Caring For Clients With Cancer

Sallie Dean, a 42-year-old female client with a history of lung cancer, is being treated with outpatient teletherapy (external radiation) treatments. After the treatment, she complains of fatigue; localized skin burns, owing to which the skin is dry and red; and a dry, hacking cough that has developed gradually after several treatments. The client asks the LPN/LVN at the cancer treatment center to discuss treatments for her symptoms.

a. Explain the various adverse effects and complications that the client may experience as a result of receiving external radiation to the upper chest area.

b. What methods may be used to treat the adverse effects the client is experiencing?