Never ending problems - wife suffering after radiotherapy on her brain. Has anyone else had this?

Hello to everyone, my name is Chris, I have a wife called Brenda, she was diagnosed with Lung Cancer in 2019. Following the usual Chemotherapy & Radiotherapy, she was then told for preventative reasons she should have Radiotherapy on her Brain. This was to stop and prevent any Cancer travelling to her Brain. So firstly she had a fitting for a mask around her face and, then following the first session, Brenda was not happy with the mask covering her eyes, so they cut 2 slits for her, and carried on with a number of sessions of the Radiotherapy. The results in the end was that no Cancer had spread, and Brenda went into Remission later and to this day is still okay. But following the Radiotherapy on her Brain, Brenda years on is really struggling with symptoms from the Radiotherapy on her Brain. These are balance problems, and Macular Odeama, where for nearly 6 years she is having eye problems brought on by the Radiotherapy, she has had 41 lots of Injections in both eyes, with no end in sight. So I apologise for the long winded introduction, but would like to know if others are have had similar problems, brought on by having the mask for Brain Radiotherapy. Thankyou Chris & Brenda x

  • Hi Chris, 

    Thank you for sharing your story and poor Brenda struggling still years on after having radiotherapy on her brain. There is information on our website on brain radiotherapy side effects which I hope you will find useful. I hope that there is something Brenda can do to minimise those side effects - do talk to her medical team about this and about how this is affecting her daily life. 

    For advice and support, feel free also to call our cancer nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday as they may have some helpful suggestions for you. I hope that you will hear from other members of our forum who have also had similar problems brought on by having the mask for brain radiotherapy. 

    It's really good news that there was no cancer spread but I hope that you can find some good solutions for her to her persisting problems following brain radiotherapy and that her doctors can help alleviate these symptoms.

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator