Radiation with tissue expander

Debbi5108

Hello All, I have been catching up on all the post here and am sorry to read some of you are having some issues, I wanted to address the heart lung problems, I tto had the problem as I was radiated on the left as well and I had this tightness and pain and actually thought I was having a Heart Attack however, I wasn't Thank God. I had pulled a muscle or so they said however I had no clue how that could of happened and then they said that it could be pleurisy brought on by rads but, that there was nothing to be worried about!!!! RIGHT!!!! I have fought a horrible beast and now you want me to be cavalier about anything else SORRY!!!!!! It doesn't work that way for me anymore GOT IT!!!!! anyways at the time I had only 2 rads left so I did them and then with time the pain and all got better but, I think the further you get into treatment the more this issue can come up and hopefully this is what all of you may be dealing with as I really hope it's nothing worse. I had TE's in while I did rads as well and all I can say there is I bought this natures Inventory radiation therapy oil online ( someone here told us about it) and let me tell you I never really burnt, broke out or had a rash to the point that my Rads doctor was impressed and it is all natural but, I never missed a day of putting it on and I never had any oozing or open spots so I have to sing its praises. and I never really had that tight sensation and definitely no pain from it,  They fully expanded me in about 6 or 7 weeks however I wouldn't suggests that to anyone LOL.  I am supposed to have my exchange in July or August so we will see.  My PS said if I wasn't as big as I wanted to be after rads he could expand me more so I know that is possible.  Didn't know if any of this would help but, wanted to try.

Hugs and Laughs,

Debbi

pringles1

Carolyn2008-

on my EKG I had , reversed t waves, and a wavy isolteric line (not present on my last EKG a year ago).. but I really think it is due to stress,.. but am taking in more water just incase it was because I was dehydrated 

I had breast augmentation done in Jan 2007 as a birthday present from me to me... had the inital lumpectomy ( in which th eimplant deflated  over the course of two weeks)  and had a re-excision for clear margins, SNB and while they were there a TE was swapped in to keep my pocket open.. but I was so swollen they only put in 200cc instead of the 400.. and cant add any more during rads.. so I am hoping when I am done (July 10)... they can start filling slowly in August... my PS is telling me that if I run into any problems with the TE  or implant with the skin he might have to go and take some back muscle and skin...I DONT THINK SO! I would rather have an explant. MY pockets would close and I most likely would never be able to under the muscle implants again.... but thre is time between now and then... who knows how I would feel in 6 months!

FACECRAFTER

My doc said the same thing.  But I don't think he will,  so far---I am in good shape.  with 14 of 28 down, I hope to stay that way.  JUDY

jrgolomb

I am a bit red on the chest and the techies have mentioned I am a bit more difficult to line up.  I will ask them what that means.  I wonder if the swelling has caused the change or if the expander has shifted and I have changed a bit. My armpit does hurt a bit more and they spend a bit of time trying to pull my arm up so they can line up to the tatto mark by my rib cage.

We will get through this!!!

Carolyn2008

Debbie  well the oil sounds good i will look into it i am currently using silver shield and so far so good and lots of aloe well I am so glad to hear your skin and you are doing fine and that you can get expanded after rads that is great news hope i get the same new's

Pringles yes i was also told the same thing about the muscle and skin from my back and my reaction is the same as your I DONT THINK SO so lets hope we show them lol

Judy good stuff keep it up 14 down you are getting there hang in

Jess well maybe due to the swelling my techs said usually by the 2nd week is when everything starts to happen with the skin and swelling I have now been taking aspirin since you had mentioned it i am not sure if i am swelling or not as of yet but due feel really tight have you felt sick at all?

well day #4 down and still ok

josirus

Hello Ladies

Just wanted to let you all know that I am continuing to read all your brave stories daily as I prepare to start radiation with a TE in place in a few weeks. I am nervous about it. But you all seem to be handling it wonderfully - it is inspiring. Are most of you still working, or staying home throughout your treatment?

Carolyn2008

Hi I am staying home during treatment I was also really nervous but so far so good

FACECRAFTER

I am working, I worked all the way thru chemo, and now rads.  I only took time off for surgery- about 3 weeks.  Don't worry about rads, you'll be fine.  You have learned all the good creams from us!!   JUDY

LynnVA

Judy I think we must have started the same day, my last treatment should by July 3, you?

