size of the machine.

By December 31st I will have completed 11 treatments, so 1/3rd of the way through. My final treatment will be on Wednesday 30th January 2013.

Radiotherapy Starts

Yesterday (Monday 17th) saw the start of my approximate 7 weeks of radiotherapy. I had been given two late appointments for Tuesday and Wednesday (around 3.30) which would have meant possibly hitting the evening rush hour for the journey home. However on Monday the team very kindly were able to re-arrange both days, Tuesday to 12.30 and Wednesday to 2.10. So a big thanks to them, it is really appreciated !!

Monday saw my first appointment and it was nice to meet up again with some of the staff who had treated me last year. Considering the number of patients they treat it was nice to be remembered and to chat with them. This time round the positioning of my leg for treatment is a little more time consuming and the team take extreme care in ensuring an accurate line up. 

The machine that delivers the treatment is also fitted with two arms, one on each side of the main body. These are an X-ray transmitter and Receiver and you can see these on the pictures below :

X-Ray arms in retracted position

Machine rotated and X-Ray arms deployed

This X-Ray ability allows the operators to instantly take an X-Ray of my leg after I have been lined up using the laser system. Back in the control room this X-Ray is then overlaid on top of the CT scan image taken during the set up and planning procedure. Any slight inaccuracies can then be adjusted by automatically moving the table I am laying on. They are required to position my leg within 1mm every time I have a treatment. The technology which delivers my treatment is very impressive as are the highly trained operators that use it.

My Christmas day treatment will be on Sunday 23rd, Boxing day treatment on Sat 29th, and New years day treatment on the Sat 5th Jan.

So now I've completed 2 treatments, it's only 31 to go !!

CT Scan and a Plan Check

Next Wednesday I go to The new Macmillan Centere at UCLH for a 3 monthly routine chest CT Scan. My last chest X-Ray a couple of weeks ago looked good so I've no reason to expect a negative result.

Also I have been requested to go up to UCLH Radiotheraphy on Friday 14th for a Plan Check. This means a run through of the programme that has been designed for my treatment in terms of positioning for the Radiotheraphy Machine delivery system. Positioning is very critical and must be within 1mm, so they need to be sure that all is in order before treatment starts on the following Monday (17th)