Difficult Radiations after Brachytherapy

prachigupta

Difficult Radiations after Brachytherapy

My mother was diagnosed with Bilateral breast cancer in october 2009. The doctors performed a mastectomy on her left breast which had a lump of about 3 cms size and a lumpectomy on her right breast which had two malignant nodules of 6mm size. She underwent 6 cycles of chemotherapy, 3 with Docetaxel and 3 with Farmorubicin. Later she underwent brachytherapy (internal radiation) on her right breast in May. The doctors recommended external radiation, (IGRT), 25 cycles. External radiation was started 10 days after her brachytherapy. Nearing her 20^th cycle of external radiation, a wound on her breast where needles were inserted during brachytherapy opened a bit, exposing the tender pinkish skin beneath. The wound which re-opened was especially in the folds of her breast, leading to unbearable pain. The wound is now almost 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. The remaining skin on her her chest, i.e. right from her neck to below both her breasts is almost black in colour and peeling from certain spots. We are cleaning her wounds with saline water twice a day and applying antiseptic ointment and a body cream containing key ingredients of aloevera and Vitamin E. The radiation oncologists strongly told her not to apply any ointment, cream during radiation, which i think worsened her skin's conditions..  her skin feels like tissue paper when touched and looks like wood...she cant even sit on her own because the skin around her wound stretches so much.....i would be really glad if anyone could recommend any ointment, cream which can be applied to her chest to help the skin recover and become normal..

Thanks..

Prachi

Jelson

Prachi, I am sorry your mom is suffering so much. There is no standard of care here in the US for what creams, gels etc to apply or not to apply during radiation. 

I am concerned that your request for advice has not been answered. Perhaps you should repost it on the radiatioon board in the treatment section? Also, there are already several recently active threads there which discuss post-treatment burns which might have valuable suggestions for you.  You can also use the search function when you are on the discussion boards, perhaps with words like "radiation burn" to find earlier posts on this topic.

Your mom is lucky to have you with her. 

Julie E

prachigupta

Thanks Julie..I will re-post my query to radiation board...