SAVI Brachytherapy

Alotte

I had my lumpectomy on June 30th and I need to decide what type of radiation to go with.  I have some doctors telling me that I should do traditional 7 week external radiation (because of my age - 51 - and because partial radiation is still in the trial phase. Others are singing the praise of brachytherapy. I have done a ton of research, which only makes me more confused and scared. The only type of brachytherapy I can do is with the SAVI device, because I am smalll and my tumor cavity is 5mm from the skin and right against the muscle. What type of advice are you getting about doing partial radiation, and has anyone done SAVI?

theresap60

Alotte - Oops, I responded to you on another thread.... should I cut and paste?  I was confused and scared too, but now that it's done, I'm happy I went with SAVI.  I had mine done in Philadelphia and my radiation oncologist and the rest of the team were fantastic.  I will see her again this Fall for a 6-month check up, but my last check up went well.  She was pleased with the healing.  Like I said in my previous post, I'm very fair skinned, so the skin above where the surgery/SAVI was tended to redden up a bit, but not burned.  I also had an infection at the incision site, but she put me on a round of antibiotics the week I had the radiation and it cleared right up.  When it came time to take it out, they warned me that it might hurt a bit, so I was prepared, but it was nothing!  I hate to sound like a walking advertisement.  It's really a personal decision, because you do have this foreign object in your body for a week and have to take care of it ... no showers for a week!  I was fortunate at work to be able to take off and stay in Philadelphia for both my morning and afternoon radiation sessions.  I think you will do well with either type of radiation. :-) - Theresa

theresap60

Alotte - Oops, I responded to you on another thread.... should I cut and paste?  I was confused and scared too, but now that it's done, I'm happy I went with SAVI.  I had mine done in Philadelphia and my radiation oncologist and the rest of the team were fantastic.  I will see her again this Fall for a 6-month check up, but my last check up went well.  She was pleased with the healing.  Like I said in my previous post, I'm very fair skinned, so the skin above where the surgery/SAVI was tended to redden up a bit, but not burned.  I also had an infection at the incision site, but she put me on a round of antibiotics the week I had the radiation and it cleared right up.  When it came time to take it out, they warned me that it might hurt a bit, so I was prepared, but it was nothing!  I hate to sound like a walking advertisement.  It's really a personal decision, because you do have this foreign object in your body for a week and have to take care of it ... no showers for a week!  I was fortunate at work to be able to take off and stay in Philadelphia for both my morning and afternoon radiation sessions.  I think you will do well with either type of radiation. :-) - Theresa

Alotte

Hi Theresa,

Thanks for your response. I consulted with a lot of doctors concerning the SAVI and in the end I realized it's not the best treatment for me. I was very focused on whether or not the device could fit in the area of my cavity, because there's not much space there. The answer seems to be it can, but I'm not an ideal candidate because the area that surrounds the cavity is not all breast tissue. It would be close to the chest wall and the skin, and for optimal treatment it should be sitting in the middle of breast tissue. I'm starting traditional radiation in about a week:(

Also, my lumpectomy was on July 30, NOT June.

I'm so glad SAVI worked out for you!

theresap60

Good luck to you Alotte!  You all made an informed decision and you can now be at peace with it.

Theresa

badexperience987

In August 2010, I was diagnosed with early breast cancer and had a lumpectomy and radiation utilizing the Savi breast catheter for radiation. My surgeon gave me all my options; mastectomy, lumpectomy with external radiation, or lumpectomy with Brach therapy. I consulted with the radiation oncologist and she said I was a good candidate for the Brach therapy. I asked her if there were any side affects from that method and she said "no". After speaking with the radiation oncologist I opted for the Brach therapy as I have small breasts and I could avoid the radiation damage to my lungs and heart.

Both my surgeon and the radiation oncologist said that there is minimal pain associated with the Savi device. I found that to be untrue. The Savi device inside a small breast does hurt. After a couple of days of having the Savi device inside my breast I was told that my flesh had grown away from the wire whisk type device inside my breast, and since they were unable to readjust it, they told me I would have the old one removed and a new one inserted or the radiation would not be effective. Had they told me it wouldn't be 10-30% effective I would have opted to just leave in the one I already had, but the doctor made it sound as though it would not be 100% effective. I feel I was mislead as I found out later it still would have been partially effective. Let me mention that they charged my insurance company $14,000 for a 10 minute procedure to replace the device. The new device was a size larger and it was extremely painful. And not only when it was inserted, it was constantly painful. I could barely move and sleeping was almost impossible. The pressure on my chest was unbearable and I told them that but they insisted I stay with the treatment. They prescribed strong painkillers and put me on antibiotics.

Let me mention that I have a very high tolerance for pain. I get cavities filled without Novocain and have had other surgeries with no pain and heal up really quickly. Not this time. While the radiation itself never hurt, the Savi device inside my breast hurt constantly and it pressed near my chest wall which is extremely painful. I had my treatment in Phoenix, Arizona and am fair skinned. I have small breasts, just a little larger than A cup size.

