suggestions for time of day of SRT treatments?

Jeff,

I can't offer much advice re fitting in work as I don;t have an employer.

I kinda envy you being able to select a time.

I could not specify what time I had my sessions each of the 33 was at a duiffertne time, all but one were in the afternoon, but were at any time between 13.00 and 16.30. And I only got told on the Thursday of each week at what time the sessions for the next week would be.

As for travelling I avoided rush-hour traffic etc by going by train, okay so some trains were busy and others were almost empty, but all but three arrived at the right time. The train ran next to the motorway and it was intersting to note that on EVERY day the traffic was backed up, some days as much as ten miles, so I was glad not to be stuck. Others I met in the waiting room who did come by car hated the traffic and had to allow a lot of extra time for blocked roads, so that often if they were not dealyed they arruived as much as an hour eaerly.
So i guess it depends on how busy the raods are where tyou have to go. May be have a practice drive round of the route at a couple fo different tiems. (And also know thwe alternatioves to cover for when there is a problem)

Another aspect to take into consideration when picking a time is related to what your bladder does at different times of the day. Are the gaps between bathroom visits always the same? Is it always as full? etc

You have to have your RT when your bladder is full and drink water about an hour before hand to ensure that this is so, but I found that my body did not produce pee at the same rate per hour for every hour of the day.
On the one hand it's no good going for RT and not having a full bladder and on the other hand it's no good lying on the table and bursting before they are finished.

This is all about the bits inside you being in the right place at the right time for the rays to hit the nasty bits and avoid as much as possible of the healthy tissue. They will have worked out where to aim the rays on the basis of the images taken during the abdominal CT-Scan, (I also had to drink water and have a full bladder for my CT-Scan) thus I think the ideal situation is for your bladder to be in the same state during RT as it was during CT.

Can you do it after work or just before you're due to stop at the end of the working day so that you leave work early but don't have to go back afterwards and then if you need recovery time afterwards it's in your own time?

Alf

Jeff, when John's PSA crept up and we were getting reading for SRT, the one thing the rad onc told us was that it was important for John to have a BM before each treatment so that the colon is not putting pressure on the bladder pushing it further into the radiation field. So, knowing your body's schedule might be helpful in planning the time of day for treatment.

In John's case, he was planning on doing the treatment first thing in the morning because he felt it would be less disruptive to his work day. For him, work is 7 miles from our home so driving during rush hour was not much of an issue.

If your employer is flexible, I would go with the schedule that works best for you. If traffic is an issue, then go with mid to late morning. During the summer - with school out - traffic might not be as much of an issue for you.

The first time in my life when I had radiation, had busy job, so I had my zaps at 5 PM each time, last appt at the clinic. I used my lunch hours to cover the time. Drove straight home, and then collasped. Didn't have to worry about going back to work that day.

This time, having radiation for PC, I was unemployed, so it really didn't matter. Since I dont sleep well at night, didnt want early appt, so I went at 2 PM, no traffic problems, and plenty of time to get back home an rest.
You have to think how you might feel 4-8 weeks into it, when the fatigue factor starts to show its ugly face, don't be fooled by how you feel the first week, that easy feeling doesnt always last for long for most.

David in SC

My husband's oncologist suggested early in the morning to avoid delays that occur later in the day. He has an 8:30 appt. It takes us 35 minutes to get there, but we leave about 7:00, get to the hospital in plenty of time with not too much traffic, and go to Starbucks for about 45 minutes. The only issue, as one person mentioned, is that Harvey is a night person and is not getting much sleep because he has to get up early and can't fall asleep early. He is pretty tired most days, not from the radiation, but from lack of sleep. Today is the half-way point. Four weeks to go.
Good luck.

subic, good luck to you and the rest of your treatments, you are getting there, my friend.

alicomp - good luck to the rest of your husband's treatments too, it truly is an endurance contest. lack of sleep can be as devestating as true fatigue, neither are good for the body

I did mine at 10:30, so had the morning staff meetings, did the rads, then lunch and back at it. Just worked later to make the time up most days. By the last couple of weeks, I started having to slip in a nap to avoid falling over later in the afternoon. Still having to do that two weeks after.

Reconsidering, if I had a seriously fixed schedule, I would have gotten up and started work earlier, taken the 4:30 pm slot, and gone to bed when I got home (you won't make the late news anyway after a couple of weeks), but I would have likely had a few more water-torture accidents on the way home.

But with traffic and the like, 10:30 worked.

I only had two significant reschedules, so got a near od on water those days.