First Follow Up

Caring for Yourself During Treatment

After completing radiation therapy, you may still be experiencing side effects from treatment and 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.

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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.

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Side Effects

The side effects you might experience will depend on the part of the body being treated, the dose of radiation given and whether you also receive chemotherapy. Before treatment begins, ask your doctor about possible side effects and how best to manage them. 

Short term side effects

Side effects are usually temporary and usually go away shortly after treatment ends. Below is a list of possible side effects you might notice during your treatment.

Long term side effects

After the short-term side effects of radiation therapy resolve, others may become noticeable months or years later.

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After Treatment Followup

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 Urologist 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.

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Questions to Ask During 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.

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