No sooner had they finally removed the device (8 days total including the weekend)that my side near my abdomen started hurting really bad! I got the worst case of painful shingles as a result of the Savi device and radiation. I was literally sick in bed for three months, sick with the nerve pain and skin pain that was excruciating! I was unable to move my body comfortably and even lost my appetite. I thought I might even die. Then, after the fact, the radiation oncologist tells me that, yeah sometimes shingles can result as a side effect from the radiation. It would have been nice to know this upfront. At least then I could have gotten the vaccination beforehand or have made a better decision. Knowing what I know now I would have opted for the mastectomy with reconstruction. Be forewarned that sometime doctors are not fully forthcoming and they only see things from their perspective.

adhock

I am half-way through Savi therapy and I must concur with the posts about doctors' blinders when it comes to this treatment. I have found it to be quite painful. Plus, the revolving door of nurses, doctors, etc. (yes, I am doing this over the holidays) have added to the discomfort. I've even received conflicting guidance from on-call docs (when I had an emergency over the holidays). I would never do this again and am very sorry that I wasn't more forceful in disagreeing with my docs on this and opting for the traditional treatment. It's a shame that there isn't more time to "research" these issues. I think that if the docs, themselves, underwent the treatment, they'd be much more circumspect in promoting it.

carms48

Well if you go on their website (SAVI) and read about how everyone had such a great experience, you think you are crazy.  For me, the device hurt from the moment they put it in.  I was uncomfortable the entire week of radiation.  It didn't hurt coming out, but my breast still hurts.  This is my first week after the radiation and I am completely exhausted.  It's not as easy as they all make it sound.  Don't know if I would do it again.

amy44

I thought the same thing after reading all the GLOWING testimonials on the SAVI website, they must monitor and remove all negative posts.

If you seach the website you can find this: "Following treatment, the most common side effects are redness, bruising and discomfort. These do not occur in all patients and are typical side effects associated with any type of radiation therapy." 

For me, Day 1, the insertion was easy but the pain was significant. Day 2, an adjustment relieved most of the intense pain. Days 3 - 10 were uncomfortable, but not terrible. The breast was sore and I had to protect it from being inadvertentily bumped.  

The actual radiation pulses were tolerable, but the tubes pulling on the breast tissue were mildly miserable. After day 4, the breast tissue was red and hot and I felt like I was burning from the inside out. 

The RO insisted on the full treatment plan, and I felt like I had to agree in order to have the catheter removed.

So here I am 3 weeks post radiation. The redness and bruising have disippaited, but the "discomfort" continues. I stiil feel like I am burning on the inside. My breast is achy, tender and sore. When I move my arm there's a pulling sensation, and I have a big old hard lump.  The short stabbing pains don't bother me too much b/c I know that's the nerves repairing themselves.

But I wonder when this "discomfort" will end and my breast will stop shouting at me with the "hey, I haven't forgotten what you did to me kind of pain". 

diagnosis 1/2012, DCIS, 1-2cm, stage 0, grade2-3, ER-/PR-

carms48

Sorry I didn't see your reply but I haven't been on the website.  It is now August and my breast has healed in terms of redness, swelling.  It is back to normal size.  How are you doing?

Susielovett

I figure we will see lawsuits resulting from this device in the near future.



I found it very uncomfortable. I could only sleep in a recliner. I had to be careful not to bump it because I did once and the pain was intense.



I had ALOT of drainage the entire week. Removal for me was excruciating, but over quickly.



Three months out, I still have a lot of tenderness, swelling, fever and redness.

Enghien

Finding the right links to getting info on SAVI through this website is not easy, but I had this procedure done and it has been very painful. The  extolled 5 days is really 9 (better than 7 weeks of radiation once a day for 5 days a week, but ...) with  a 2 day period to have it set in and be evaluated and,  of course, a weekend in the course of the 5 days. Meanwhile, there is a spear in you and you are told that any pain is just "pressure." I am pretty pain tolerant, but also have small breasts, which seems to be a factor, and the repositioning has been excruciating. Counting down the hours. The radiation is easy and painless. The positioning and re-positioning, from day to day, as it moves ... (and getting my breast pushed on to get rid of excess fluid) has been dreadful. I expect that I would do it again -- to just get it over with and also spare my heart on lungs on the left side, but - be forewarned! The SaviSisters stories are not the only ones!

Moderators

You may be interested in the range of articles on Brachytherapy radiation http://www.breastcancer.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93... on our main Breastcancer.org site such as:

Study Suggests Partial-Breast Radiation Just as Good as Whole ...

Hope this helps

The Mods

Katszr

I have one day left and I'll be done with the Savi treatment. It isnt a piece of cake but it has all been tolerable for me. I have been lucky and it is not that sore and they only ever neede to deal with one air pocket. Not showering, sleeping in a recliner, having to have the device in there have been irritating but livable. Best advice I can give is keep a soft small pillow under your arm as much as possible. One of those soft beenie neck pillows would work great. My hole was never sore due to the use of the pillow. My worst pain has been the incision from the removal of two lymph nodes. Today the skin is a little tender and pink but tomorrow is my last day. I would totally do this over full breast radiation. Not fun, not as easy as SAvi sister site has you believe. But doable.

Dfarm13

Katszr,

When do they start the radiation? I'm having a lumpectomy and will be doing the SAVI device. When I met with the surgeon we discussed doing that. However I was a bit overwhelmed and I have no idea how soon after the surgery the treatment begins. Thanks for your feedback on the device.