May 2012 radiation

STLmom

Good morning. Elizabeth, I hope everything goes well with your sister.

neeners-my skin is red but okay-I finished Monday. I had 27 reg and 6 boost. I did not have a scar from my lumpectomy because they did a breast reduction at the same time.I don't know if that made it better or not. They said smaller breast would have less SE. At least i got a bonus out of all this. I think I could have been shaving too.

Goodie

SB - I hope your sister is doing well today and so are you!  I would stronly suggest a second opinion to her even if she starts chemo there.  I went with my second opinion group of doctors and I am so glad I did.  IBC needs special attention.  I think there are free or discounted airfares and housing through the American Cancer Society or something if its over so many miles. 

Neeners - congrats on starting your boosts.  More stickers off!  Yea!

My skin si doing a lot better and I don't have the pain I had either.  I'm still putting on my lotion several times a day too!

Goodie

SB - here 's the info on free airfares    http://www.corpangelnetwork.org/news/press/08_14_01.html

mckenna

makes me happy to see everyone researching for sb's sister.  i can't imagine not being in the same location with one of my sister's if they were recently diagnosed.  the american cancer society lodging is called Hope Lodge, if you know, if/ where she would be getting a second opinion, you can look for one near the facility.

neeners glad the caboose got to loose a few more stickers!!!

 still in a sprorts bra and could not wait to take it off yesterday when i got home from work but i am contining to feel better each day.  now i am  little worried that the tami is causing more frequent migraines.  i used to get them about once a month before i started period but i have now been on tami 11 days and have had 2, neither in relation to my cycle (although, i guess i don't exactly know what a "cycle" will be like on tami).  i am going to say yesterdays was from the fumes related to the self cleaning oven and pray saturdays was just a fluke.  i hate migraines and it will be hard to take 5 years of increased migraines. 

stl, hope you heal quick! - stl and i don't live far and were treated by the same group just different locations.  small world!

goodie, yeah for healing!!!

two more days this week ladies, then the weekend and the finisher week!!!

BLinthedesert

SB - University of Colorado (my Alma mater) Denver has an NCI designated cancer center. It might be an easy place to get a second opinion (since it is only 1.5 hours away).



I hope all goes well today...



And, I hope you all are doing well!!!

nancyjac

Elizabeth....I can imagine how frustrated you must be tring to help your sister through this long distance.  I hope she has somebody locally that can at least go with her to key appointments to make sure questions get asked and to take notes on the info provided.  Does seem that if she has a path report indicating that ER/PR+ that the initial biopsy must have confirmed the clinical diagnosis, in which case, I agree, why do more biopsies?  

 Glad you are almost done with your boosts and that skin is on the mend.  My doesn't seem to be any better but it least it's not getting any worse.  Mine is most annoying in the armpit area because of friction against my arm.  I've also been getting some strange "pains" the last few days.  Feels almost like a cramp in my chest muscles that just starts like it is going to cramp up but doesn't go into a full charley horse and then goes away again. ....kinda weird.  

Goodie

mckenna - any other side effects from the tami?  I just find that I'm not real hungry and my stomach gets upset if I take it on an empty stomach.

Nancy - my pit was like that too the last week of rads and then this past week too. I had those pains too.  They are finally going away and the itching isn't as bad either.

SB - I hope your sister is okay.  I've been thinking about her and you.

mckenna

Nancy and goodies I have been having those same pains glad to know it is "normal"



I eat a bowl of rice krispies each am right before or right after I take the tami and at first I was not that hungry but my appetite has picked up this week. Was hoping to keep the decreased appetite would really go along way in loosing more weight



Hope everyone has a nice night

AEM47

heheeee...one more trip to the table !!!!

sbelizabeth

Good morning, girlfriends...

First, my sister Kane's surgery went well.  The surgeon did a skin biopsy and removed a lump o'boob that he believed was at the core of the inflammation, and initial pathology proved him right.  Now they'll have enough cancer sample to do a thorough pathology analysis.  She's in a little pain, but doing well.  Chemo starts tomorrow.  

Thanks, everyone, for your information, encouragement, and support.  BL, I'll tell her about the NCI in Denver; it's not too late for her to make a trek up there with her slides and discs and get another opinion.  Univ of Colorado is also my alma mater...how's that for coincidence?

My skin's healing very slowly in the parts that aren't being radiated anymore.  I'm impatient to be all better, NOW, but it apparently doesn't work that way!

Have a great Thursday, everyone! 

schatzi14

sb...great news about your Sister's surgery! Hope you heal quickly so you can get on with other things.

Goodie

SB - I'm glad your sister has more information and she is starting her treatment. Please tell her it is never too late to have a second or third opinion.  As you know, she will have months of treatment.  I think she will feel better if she knows she had the second opinion especially with IBC.

Glad to hear your skin is healing.  It does get better.  It's slow but doable.  Keep putting that lotion on!!!!!!!!!!

Neeners815

Hey ladies - I had a wonderful appointment today.  I know - I was shocked, too!  I had the male tech for the whole thing, by himself.  He walked *with* me to the room, covered my feet with the blanket before the procedure, chatted pleasantly with me, zapped me quickly, and DIDN'T WRITE ON ME.  Ladies, this is the first time I haven't been written on.  I was so so so so happy.  Hahaha.  I've developed an intense hatred for sharpies, lemme tell ya.  My skin is only bumpy/scabby on the chest - not the boob (so far).  Even hubby commented how strange it was where it seemed to affect me the most. Today I'm 90% through.  Three more zaps to go.  I love the boosts - so quick to get in position!

