Waiting a month for Rads..anyone else wait?

kelleysgroi

I just finished chemo this past wednesday and was informed then that I would need 6 weeks of radiation.  My PS apparently wants to do the exchange surgery prior to radiation so it will be near the end of March before I get started. Did anyone else wait a month or so? I feel a little nervous about waiting but it is the way things have played out.

Makratz

I waited 2 months.  My onc and breast surgeon said it would be OK.  I sure hope they were right!  Good luck to you!

Momof2inME

I am currently in the thick of  chemo hell but I will be waiting a month for rads as well. My PS and RO want exchange done before starting radiation. Good luck with your surgery!!

kelleysgroi

Makratz- thanks

Momof2inME- hang in there,,chemo hell does end..hard to believe but it does..hugs to you

dlb823

I also had to wait.  Technically, I could have started 12/1/08, but the facility I used was going to be closed for the week between Christmas and New Years, and my rad onc explained that the only new patients she wanted to start due to the gap was pallative care situations.  So I didn't start until the first week of January.  But I'd also had an mx & chemo, and I trusted my rad onc's decision, so the wait didn't concern me.     Deanna

kelleysgroi

thanks Deanna- it seems many wait several weeks following chemo to start so I am feeling better about it.

ProudMom_Wife

Kelley I think the wait would be beneficial for you, and I say that from experience.  

All through chemo I had no problems with my blood counts, in fact I had to skip a Neulasta shot because my MO was concerned they would get too high.  After my last chemo treatment, I had one more Neulasta shot because I was having my exchange surgery 12 days after my last chemo.  I was feeling great too.  The surgery itself was much easier the the BMX, but my body had a tougher time than expected with recovery.  My blood pressure was low along with my blood counts after surgery and I was suppose to start radiation three weeks after the surgery (almost 5 weeks after last chemo).  My counts came up and I up started radiation on time.  But I had to stop radiation after about 3 1/2 weeks because my WBC and Neutrophils kept dropping.  Then they resumed radiation and almost stopped them again because my counts dropped back down.  Since I only had a few sessions left they let me continue with low counts but watched me really carefully and I had to be extremely careful about germs (in fact they told to me not go to my son's HS graduation events, although I went to them all).  I think the short time between chemo -> exchange -> rads took a toll on me.  It took 6 months after radiation was done for my WBC to get back in the normal range, but they are still at the low end.  If I could relive it - I mean actually go back in time and do it again, I would give myself at least an extra week between chemo and exchange.  

I know all of us are different with how we respond to treatments and recover from surgery.  From my experience though I say as long as your Radiation Oncologist says the timing is OK, take as much time to recover from chemo and your exchange surgery before starting radiation treatments. 

FireKracker

I waited past the statistics only because i didnt want to do them...

Its been 1 yr.since i finished rads.I feel great being NED.

good luck and God bless you.huggggs K

kelleysgroi

Thanks ProudMom and grannydukes! Glad you are doing well

Sandyland

I'm about to have my last chemo (TAC) infusion on Tuesday and we will be starting rads a month later.  I'm kinda freaking out about how so many people have had their exchange surgeries before radiation!  I was told an implant wouldn't respond well to radiation and I'm being told that my radiated skin will not do well with surgery, so I am planning a tram flap reconstruction which I seriously DO NOT want to go through!  Has anyone had problems with their implants and radiation??

SAN

suzieq60

It's common practice to leave a month between chemo and rads. My oonc said he likes his patients to recover a bit first. He then made me wait a month after rads before I started Arimidex.

ProudMom_Wife

Sandyland - my PS wanted me to have my exchange surgery around 6 months after rads.  He said the TEs would handle the radiation better and he was just going to fill me more.  However I developed a minor complication, the fold of one of the TEs was starting to push out at the incision, so all fills were stopped, I was basically where I wanted to be anyway, and I needed to have the exchange surgery ASAP after chemo, which is what I did.

lrr4993

I finished chemo in late november and waited until early january to do rads. . . probably about six weeks between them.  I just wanted a break from treatment and wanted to enjoy the holidays.  My rad onco had no problem with it.

Jean0078

My Dr, said I had a 12 week window to start radiation after chemo. I took 7. Worked well as I was recovered from the chemo pretty well by then.

Anonymous

Yes.  It is standard procedure to wait at least a month for the radiation.  I was told that your body needs time to recover from the chemotherapy.  I hope all goes well with you. 

Good luck and God Bless You!

Signed,

2 year breast cancer survivor 

(Edited by BCO Mods to remove personal email address)

kelleysgroi

proudmom_wi- thanks for your post..I was unaware that I was going to need rads..found out the day before my last chemo..and then found out that my PS does the exchange first. I have not met with him yet..meet with rad docs  this week and PS next week but I am concerned about the rads damage to the implant..I'm assuming since you had the exchange first everything went well???

Kicks

It all depends on your Drs and you. I started rads a week after 12th Taxol (started Femara a week after starting rads). Being IBC, recon was not to be done for a year (still haven't had any). My rads Dr said he does not like doing rads on recon as the radiation will/can effect the tissue or implant.



It's always been in mind since then, how bad would it have been to deal with the burns if I had had recon first? Certainly extensive burns do not happen to all but they can. For me, the entire irradiated area burned, not a 'bad sunburn' but open and weeping. Some areas were much deeper but for the most part the deepest were where there is nerve damage from surgery so thankfully I didn't 'feel' the worst of the pain (well up the side of my neck I did). I was 'lucky' that no infections developed as I'm allergic to Sulfa so Silvadene/Sulfadene could not be used - Domebro soaks are what finally healed it. Not trying to scare you, most only get a 'sunburn' if that but there is the possibility of really significant burning.

ProudMom_Wife

kelley, with the exception of my blood counts, radiation was easy for me.  BUT, I went against the standard and did not radiate my chest wall.  I just had rads to my axilla and superclavical, so the situation differs on the impact to the implant, but I wanted to pass along the information I got in discussions with my PS as I was deciding on whether or not to radiate my chest wall.

Sandyland

ProudMom ~ I would love to avoid radiating my chest wall, but since my margin was only .5mm between the tumor and the chest wall, I'm guessing my RO is going to laugh at me when I suggest it.  I'm also very concerned about short and long term damage to both my heart and lung, since my cancer is on the left side.  I already have a TE in place which was done at the insistance of my PS at the time of my MX.  I was told that since my tumor was very large, they would have to take a lot of skin so I suppose it was a good move, but I'm not sure now.  This is how it goes...making decisions at the beginning with limited information.  Can I ask what, specifically, you dealt with on blood counts?  Are you anemic or was this more of an immune system issue?

Kicks ~ I am also allergic to Sulfa drugs.  I didn't realize that might be something to discuss with my RO when I go in on 3/12.  Thanks for the heads up!

Kelley ~ I am so surprised at all of you who are being told to swap out your TE's for implants prior to rads.  I thought implants didn't do well with rads, but now I'm starting to think that it might depend on how large of an area will be radiated.  Keep us posted on what your RO says when you meet with him, would you?

Thanks everyone,

SAN

ProudMom_Wife

Sandyland - My WBC and Neutrophil counts kept dropping.  Both my MO and RO believe it was because I had the exchange surgery too soon after fininshing chemo, then three weeks after surgery starting radiation.  Maybe I should have had at least another week in there somewhere to give my body time to recover from either chemo or the surgery before starting radiation.  Even with low counts though I felt good, had plenty of energy to do what I needed to do, but I did get dizzy occasionally and had to be really careful because I was very suseptible to infection.

kelleysgroi

Ditto on the sulfa allergy..I will keep this in mind when I meet with doc on Wednesday..thanks for that info.

SAN- I will be sure to keep you posted..I have the same concerns about heart and lungs as my cancer was on the left also..these are things that I am sure the docs will clarify. 

FireKracker

I had the rads on the left side.I was very concerned about the heart and lungs.

My RO assured me that with these new machines they only target where the tumor is.

Each time i go back he says the same thing...it sounds good to me...

i finished rads 1 yr ago.

Sandyland

Grannydukes ~ Thank you.  That totally gave me hope and a little more peace about the process.  Here's to hoping these docs aren't all full of it!

Proudmom ~ Thanks for sharing.  I was thinking that the rads caused your blood count issues exclusively.  Wow, why were they rushing you so much?  I have felt a little rushed at times.  After my 1st TAC infusion, I was scheduled to get my second one a few days before Thanksgiving.  Iasked the nurses if I could push it until the Monday after TG, they told me "No."   I made my case to my Onc (i.e. I want to celebrate with my family, taste the food, and not be miserable) she went right into her computer and pushed my appt to Monday.  That's when I knew I liked her.  Likewise after my MX, I was supposed to start chemo, but I just didn't feel ready.  I took another week to recover.  I think I am always striving for that balace between taking their wonderful medical advice, and following my own gut.  It is a struggle at times.  Best of luck as you navigate these waters a second time.  Btw, I've been meaning to ask you...I saw on your diagnosis that you started Tamoxifen last July.  How has that been for you?  I am due to start right after rads.

SAN

ProudMom_Wife

Regarding Tamoxifen, for me it is now manageable. Got the "kinks" worked out. Discovered that the generic brand I was originally taking was the cause of some SEs. Switched manufacturers and now I am only dealing really with Hot Flashes and dry skin, and they are manageble for me.  There is a thread on Differences with SEs for Tamoxifen from different manfacturers which might be helpful when you start on that part of your treatment.

RealtorJackie

    I was a very unusual case.  I finished chemo 2/11, and didn't start rads until 11/11.  My original onc thought I had progressed to stage 4, because of a misread PET scan.  He wrote off the rest of my treatment(which should have been rads).  I had a 2nd opinion on my cancer, and found out that I was stage 3.  The concensus was that I should have rads anyway.

MizMarie

One of my co-workers hada 5 month delay between surgery and rads (no chemo) because she contracted MRSA in her incision.  The MRSA had to be completely gone before they could proceed.

financegirl

Another that had to wait mostly due to holiday closures and there is quite a bit of pre-stuff that needs done before you can begin.  First I needed a CT scan, then they made the body "nest" that keeps you still during radiation.  All the CT data had to be turned over to the physicist/dosimetrist.  These two interpreted the data, determined angle of beams, how many angles and for how long, etc.  After that they did the ink markings and tattooing needed.  By the time I got to the actual radiation it had been about a month also.  I don't think that's too unusual.