Radiation with chemo

My spouse just finished 25 high dose Radiation treatments (5 weeks - every day) to the pancreas head as well as the blood vessel, along with 5 weeks of continuous 5FU in a pump that he wore Monday to Friday. He connected every Monday and disconnected every Friday. Weekends were ‘off’. He’s had significant fatigue starting in the 5th week that we attribute to the radiation but tolerated it well until that point with lighter fatigue. The Chemo caused GI distress. There was also the option to do the chemo in the form of a pill (instead of the pump) but his Oncologist felt he would have even greater GI distress. It was still his choice. He decided to deal with the pump.

A few thoughts:

The radiation oncologist may recommend holding or modifying some chemotherapy during radiation, depending on the dose and location.
Some drugs, including 5-FU or capecitabine (Xeloda), are frequently given concurrently with radiation because they act as radiosensitizers.
FOLFIRI may need to be adjusted or paused during radiation, but this varies by center and physician.
Fatigue, nausea, and stomach irritation can be increased when radiation is directed near the stomach.

From personal experience, I received 33 days of radiation after chemotherapy, although not simultaneously. Others have undergone combined treatment successfully.

I can't speak to the stomach tumors specifically; however, my husband received 5 high-dose concentrated, ablative radiation treatments (as opposed to the lower total dose treatments spread across 15-30 treatments) to the surgical bed of the pancreas. He had positive margins post distal panc/splenectomy. These treatments were preformed concurrently with his chemo but done on his off week. He'd have chemo one week, radiation the next, chemo the next week, and so on. He has finished the radiation treatments but is still receiving chemo. Thus far, he hasn't had any issues doing radiation and chemo simultaneously. His chemo is different than yours though. He's on Cisplatin and Gem.