Anybody have the radiation? Any side effect?

paungpen

Dear all,

The doctor said, I will get the radiation for 7 weeks. 

I'd like to know about the side effect.

Pls give me some advice.

Thanks

exbrnxgrl

Paungpen,

Search through the radiation forum and you will find lots of information and many threads about radiation and side effects.

Caryn

financegirl

I just finished two parts of a 3 part plan.  I had 8 cycles of chemo (4 A/C, and 4T).  Then onto radiation which was 36 daily sessions (with weekends and holidays off it too was close to 7 weeks).  My chemo was high density dosing so I had a few really rough times, then onto radiation and that's over and now I am on Arimidex for 5 to 7 years if I can tolerate.   

Because my chemo was rough at times, I found radiation to be a piece of cake in the beginning.  In my case (and the same experience of 2 other women at the center)  we felt it was manageable for the first 30 sessions.  BTW, your radiation is such an individualized plan.  Angles of the beam, how long, etc will be personalized to YOU prior to beginning it from tests they will do.  Yes you get red and it stings but by day 30, it had changed and not for the better.   My last 6 sessions were the "boost".  That means that prior to that I'd been radiated from 3 or 4 different angles but "boost" is done only from one angle directly to the area your tumor was first found.  The above schedule is pretty much what the nurse and doctor said would happen.   I was told that expect things to begin to change more around week 4 if you are fair skinned about a week or 1.5 weeks later if you are not.  They said to expect exhaustion but IMO it was nothing like what was caused by the chemo.  They were able to tell me what to buy at the drugstore to minimize this (beginning from day one with Aquaphor and after the burn was pretty bad I was given a prescription for Silvadene and told to use that, along with Zeasorb A/F Powder).  In my case, by the time things got really bad, it was over and then I had a week after radiation that it was really  bad but then it got better almost overnight if that makes sense.  It'll be okay, you WILL get thru this.  Radiation was bad but like the dentist what your mind thinks will happen is always much worse! 

paungpen

Thanks so much financegirl and exbrnxgrl. I got an appointment for CT scan this Thursday. I don't know exactly date when I'm gonna get the radiation.

I hope it soon.

Do you know that I'm gonna get the tatto and radiation at the same day?

Pon

thenewme

Hi Pon,

Here's a good resource, but maybe you could also schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss  your questions in more detail.

http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/radiation/