First Follow-up

After completing radiation therapy, you may still be experiencing side effects from treatment. It may take several weeks to months before you feel like yourself again and your symptoms return to pre-treatment levels. During this time, it is important to continue to take care of your body as you were during your radiation treatment, as your body recovers from the treatment.

Suggestions to care for yourself after your radiation treatments are completed include:

• Continue to get plenty of rest after you complete treatment until your energy returns to pre-treatment levels.
• If you feel overwhelmed, seek support from your friends and family.
• Follow your doctor's orders.
• If you have any questions about your radiation treatment, make sure you ask your radiation team.
• Eat a balanced diet

Returning to Work after Radiation Therapy Treatment

Some patients experience side effects and/or face logistical issues during their radiation course, which make working full time difficult or impossible. As such, depending on your job responsibilities, you may have been recommended by your physicians to work on a limited basis or to not work at all during your radiation treatments. Once your radiation therapy treatments are complete, your job may ask your physicians to update them on your progress and to determine when you might be able to return to work in either a part time or full time capacity. If this is the case, please submit the relevant paperwork to your radiation oncologist promptly to allow for timely completion and submission.

Side Effects

The side effects you might experience will depend on the part of the body being treated, the dose of radiation given, the time since you last received radiation, and whether you also receive any other treatments concurrently (such as systemic therapy). Before treatment begins and throughout your radiation course, ask your doctor about possible side effects and how best to manage them so that you’ll be as prepared as possible to manage any potential symptoms.

Notably, side effects are typically divided into short term side effects and long term side effects. Short term side effects are those that are usually temporary and go away shortly after treatment ends, within 90 days of your last radiation treatment. As the short-term side effects are resolving, others may become noticeable several months to years afterwards, and may persist indefinitely.

After Treatment Follow Up

After treatment is completed, follow-up appointments will be scheduled so that your radiation oncologist can make sure your recovery is proceeding normally. You may also be asked to make follow up appointments with your breast surgeon and/or Medical Oncologist, as these team members may also be following you after your treatments.

The goal of the initial follow up visits after completing radiation are to ensure the proper management of any acute side effects you’ve experienced during or shortly after the treatment. Additionally, your radiation oncologist may set you up with additional tests to determine how well the radiation worked and if other treatments are necessary.

Learn more.

Questions to Ask AFTER Treatment

Once you complete your radiation treatment, it is likely that you’ll have additional questions. To help you keep track of your questions, it is important to write them down so that you can make sure all of your questions are answered to your satisfaction. Additionally, where possible, consider bringing a family member or trusted friend with you to write answers down and help you keep track of the things that you are hearing from your physician. If you forget something or don’t understand a particular answer, it is ok to ask a question again. The important thing is that you understand what is happening and what you will be going through during the course of your follow up after treatment completion.

The following are questions you may want to ask your radiation oncologist after the completion of your treatment.

• When will the symptoms I developed during radiation subside?
• How often will I need to come back to the hospital or clinic to see my doctors?
• Which doctors will I be seeing after completing my treatment?
• Will I need any additional scans or blood tests to monitor the response to my treatment?
• Will I need any other treatments beyond what I’ve already received?
• How will I know whether I'm cured of my cancer?
• Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of being cured?
• Are there any restrictions on my activities? If so, for how long?
• When will I be able to return to work?
• Is there anything I should be looking out for?