new to radiation therapy

ktdid

just started radiationtherapy today to left breast....has anyone ever had the sensation of heat when it was done.  6 hours later I have sensation of heat inthe middle of my chest, before was on left side of breast when they first did it.

Help 

BarbaraA

Yup. I think it is perfectly  normal, as they don't jst get the breat, they get around it as well. Happened to me.

riley702

I start soon. Are you using lotion or aloe vera or anything afterwards? They told me to do it from the start because heat damage is cumulative.

BarbaraA

Use emu oil. It worked GREAT for me. My onc was astounded and is now telling patients to use it. I had no burn. My breast was tan with red dots, He Rx'd some cortisone creme at around 3 weeks for the red dots. I tried it for 3 days. It got worse, big red blotches, back on emu and in two days, no burn and blotches. I used it 3-4 times a day and my breast looks fine. I had my appt. in the AM at 7:45 and appiled the emu when I got dresses, then applied more in mid afternoon the after my shower at night. Worked great for me. I never even peeled. Told him to forget the cortisone creme and get folks to use emu. It really works.

riley702

Thanks!!

Makratz

Moisturize several times as day, it's the best thing you can do from start to finish.  Best of luck!

terispath

Oh my gosh, I just registered at this site because I have been scouring the internet for the last hour trying to find someone, anyone who had the same experience as I did, and here you are! I just had my first rad session today and although everyone had told me I wouldn't notice anything for at least the first week, my breast started to hurt within about five hours after the treatment! The first thing I felt was heat that gradually got hotter, more inside than outside the breast, then my nipple started to sting like a jellyfish had gotten it. VERY uncomfortable! And my breast is already swollen (I have very small breasts) and pinker than the untreated one. I will take ibuprofen before I try to sleep tonight, but good grief, couldn't someone have let us know that this could happen after treatment number one?! It makes me kind of nervous about what the next six weeks hold. My radiation oncologist told me to apply candula baby lotion, which I will try. I just did not expect to need it the first day. grrrrr.

Linda603

If you're feeling "heat" this early, you really should bring it to your doctor's attention.  An adjustment may need to made to dosage, and you should also be checked for infection.  Let your doctors know of any changes/sensations you are feeling.    

riley702

I had my 'dry run' today, and I look like some toddler with a Sharpie drew all over me while I was asleep! It's even up on my neck a bit, so I won't be able to hide it with anything other than a turtleneck. And I hate turtlenecks! Phooey. And I'm attending an all-day seminar tomorrow that I really need to go to so I can fulfill the continuing education credit hours I need to maintain my professional license. I guess I know what I'm wearing tomorrow.

I was really hoping they'd just do the freckle tattooing today so I could avoid being doodled on. I'm still a little fuzzy on what today was. I had the CT mapping last Friday, and they made the 'cradle' to hold me in position throughout. Today was almost an hour of me laying in the cradle while they'd take an X-ray, come back and doodle on me, take another X-ray from a different position, come back and write on me some more, etc.

They wanted to start the rads tomorrow, but when I told them I couldn't be there, they said they'd start Monday. I'm not sure why they wouldn't start Friday when they were willing to start on a Thursday, but whatever. I'm scheduled for 33 txs and should finish up early to mid December.

terispath

hi Linda, you are so very right! I finally saw the radiation oncologist yesterday (she sees patients personally every thursday as they go through their course of treatment) and guess what, she thinks I have an infection.She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and I started taking it last night. Still no change in the look or feel of my breast, but I am very hopeful that I will notice an improvement soon.  I sure wish the nurse and the radiation tech people had taken my complaints about pain and heat seriously. If pain and heat after the very first rad session is so darned unusual, then why didn't they look into it further? I have had 7 radiation treatments so far and when I went in for the 8th one today, the doctor came to check me out first and told me that she wanted to skip the rads for today and "give my breast a break." So no rads now until Monday.

By the way, my swelling, heat, and redness are far from the incision sites, and have spread to below the breast.

  I hope we all feel very better very soon.

Thanks for excellent advice, Linda!

terispath

I brought it to the doctor's attention the next day and she didn't see the pink tint that I saw, and said that I might just be having an odd reaction and that "everyone reacts differently" to radiation and that maybe the fact that I was peri-menopausal and it was one week before my next period may have made me more sensitive. So I thought I was on a far end of normal and that this was all part of the plan for me. I told the nurse and the radiation techs all week how uncomfortable I was, and one of them even noticed that yes, my breast was red and swollen less than a week into radiation, but no one thought it was important enought to tell the doctor, so I tried to go with the flow. It wasn't until a week later (yesterday) that I saw the doctor again and now she thinks I have an infection.

terispath

Riley : They told me the same thing about it being ok to start on a Thursday but not on a Friday. So since I had my "dry run" on a Wednesday, I asked them if they could just start that day. They asked the doc, and I ended up killing two birds with one stone that day (dry run + 1st treatment).

riley702

Teri - Dang it, didn't think of that!

Marty12

I found a great cream when I went through radiation.  I still use it daily.

BarbaraA

Marty has 5 posts touting recovery cream. Spam. reported.

QCA

Wonder if this isn't the same person who posted as "Recovery" on the October 2010 rads thread?

renee2010

Where do you get emu oil? Thanks Renee

BarbaraA

Renee, I get it at my local health food store and it really worked for me. I still use it as a moisturizer.

renee2010

Thank you I will pick some up!!