April 2011 Rads
Comments
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Hi Susan, I'm not doing the breath-hold technique, but its sound very cool! My RO told me my heart would not be getting any radiation, but like others, that a small part of the lung will. What have your RO's told you about shaving. I shaved my legs and underarns for the first time this weekend since chemo, but I've heard others saying not to shave on the side of Rads.
My skin feels very rough and looks peeling already, and I've only done 8 so far. worried about how I'm get through 34!
(My clearly felt lump also did not show up on mammo, but did on ultrasound)
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Hey Gina... Everytime I get radiated my rightie (also known as "Half-Pint", the left one is "Pint") warms right up. Then, as I'm driving home it seems to get even warmer and sets off a hot flash! My surgeon said that my tumor was close to the chest wall. Lord, he removed a SLAB of flesh during that 2nd surgery to assure clean margins. Very sweet of the guys you work with to wear the bracelets. One of my friends who has a Harley started wearing a pink bandana for me. He's a real sweetheart. My BFF and her sons are involved in Boy Scouts and she made a Pinewood Derby car w/ a pink ribbon that says "For Ginger" on it and gave it to me after the big race. Friends really do rally around, it seems. My sister though, I know she loves me, but she never calls. She contacts me through Facebook? Her daughter-in-law has brain cancer and has been undergoing treatment for about 18 months now. She's in a clinical trial and the tumor has been shrinking so that's a blessing. They all live in El Paso together in the same house so maybe my sister is "cancered out."
Hey Susan... Thanks for informing me about the lung situation. I'm def going to ask about this as I was never told and I have the need to know EVERYTHING. My tumor was in my right breast and I don't have to do anything fancy like you... I get rather bored during my radiation! I know it doesn't take long, but I think a flat screen TV installed into the ceiling would be a nice touch.
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Mitzchiz.......I have been tatooed, and will go back on Thursday for another 1 hour sesson of whatever the hell they told me it was for (another senior moment) and figure they will probably start the Monday after Easter............33 which includes 5 boosts.............My tumor is on the right side too, so they told me nothng will be touched except a very small area of the lung which won't hurt anything, but they have to tell you in case you ever have a chest x-ray and it shows up as scarring on the lung..............
Don't like the idea of getting this shit done, and I could have not did Rads. I had good margins, but the R/O said the tiny area where I had 1.2mm did not make her happy without doing Rads.............BS agreed with her............M/O said studies show women over 70 with my result can forgo Rads if they choose too...............Asked her what she would do, and of course I got the old "that's your decision"...................so after talking to the R/O, I decided to take her advice and do it..........I know she isn't just saying this because that is her specialty, cause she said "had the BS gotten 2mm all the way around we would not even be having this conversation, but I am concerned about the 1.2mm area...............I asked about going back in for a little more tissue,and she said "we could, but it is very close to a "blood supply", so we don't know if we can get much more because fo that...................so I'm getting fried............but honestly I'm more concerned with the SE of the friggin Femara then the Rads............I really don't want to take that crap............wish me luck, and hugs to you
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Reading Mama: I think some ladies have to have their underarm irradiated, so I think then they couldn't shave. I am just having the whole breast radiation-no nodes.
Duckyb1: I know making that decision to actually go through radiation is a tough one. I could have opted for a mastectomy, but that choice was really upsetting to me emotionally. I really wanted to try and keep my breast if I could. I am only 42, so there is no reason i can't get through rads. Also, I feel better getting the radiation than getting a mastectomy only. It feels safer at least to me that the chest wall is getting irradiated. My tumor was fairly deep in the outer upper quadrant.
Susan
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my tumor was on the left side, and it was actually on the underneath, bottom part of my breast. so this is going to be interestting how they are going to radiate me, considering where my tumor was is very close to my heart! guess i will find out tomorrow at the consult!
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Just got home from my 1st treatment. After hearing about all of those big noisy machines on the March thread, I was really nervous. I guess every place is different, because when I layed down they told me they would be taking some more pics and monitor my breathing first. A little while after that they had me sit up and that was it! I had to ask if they radiated me yet and they said yup! They didn't tell me before they did it, which was a good thing becuase I kept waiting for that and knew once they told me, my heart would start to race and my breathing would get faster. I ended up getting 3 more tats today, and one of them is on my neck, same place in the front/side of your neck where you take your pulse, except on the left side. She tried to make it as small as possible, but still...always the reminder I guess. I came home and applied my 100% aloe followed by some aquaphor. All in all, radiation was a breeze...we will just have to wait and see how it affects me in a week or two!
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Interesting that all your RO's told you that the radiation might affect your lung - My RO just said that the membrane covering the heart might get some radiation (mine is on the left side and the cancer was near the chest wall) because as you breath, that membrane goes up and down. So, although no one has told me to do this, when I hear the machine start up, I stop breathing...Once it goes off, I breathe...#6 of 25 today...When I saw the RO last Thursday, she said that the redness will probably appear in week 3...I'm fair skinned as well...Time will tell...
They told me not to shave with a regular razor, but an electric was okay - I'm assuming that the armpit area is getting it too...
Hdangelbaby: Good luck on the upcoming rads...
Duckyb1: You sound as pissed off as I am about radiation - It wasn't til I understood the odds of it coming back being so high with my type of ca that I agreed to it. The part that bothers me is finality of it - if the ca comes back - I'll have to have a masectomy - that taking away my option is what I think I'm most pissed off about...
thegood5: Congrats on your first rad - it really does seem like no big deal - but talk to me in 3 weeks and I'll give you my answer on that...
Susan: You must be one youngest (if not the youngest) people at your center for rads...I seem to be there at the same time as all the older gentlemen having their rads...
Ginger: That's really cool of the guys you work with - I drive a Harley too and you meet the nicest guys driving Harleys - They're mostly NOT Hell's Angels!!!And, not for nothing everyone, those Tat's HURT - I would NEVER do that to myself on purpose...
Hugs to all,
Rita -
Rita, I know I'm in for it in a few weeks...fair skinned, blonde hair and blue eyes.....already itchy on my chest, but I always get sun poison on there anyway after just a little in the sun..so that was to be expected. Did your tats really hurt that bad? they just felt like a shot to me, except the one on my neck...that's still a little sore.
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Rita: Yes, I am the one of the youngest at radiation. There was a girl around my age when I went for my dry run, but now I am sitting with women 50+. It really is nice to be able to commisserate in the waiting room and share experiences with them all. I brought my son with me today and there were 2 other boys there, both older and one there with his grandma. But, makes him feel better that there are other kids there.
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Hi everyone:
Lots of posts to read and catch up on. I just finished 6 out of 20 radiation treatments. Most of you are getting thirtysomething treatments. I will get the last 4 with a boost.
So far no issues, and everyone is so nice and friendly. I find radiation a bit scarey because at least with chemo you can see what is going into your body and why you don't feel good. With radiation, you can't see anything and that is the eery thing for me.
Take care everyone.
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susanhg, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you? i'm 29
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well, not a comforting experience today at the Rad Center. My skin is VERY dry (after only 8 tx) and flaky, peeling. The techs didn't like to look of it, so they had me see a nurse after. The regular nurse wasn't there though, and the one who was was very young and didn't really seem to know anything. She said she was going to have my RO look at me tomorrow, until I reminded her that my appt is late and he will not be there... She said she will have another doctor look at me...
The only thing she suggested is to stop using two different lotions, in case it is a skin reaction to one of them. I've been using both Aloe Vera and Aveeno, usually Aloe Vera in the am and before bed and Aveeno during the day. So I will use Aveeno for now and see how my skin is tomorrow. Luckily it does not itch.
SusanHG - that is nice you have other people to talk with. My appt is late (5pm), there is no one else there except me, the receptionist and the techs. The upside is, I never have to wait...
thegood5 - my machine is noisy too, but not really bad like an MRI and short, about 20 seconds for each zap.
Only one of my tats hurt, the one right in the middle, between the two breasts, the others were a pinprick.
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Hi pbgirl: Don't you wish we had something in common besides our diagnosis ?
After much research and talking to others, I decided to use Glaxal. I have just completed 9/33 rads and have not had any skin issues. I used aloe a couple of times, but it was just too sticky.
My RO said side effects probably wouldn't t start until end of second week or third week. Is anyone hearing that also?
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Countdown to Wednesday, was everyone else this nervous for Rads? Is it because when we start chemo we are still numb from the news?
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Hi hdangelbaby! I'm 42. I guess it is within the over 40 age group but I still feel too young to have breast cancer.
tv andyk: Side effects have already begun for me, and I am only on #7/36. I am short of breath (from infld chest muscles), fatigue all weekend but better now, and my skin is definitely starting to redden. I guess everyone is different.
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Why do people assume that if you have a mastectomy you dont' need radiation; or if you have radiation you can forgo the mastectomy? I guess I'm just in a pissy mood this morning - I've read about 4 or 5 posts where people make that assumption - I'm bilateral, chemo, radiation - the whole frickin' she-bang!! I woud have loved to skip rads - had margins, size, everything - excpet I'm 42 and they want to be as aggressive as possible. Sometimes it just pisses me off.
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I think people just assume that, especially if their cancer was caught before they had positive nodes. Everyone's diagnosis is different, so everyone's treatment is different. I was surprised to meet a lady at radiation today who was doing chemo and rads at the same time! Understandable for you to be pissed off. I figure if you want to fight the cancer, now is the time to do it, not later when it comes back! I have a friend whose doctor advised her against rads a few years ago. Well, now it is back and it is incurable. Her original doctor was old and days awayf rom retirement. He told her not to have rads because they cause cancer. Now what kind of logic is that? She already had cancer!!
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I laid in bed last night and thought to myself........................What the hell am I about to allow someone to do to my body...............I have had my boobs squashed in a machine more then I wanted to........squashed again because someone said "we see something",.........I have been stuck with needles like a freaking pin cushion..........had my breast massaged by someone the size of King Kong to spread the "dye", had a wire driven through my boob, by a 3ft. troll, saying "you moved",..............surgery to my boob that now has my right nipple looking at the floor (no perky going on here)...........more needles, ............tatooed..............and Thursday will find out when they fry my a$$.......................and then to Femara so they can finish me off by thinny my bones.............thinning my hair.............and how does that song go "Killing me Softly".....................I am fuc--ng pissed.....................Holy shit now where did I put those "Big Girl Panties"..................
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duckyb1: I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at your post! All I can say if hang in there and think about healing and getting better. I know it is a long road, but unfortunately it is the road we need to take to get better. I thinking we should have a separate thread for daily venting, with no limit on vulgarity!
Keep the hope and look to the future!
Susan
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Thought I'd post about my weekly visit to the Rad onc this morning.
I guess my chest muscle inflammation is a side effect that is happening much sooner than normal due to the breast infection I have. Fatigue too is happening a bit quicker. I guess once the infection is gone then things will start to progress a little slower than they have.
Because of the chest muscle inflammation, the doc does not want me to use my arm at all. He is reluctant to put me on bed rest since I have a young son, but definitely no housework. I'm not sure how my husband will feel about that since he had taken over this weekend, but he has been pretty understanding so far. I figure I can probably still cook, but scrubbing dishes, vaccuuming, and laundry are definitely out. I am taking Aleve to help the shortness of breath and it seems to work well so far and hopefully I won't be woken up tonight since the medication lasts for 12 hours. I woke up very uncomfortable last night and a little scared, but this problem supposedly is not dangerous so it makes me feel a bit better.
Susan
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duckyb1~I couldn't have said that any better, except I would insert the "torture chamber breast MRI" the you want me to lay on that wooden box, days after my diagnosis, be completely still on my belly, I can't breathe the box is pushing on me, the boobs are hanging down in measuring cups, my arms are over my head with no support, in we go to the chamber and opps, the machine is scraping against my back" I hit the panic button before I was even in the tube!
My tumor was large, so even though chemo shrank it to nothing, Rads were always in my treatment plan. The RO was talking to me like he was trying to sell it to me, I told him you had me at "hello cancer".
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SusanHG, people sent me emails about house cleaning for BC patients. Not sure who it is through....
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Sagina............Oh my God, funny,,,,,,,,,,,I never had to go in the MRI tube for my cancer, and good Lord I hope I never do..................I heard from another woman about going in that damn thing, and thought................Oh Lord, I wonder when i get to do that happy thing....................
I will have to get out my suspenders for my Big Girl Panties the day I have to do that........hugs.
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sagina, SusanHG you may want to check out http://www.cleaningforareason.org/
My wife was contacted by someone and we followed up, they were great (in Georgia)
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thank you for the website, Sam. sounds too good to be true!
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SusanHG - So sorry about your breast infection and the other problems it is leading to. I hope your shortness of breath gets better, I didn't even know that was a possible side effect. I'm someone is doing chemo and Rads at the same time, I never heard of that either! Although, I too, am worried about the long-term SE of Rads and the possible other cancers Rads *may* cause...
slg2130 - I think many doctors present it that way also. although I was still in the shock phase, I know at least 1 of the bs I met with said, lump = rads, mast = no rads. And the other ones certainly didn't get into a lot of detail about rad possibility with a mast. Maybe they would have if I had chosen it. I've also had women tell me those chose mast because they didn't want rads.
Anyone have a reaction to Rads from Herceptin? I wonder if that is causing my skin issues. Its difficult at this point to separate the SE of Herceptin from chemo, but the week after I do seem to get more headaches and be extra, extra thirsty.
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Wish me luck today! Today is the consult with the rads onc. i have a notebook with about 15 questions to ask!! hope he made time for me today and doesn't rush. I always get nervous when meeting new docs, cause you never know how they are going to be!
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Good luck hdandelbaby!!! I start Rads tomorrow, well at least they haven't called to postpone again yet. I better check my cell!
duckyb1~ forget the big girl panties for the breast MRI, I needed the big girl sedative, they had to hit the vein four times during the 40 minutes, and it only kept me calm, I never fell asleep. I think they must have used the "petite" tranquilizer!
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You will do great hdangelbaby and sagina! Will be thinking about you!
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good luck hdangelbaby and sagina! keep us posted on how you feel. The machine isn't scary at all and you won't feel a thing...
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