Lisa

Carolyn2008

Lisa  How are doing with rads?

PrincessKauai59

HI CArolyn, I haven't been here for a bit.  I didn't keep track of mL fills in my TE.  It's about a B/C, which is smaller than my C/D good breast on the contralateral side.  I'll need a mastoplexy / reduction to match.  I have 8 more rad tx to go; I'm burnt and have thick peeling area under arm.  Am slathering lotions, aloe...  The TE port under arm has bothered me from day 1 and still does.  Am supposed to see my PS next week, but that appt. was made when she thought I'd be done w/Rads by now.  I should reschedule so that it's after Rads is all over...

FACECRAFTER

Yup, July 3rd it is.  The whole country will celebrate our finishing  !!  Judy

Estepp

Keep going ladies.. it will be done soon! It feels like a lifetime ago I did them.. but really only 10 weeks ago or so... HANG IN THERE!!!!

josirus

Hi Carolyn2008: In all my perusing, looks like we are the only two posting regularly with DCIS/Mx/NarrowMargins/Radiation. I met with the Rx oncologist this morning to confirm YES to radiation and am waiting for a call in a couple weeks for a CT. Looks like Rx will be 25 treatments plus 5 boosts. Total of 30 days and 60 Gy. Is that your regimen as well? My oncologist admitted not having a whole lot of solid data to show me regarding DCIS and narrow margins post-Mx but at 32 years of age, and the extent of the disease in my left breast, she is encouraging it. I still have my tumor size as 3cm (initial diagnosis) but it was much larger after pathology and too difficult for them to assign a size.

Have you been fully expanded? I have been fully expanded for 6 weeks now and had already "softened" a bit so I am hoping that will help with the tightness. My plastic surgeon also told me that it has been shown that the Dermatrix (similar to Alloderm) helps prevent the dreaded capsular contracture.

By chance, my expanders had shifted outwards early on (creating a large cleavage or gap between the breasts) which the Rx oncologist said would help avoid radiation injury to the right breast. Although she did not talk to me about the heart, she did say there would be a narrow strip of lung radiated. Like you, this concerns me too.

Hang in there! And I never did answer your question from the other forum but I'm from Montreal!

LynnVA

And celebrate we will!!

Well Carolyn, right up to end of last week I would say it had been a piece of cake.  The worst part had been fitting treatment into my work/mother schedule.  My skin is now pink/red and is starting to feel sore at the bottom and under the arm. I'm tight and a little swollen. I had a couple of days with some mystery pains and boy was I tired this weekend and Monday.  I woke up this morning with most of my normal energy back.  The nurse told me the fatigue will come and go and that a lot of pts complain about the pain I described. The doc says my skin looks great for this point in treatment so I will say overall its going very good. Its not fun but its going to be fine. I'm ready to get this over with and move on to the next phase of construction:)  How are you?

LynnVA

Josirus

I am also DCIS BL MX narrow margins and rads. 36yrs old. I must have turned it off at the bottom of my posts when I last updated.

josirus

LynnVA - yes I realized when I started rereading from the start that there are 3 of us! Your info did turn off at some point. I am still contemplating the work vs no work during Rx. That fatigue that hit you sounds brutal but I guess taking the odd day off work could help with recovery. It is my rambunctious 2.5 year old that has me worried! And my husband is out for a total of three weeks in July on trips.

Did you women find that you needed help or to rely on others? Should I be asking my hubby to stay behind? We don't have any family in town.

PrincessKauai59

Hi Josirus, I have a five yr old and am working part-time during Rads.  Honestly, if you don't have someone to cover you for down time, I would opt not to work and to make certain that you keep your little one in day care so that you do get sometime to rest & exercise.

Rads have been pretty easy overall when compared with chemo for me; it's slight harder now towards the end of my course of treatments.  But you need to get yourself help with the little one (caring for our children is much harder work than "work"!) 

jrgolomb

Hi Josirus--I think everyone is different when considering work or not.  At first I wanted everyone around me because I truly wasn't sure I could work, cope with the ses and continue with family stuff.  Since I am the family bread winner, I had to work during all of it-I took three days off for surgery, one day off for chemo and none so far for rads.  In hindsight, I am not sure I would have been able to do this if the staff at my work had not supported me.  I felt better about working and maintaining as much as I could. 

I am 15 days into rad tx and i am feeling the fatigue this morning.  I sleep whenever I can , though.

LynnVA

Josirus

I have not needed any help or had to rely on others at all during the rads process.  I have worked full time, not missed a day so far (if I need to, I will, without hesitation).  There is a big difference between 5yr old and 2.5, and my husband is at home to help out in the evenings. As much as a husband can help..... With a 2 year old you are probably tired anyway   I have had to learn to let some things go undone and things don't have to be perfect right now.  I rest when I can and that seems to be enough to keep me on my normal schedule.  I only started to get tired around day 12 and I don't feel that way every day. I'm sure I haven't seen the worst of it so I will keep you posted, but I think it helped me to keep my life and routine as normal as possible.  Rads are just a small part of my day!  Hope this helps.

jrgolomb

I halfway done.  Rad oncologist said i look good, but there is still no way to find out if there is too much scar tissue till the PS gets in there a looks.  Anybody else heard this?

LynnVA

Tired and pretty sore today.  One more day and we get the weekend off to regroup!  Hope everyone is doing well.  Post and let us know.

PrincessKauai59

Has anyone had boosts to the mastectomy scar over te yet?  I start my five tomorrow.  So far, it's mostly my underarm area that has been affected by Rads.  It's a very scary peeled deep red color & painful.  but my "breast like shape" itself still looks pretty good, hoping it'll stay that way. 

jrgolomb

PrincessKauai--I think maintaining the "breast like shape" is important for those of us concerned with the capsular contraction issue.  I am halfway done and have maintained the shape for the most part.  I had swelling today, but it went down after I took aspirin and then did some exercises.  Regarding the boosts, My rad tech said they are done to get at the source of the cancer, especially the nodes and it will give the TE a rest. 

susan13

Hey Ladies,

Just wanted to chime in here. I am 4 weeks out of rads today! with tissue expander.  Skin and shape holding up nicely so far.  The only thing I have noticed is that the overall size has gotten smaller, but we were told that would happen with rads with or without expander.

Carolyn2008

Hi Josirus  my tx plan is 25 treatments and 50gy I am 39yrs old and my tumor was 9.2cm I guess this is why we are getting rads due to the age and the size of our tumor.  I am fully expanded to 300cc that is the size of my te and a week later i started rads and so far so good my skin looks good just a little tight this will be day #7 for me.  I am using glaxol base but i wil look into dermatrix today while i am out (thanks) As far as the heart and lung thing goes i met with the physicist

before starting my tx he is the one who sets everything up so you can request to see him he showed me how the beams are going and what is being hit by the radiation and this was my outcome 2cm of the lung and 1 3rd of the heart it was really interesting to see but scary at the time sometimes it is better not knowing everything

LynnVa  that is good news that your skin looks good what number tx are you at?  I am only at #7 today so  no redness as of yet of fatigue just a funny taste in my mouth and tightness what tx did you start to notice the redness? and what was the pains you had like sharp shooting pains?

Carolyn2008

Jess congrats to your half way mark.  I have never heard of waiting to find out about the scar tissue? but i don't like the sounds of that. I will ask today as I am on my way now and i will post if i find out anything today

jrgolomb

Carolyn--I will be very interested to hear what your doc says.  Today, I don't feel tight, the inflammation seems to have abated and I hope it stays that way. 

Carolyn2008

I didn't have a chance as of yet to ask but i will on Thursday when i see him

Has anyone experienced this my te before being fulling expanded had like ripples in it you couldn't see them but can feel them when i was filled up they went away and now since rads i am now experiencing this again?

Hope you all had a nice weekend

jrgolomb

My has shifted back and forth like that since the beginning.  The PS said that would happen and it would go away once the nice soft permanent implant was in.

I see my doc on Thursday as well.  I will try to get him to be more specific.