April 2011 Rads

BlueLily

Saw my BS today... Yes, I was told that I should be massaging my breast regularly to avoid fibrosis and pockets of fluid loss. (I'm 2.5 weeks out).  Was also told to start using Mederma.

thegood5

The dreaded day arrived today...known for months that I would be having a PET scan after rads were done.  Been on edge all day...just called my Nurse Navigator and got the AWESOME news.....no cancer to be found!!!  I am so thrilled!  For those of you who don't know my history, I had a tumor on my liver from the beginning of my BC dx, and after my chemo treatments it really had shrunk.  Depending on what this PET showed, I would possibly have a liver resection to have to tumor removed, or there was a chance it would spread and then I would just be on chemo to hopefully control it.  Well, there is no evidence of anything on my liver anymore!!  I meet with my onc on Fri and will discuss whether or not I should still look into a resection.  Right now I'm on cloud 9!  1 celebratory pina colada down, many more to go!

msjag

YAHOOOOOOOO the GOOD5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a pina colada tonight, sounded good, must have been telepathy.!!!  Good for you!!!

BlueLily

Congratulations thegood5!!! Cheers!

AimeeMac

Congrats thegood5! That is awesome news - keep celebrating!!!

Merilee

Good 5! This news brought tears of joy to my eyes and I don't even know you. You go girl, now its time to to kick life's ass (in a good way) ! You are one lucky ladie!

thegood5

Awww, Merilee, you brought a tear to MY eye!  I truely feel like I know each and every one of you beautiful girls...what a bond this damn BC creates, if I can say that there is one good thing that comes out of it.  Thanks all for the congrats...brings a whole new meaning to walking the survivor lap tomorrow night at the Relay for Life!  Love you all!  April

ReadingMama

congrats the good 5, I'm so happy for you!

SusanHG

The Good 5:  So, so happpy for you!!!! That is incredible...I think we should all be celebrating with you.  Pina colada anyone?  :-))))

hdangelbaby

bluelilly, my eye doc said that chemo and rads can cause changes in vision, although temporarily. and should go back to what it was originally after treatment is done

mine was so nice, my contact prescription ran out in the middle of chemo, and he did my exam so my insurance would pay for the  bulk of my contacts. but told me my vision could change, and if it did, to come see him and he would not only exam me again, but supply me with new contacts if i needed them!!!

GabbyCal

hangelbaby and bluelily - I didn't have chemo, but noticed just this past week that my eyes were burning. Nothing I could do to make them feel better other than close them. The bad burning went away overnight, but letters seem a little fuzzier now.

I don't wear contacts, but maybe a trip to the eye doc is in order. 

GabbyCal

thegood5 - congratulations on that clean PET scan. What a relief that must be! I mostly post on the May rads forum, but have been following along here and am so happy for you.

Do you mind me asking which was diagnosed first, the BC or the spot on your liver? Did you have any symptoms you could feel related to the liver?

thegood5

Gabbycal~  the BC and then it metastasized.  no symptoms at all

sammolisa

Congrats on hearing all the good news!  and graduations!   I am a month out of rads and not feeling too bad.  The cellulitis is gone now and the BS and the RO admitted to me they were scared.  WOW.  allrighty then.   Have a tumor on my back tho to get taken off. (benign)  I don't have any PET scans scheduled.  Tho that may change as I see my Chemo dr next week.   Has anybody had an oophorectomy? 

GabbyCal

thegood5 - Wow and your lymph nodes were clean. So glad the treatment worked for you and you just continue with clean scans.

walley

Congrats on all the women finishing...it was a long road for sure.I am 2 weeks out of rads.I am feeling better and my burned armpit is tanning.Never did peel.Thank goodness.Everyone still doing rads ...moisturize.........then moisturize again:) .I start my pills on Monday.Not looking forward to that  but .......we can do anything if we put our mind to  it.Think positive always..

BlueLily

Hi ladies ...just a quick follow up. Went to the ophthalmologist ... my dry eyes are definitely a radiation side effect which got bad enough to crack my corneas. Visene which was recommended by the optometrist on Tuesday actually worsened the problem. Apparently the dryness and inflammation should go away in 3 weeks to a month.

SusanHG

Glad you finally got an answer.  Figured it had to be the rads!  I find it funny that RO's like to deny side effects and blame them on something else.  Jeeesh!

SusanHG

My RO (well, his PA) said she can't take credit for dry, twitiching eyes as a side effect!

BlueLily

I know ...at first I was concerned that it was caused by tamoxifen. But its been coming on for a couple of weeks & today I woke up with eyesight that was white & filmy / no discharge. The ophthalmologist said he has seen it before from radiation and will go away.

Anonymous

Finally started having the sunburn effect under my armpit and down my ribcage. Couldn't even sleep last night because of it. So after rads today I went to GNC and got some Natural Brand Filtered Whole Leaf Alove Vera Gel. It's wonderful!! You can even drink the stuff if you want to. (Yuck!) It's a little gloppy but sooo soothing. Anyone else getting strange little brown circles near your incision?

Merilee

When they do rads do they do anything to cover or protect the rest of you like when they do xrays? What can  be done to protect the eyes you are all talking about?

thegood5

Just checking in to see how all of you are doing.  Said to my husband last night when I looked in the mirror after my shower: "YIKES"  (lol!  need to lose some weight)...seriously, I said how great it feels to look in the mirror and not see bright red skin anymore, and just feel semi-normal.  Hope you are all doing well and your skin is healing nicely.

sammolisa

Wow, been a long time since I checked in.  Finished my final surgery 2 weeks ago,  Fareston is going well and am recuperating well.   Feel good already!   My underarm healed fine except there is no hair there anymore,  and there is a tannish/grayish color still.   Hope all are doing well!

hdangelbaby

same here, been a long time. the AI's are making me gain weight (in clinical trial for premenopausal women who are chemically induced into menopause for the AI trial). i hate it, cause i have always been around 125. now i am about 145, it doesn['t look  bad, but it is taking some getting used to

thegood5

are any of you feeling tightness or soreness in your rads area?  I finished on June 2 and the past week or so I have been feeling this way in the rads field....seems weird to be feeling this all of a sudden after such a long time.

DLL66

I feel soreness in my radiated ribs once in a while.

GabbyCal

thegood5 - I had my last rads treatment June 15. From the first week of rads I had tightness across my upperchest-underarm area. I managed it with lots of gentle stretching. About 6 weeks after rads, this area started to feel "normal", then all of a sudden a couple weeks later (8 weeeks post rads) it started to get tight again and my radiated breast swelled. I felt like I had a setback or had done something to make this happen, but I think it's just part of the process.

hangelbaby - So sorry to hear about the weight. No fun. 

I've been able to tell all along that something's going on inside with the healing. It's not painful, just tenderness that seems to move about. 

Good to hear from you all. Hope you're doing well. 

sammolisa

Still having pain in my left breast from the rads.  Doc said it will most likely never go away.   wow.