did any of you drive yourself to your treatments?

I drove myself to each of my 30 rads treatments at 7:00 in the morning and then left and went straight to work teaching middle school.  I didn't miss any work.  Didn't need to.  You'll do fine!

Moonlight-I didn't even notice how close you lived to me.  I drove from Shoreline to Northwest Hospital for my rads treatments. When I was having my radiation treatments, it was actually Swedish Hospital at that location, but now it's the UW there. How things change...

Best wishes for stressfree treatments.

Mary 

Driving to rads has been a total walk in the park! There is no reason other than moral support or company why you would need a driver. It's painless and generally very quick, and less hassle than a haircut or a chiropractic treatment.

I do know some women get blistered skin towards the end, so in that case it might be harder to maneuver a steering wheel, but I imagine you'd definitely know before you get to that stage. Most of us on the December rads thread have not had that problem.

(With all that said, I would never drive myself home after a chemo treatment. They had to wheel me out in a wheelchair several times, and I came close to barfing in the car. No way I could have driven.)

Oops..didnt take note it was a rads thread but yeah..I drove myself to rads and back to work also...rads don't effect your driving abilities..not sure why they would...but heck..if your friends want to drive let them..go out to eat or shop or whatever you want to do afterwards...rads aren't that big a deal.

I drove to and from radiation no problem. I didn't find too many issues with radiation---I know others that had much greater side effects. I definitely did not drive to and from chemo---post-chemo I did feel very "drugged" so I'm not sure that it would have been a great idea driving!

I drove myself to radiation treatments in the town about an hour's drive away (for both rounds of BC). There was no reason not to.  One thing I did figure out is to get some novels on CD from the local library to make the trip more interesting. Another thing I learned is that it doesn't help to turn up the volume on the novels if the noise is coming from a flat tire. Then I found out that the auto club comes really quickly if you tell them you are on the way to your last radiation treatment.

I did not drive myself to my chemo treatments as family insisted on being there, but I could have easily.  I did drive myself to all of my radiation treatments (went alone) and the rest of my Herceptin treatments after chemo (also alone, accept for when I had to bring my son with his broken femur with me).  I remember thinking, thank god I still have these strong legs....for walking, driving, etc...do you want to go alone?  Sometimes, not having someone there talking your ear off is nice.  I enjoyed going to my herceptin treatments alone.  I spent time drawing, knitting and reading. I am not a sitter so this was forced sitting for me and this was good...

I drove myself to and from radiation all 33 times, about 10 minutes away.  It was no big deal.  Everyone else who had a radiation appt. around my time frame came with someone, however, but they probably had a longer drive or felt more comfortable with the company.  Best of luck with your surgery! 

I drove myself to all 30 rad treatments. Also worked. For me no problem. I would not have driven myself to and from chemo if it was part of my treatment.

I have not driven myself to a single treatment, procedure, radiation...nothing!  My DH wouldn't hear of it, and neither would my 4 adult children.  I am neither frail nor elderly, but having the companionship made it all much more tolerable.  I had a long drive to radiation - more than an hour each way - and I could have driven if necessary.  My center allows female companions to go to the dressing/waiting area so every place is a little different.  Women of all ages had "company" in that area, not just the frail or elderly.

As for driving after chemo, I don't think I would have been a safe driver.  I was always a little "off" - a little woozy as if I had a couple of drinks.  And the benadryl from the Taxol treatment made me slur my words  even though I never slept.  I would not have wanted to drive myself home.  Having my DH and/or one of my kids with me made the six hours go by so much faster.  My oldest DD is called the "mistress of fun" and we did some fun things at chemo, like popcorn and movies and setting up my chemo "suite" as a Paris bistro with sparkling cider, cheese and pastries for my last treatment.  I was a very popular patient!!!

My advice is to let your family and friends help in any way they can!  They want to do something and this is helping.  You never know when you might have a long wait at Radiation.  I had a few times when someone's setup was wrong or they had to fit in a few "emergencies" and it was good to have company to pass the time.

Radiation I drove myself to and from - it was easy peasy, and I preferred doing it by myself.

Chemotherapy I was driven to (only about 10 -15 minutes from my house, btw) and had company for every time, a great help for me; the next day shots of neulasta I drove myself to once (bad idea) and then was driven from there on in. I could NOT have done this by myself.

A lot will depend on your reactions to treatments, how far you're needing to drive, and your feelings around having company, being independent, etc. 

moonlight60, I'm not sure why people are going into their chemo experiences, since you are wanting to know about driving yourself to radiation appts.  Personally, I have not heard about rads making anyone too nauseated to drive, so I doubt that would be an issue.  If you have a short to moderate distance to go, you can probably handle the driving.  Your skin might feel a little inflamed shortly after the treatment, but if you put your aloe lotion (or whatever you choose) on before getting dressed that will help cool it down a bit.  Later in the day, you may have some fatigue, but it doesn't come on that quick to affect your drive home.  Finally, if you do have a more severe skin breakdown (1/3 of women do) to the point of being blistery and raw, you may find that driving is uncomfortable in the last few weeks.  If other drivers have offered to help, I'd keep them on stand-by for the final weeks just in case.

p.s.  My rads were 10 min. away.  I drove to all 33 of them.  Good Luck!

I think your friends are very sweet.  There really is no reason to have someone drive you to radiation.  You're not there long, there is no pain.The spend more time setting you up (moving your body 1/4 inch here and there) than you do getting radiation.  Mine was about 15 seconds, then the moved it and 15 more seconds.   Maybe you should bring someone to the first one - at least u ntil you are sure there is noting to it. 

Just do what the tech's tell you and hopefully things will be fine.  I had a lumpectomy and radiation.  For me, it was very easy.  The lumpectomy didn't hurt, the radiation didn't hurt.  I feel very, very  fortunate. 

Hopefully I won't have to have any more new life experiences like this.

I drove myself almost 2 hours each way, each day. No trouble.