Radiation or not after surgery for endometrial cancer?

I had three sessions of brachytherapy and had no side effects at all, no pain or bleeding. I do have to use a dilator once a week to prevent adhesion.

You ate so welcome. All the best.

@marceyw Your experience for the hysterectomy was very much like mine. Have you decided if you will get another opinion regarding the recommendation from your oncologist about brachytherapy? Are you still on the fence about this?

Hello. I had 3 brachytherapy treatments and they could not have been easier. The rad team was wonderful maintaining my privacy. Don’t know if they follow the same protocol everywhere but I was given “underwear “ with an opening fir the applicator so you didn’t feel so exposed. Everyone was so wonderful! The anticipation is so much worse than the procedure. Had no side or after effects. Take care

I had 25 rounds of radiation after my endometrial cancer surgery in 2020. I went along with whatever the doctor said and never questioned the oncologist/surgeon,radiologist/hemotologist. Now that I am more knowledgeable I would never have radiation again. It was brutal while having it and all these years later I have late side effects that have been very difficult to live with.
I had recurrent endo cancer earlier this year with 6 rounds of chemo and keytruda and finished up in May. Pet scan showed all clear and had another petscan in Nov. Next one is Feb.21. I will be on maintenance as the very tiny cells were impossible to remove. As you all know,treatment after the first time is much more difficult. My vision is poor, as is my hearing.Neuropathy in hands and feet make like difficult and the joint pain is tough.
All of you who have praised radiation have been very fortunate but not every one has the same experience.

External beam radiation (EBRT), which is apparently what you had, has many more immediate and long-term side-effects than does vaginal brachytherapy, where the radiation is very short-range, and really only affects the vaginal wall. This is clear both from people on this forum and from clinical trials on these procedures. So your experiences probably aren't so relevant to @marceyw's decision.

I'm sorry that you're still having side effects and that your cancer came back anyway. That's really rotten. (I know; mine came back 10 months after I finished chemo and brachytherapy. I have been wondering if my outcome would have been better if I had had EBRT, and I'm working on trying to find someplace where I can get it done now.)

Well now I don't know what kind of radiation therapy I had inasmuch as it was performed vaginally. I always thought I'd had internal. I was scheduled for 2 rounds of a different radiation therapy and the day before my 1st appt. it was suddenly canceled. I will ask the oncologist when I see him in a couple of weeks.
Thank you for this.

@again2 Did you lie on a table and a large device scanned over and around you? If so, then you did have external beam radiation (EBRT) which refers to an external source of radiation to a prescribed area of your body. I had 25 rounds of this while lying on a table.

Internal radiation refers to brachytherapy where a device is placed inside the vagina and applied directly to the area of concern (in my case a section of my vaginal cuff). I had 2 rounds of brachytherapy.

Does this answer your question? And yes, you might ask your oncologist when you see him at your next appointment.

Hi. There are quite a number of good resources out there on diet. One is Dr William Li‘s “Eat to beat Disease.” Also, you might look for “Outlive” by Dr Peter Attia. Essentially, the message from both is to eat healthy vegetables, lean proteins and healthier fats. Aim for a healthy body weight and in particular keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range. That most likely means cutting sugar and empty carbs to the degree you can. All improvements, even small ones, are worth striving for. Don’t forget exercise as a helpful way to assist your dietary goals and as a way to improve metabolic health. Look at “Moving Through Cancer” by Dr Kathryn Schmitz. She provides a framework for cardio and strength training that provides remarkable benefits in terms of health outcomes. Every single thing you do that is in a good direction will pay off in quality of life and longevity. ♥️

Thank you so very much. And the answer if yes..I did lie on a table,etc. I'm so glad you're here.