What is a cancer caregiver?
If you're helping your family member or friend through cancer treatment, you are a caregiver. This may mean helping with daily activities such as going to the doctor or making meals. It could also mean coordinating services and care. Or it may be giving emotional and spiritual support.
Can you be around someone who is having radiation therapy?
The radiation travels a very short distance, so the effects are mostly to the tumor. However, you may have to limit contact with other people for up to one week after treatment. It is especially important to avoid close contact with children and women who are pregnant.
Does radiation treatment affect family members?
Any radiation therapy that is transient, including external beam radiation or brachytherapy that is removed, poses no risk to family members. For these types of therapy, patients are exposed to radiation only during active treatment, and radiation is not carried on the patient's body.
Can radiation affect your partner?
Sexuality, intimacy and fertility issues. Radiation therapy can affect your sexuality and fertility in emotional and physical ways. These changes are common. Some changes may be only temporary while others may be permanent.
What should you not do during radiation?
Avoid raw vegetables and fruits, and other hard, dry foods such as chips or pretzels. It's also best to avoid salty, spicy or acidic foods if you are experiencing these symptoms. Your care team can recommend nutrient-based oral care solutions if you are experiencing mucositis or mouth sores caused by cancer treatment.
What is the most common acute side effect of radiation treatment?
Fatigue is the most common acute side effect of radiation therapy. It is believed to be caused by the large amount of energy that is used by the body to heal itself in response to radiation therapy. Most people begin to feel fatigued about 2 weeks after radiation treatments begin.
How long can you live after radiation therapy?
Median follow-up time for this report was 41 months (range=14.6-59.0). Following treatment with stereotactic radiation, more than eight in ten patients (84%) survived at least 1 year, and four in ten (43%) survived 5 years or longer. The median overall survival (OS) time was 42.3 months.
Which is harder on the body chemo or radiation?
Since radiation therapy is focused on one area of your body, you may experience fewer side effects than with chemotherapy. However, it may still affect healthy cells in your body.
How long after radiation do you start to feel better?
Most side effects go away within 1–2 months after you have finished radiation therapy.
How long should my husband sleep alone after radioiodine treatment?
You should sleep alone for the first 3 to 5 nights after treatment. Avoid personal contact for about 3 to 7 days after treatment. In those first 3 days after therapy, you should stay a safe distance away from others (6 feet away, approximately).
Does radiation therapy cause impotence?
Radiation therapy Radiation aimed at the pelvis can cause erectile dysfunction, though it isn't clear why. Radiation may damage nerves in your pelvic area, block blood flow to your penis or decrease the level of testosterone in your body. Radiation's side effects start slowly about six months to a year after treatment.
Can prostate radiation cause erectile dysfunction?
Each type of therapy causes somewhat different side effects. About half of all prostate cancer patients who undergo any of these types of radiation therapy are likely to develop erectile dysfunction, according to a 2016 article published in Advances in Radiation Oncology.