Introduction

Narrator:
Hello—and welcome. This CD was made to help you learn about radiation therapy—what it is and how it works—and offers practical, tried-and-true ways to manage its side effects. Some people have many side effects, while others have hardly any. Most often the side effects you experience depend on the type of cancer you have and the area on your body where you receive the radiation therapy.

You will want to look on the CD for a list of topics. You’ll find 11 tracks on this disk—9 on managing side effects and 2 on radiation therapy treatments, including brachytherapy and external beam radiation. Each track is about 2 to 3 minutes long. Listen to the tracks that talk about the side effects that you may have.

The tracks contain general information to complement your personal visit with your health care provider.

Want to learn more? Talk with your health care provider to learn more detailed information and to get answers to any questions you have after listening to this CD.

Ask your provider for the National Cancer Institute’s fact sheets on radiation therapy and its side effects. Each of these 1-page handouts covers the various topics on this CD.

You can also call the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service at 1-800-422-6237 for more information or to learn about free resources available in both English and Spanish.

We hope the information in this CD helps you understand the basics about radiation therapy treatment and how to manage any side effects you may have.

We wish you great success with your treatment.