I'm worried about taking the tamoxifen, but I know I need to probably start it next week once I'm done with all this.  Erg.  I think I will call my BS for a pep talk beforehand.  Although it wouldn't be bad for me to lose my appetite - it seems ever since the BC diagnosis I've been eating anything that isn't nailed down!  Geesh.

SB glad your skin is doing better and that your sister's surgery went well!  Good luck to her with chemo - we're thinking/praying for her! 

mckenna

NEENERS  yeah for 90% done.  and so glad you had a pleasant zap i was super worried about the tamoxifen, years before i even had bc.  since i had the adh diag, i felt it was only a matter of time before bc and i new tami would be in my future (turns out a matter of time was 18 months so at least i didn't waste any time ).  so far all se's i have experienced are mill asside from the constipation issue that was actully bad.  but i continue to take the pills from surgery and have not had an issue since.  the script has 3 re-fills on it but i am going to ask mo for a script when i see her in sept.  i started about 10 days after rads only because the mo said 2 weeks post rads but i wanted to start on a sunday and the first day of july was a sunday so that worked perfect. 

goodie and schatzie hope you both continue to heal well

sb, i think about your skin alot .  when my skin was at my worst, i know i would have stopped rads.  i am so proud of you for continuing on, it takes great strength.  so glad things went well for your sister.  do they have a chemo start date? how old is your sister?  does she have young kids?

aem is today or tomorrow your last day?  so excited for you!!!

healing seems to be getting slower but i am at the stage now where it is not too painful and i can wear a bra so if this last bit lasts a little longer i can deal with that.  i just layed out all up coming dr appts so my boss knows when i will be leaving early, comging in late again. the six month appointments from diagnosis start in sept already.  not too worried as this will be my mammo appt not my mri appt and the mammo never found anything.  i know i will be extrememly nervous for the mri in march/april.

one more day this week ladies!

Neeners815

AEM47 I am so excited for you!  Tomorrow is the day!  WOO HOO!

BLinthedesert

Neeners, I am so glad you had a good treatment day! They quit marking me up the last week too, my burn allowed them to setup without the marks ;-)



mckenna, I know what you mean about the follow-ups, rads follow-up, BS follow-up, and my first mammo in August, MRI is is October (something they are watching in 'lefty'). And I am very grateful I don't have to take tamoxifen.



SB - that is great news on Kane's surgery ... I have been thinking about her a lot. I as SO glad your skin is doing better too!



I don't even have an outline anymore!! I feel extremely lucky. I get 'zingers' - but I have been getting those since my biopsies. I do worry about fibrosis ... but I try not to obsessively worry ;-)



AEM - one more!!!

STLmom

Hi everyone 

neeners-- glad things went well today. I had the bumpy things on my chest too. They itched and the RO prescribed cream that worked great.

sb glad your sister is doing well

sbelizabeth

Neeners, my sis is four years older than me--that makes her 60.  She has four grown kiddos and a handful of grandkids that she wants to see grow up and dance at their weddings.  I would like to do that, too, with my own grandbaby coming in March!  Her first chemo was supposed to be yesterday, but they did the open biopsy instead, so she'll be chemo'd tomorrow morning. Thanks, everyone, for your support for Kane and her journey.  It's scary the whole way through, but the beginning is so filled with unknowns, it's overwhelming--as you're all painfully aware.

Boost #5 this afternoon, and the skin's holding onto my chest so far!  The other biggish burns are healing veerrrry slowly, but they're healing, with the help of the Mepilex Lite dressing that BL kindly send me in the mail.  Fortunately they're not in the radiation field anymore, it's just the chest scar that's being broiled right now. 

Tomorrow's Friday, AEM will be finished, and Neeners, we're on the home stretch!

AEM47

I'M DONE......YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!! 

NOW.....On to wearing a bra comfortably one day.... standing up straight again...... shaving.... stretching and not having to worry about somone seeing my peeling disgusting looking pit...moving my arm without my armpit getting stuck...not waking up with a boob that feels like I have PMS every day.....not carrying 4 pounds of cream around all day... not showing my boobs to strange people without getting paid for it.....lmao...... and best of all.....going more than a few days between doctor visits.  It's over !!!! 

now I gotta stop looking at the bottle of Tamoxefin  

mckenna

Sb glad sis doesn't have young kiddos it makes things a little more tiresome and glad she has grown kids and grand kids to support her. Everyone will be on the home stretch after tomorrow

sbelizabeth

Yay, AEM!  It's rear-view mirror time!  So long, scary, beeping manhole covers!

Neeners815

AEM - I thought you meant tomorrow was your last day.  WOO HOOO!!!  CONGRATS!!!

SB - It's me and you, kid.  Let's do this! 

mckenna

I cant wait till sb and neeners are done. But we all have to keep checking in because we have to get news of Kane and sb 's grand baby.

it will also be nice to have you when scan times start to roll around

jittersmom

way to go AEM47...enjoy the freedom!

BLinthedesert

One other thing I forgot to mention ladies -- one of the side-effects I have really hated (since surgery actually) was shoulder pain.  Yesterday I went and saw my sports medicine guy (he does this very painful type of muscle release stuff that I swear by) -- yea, because I am running a lot again -- and asked him to work on my shoulder too.  I can't tell you how much better I feel today to have range of motion back in my arm.  It was weird too, he worked my arm, and shoulder, and yet today it is the side of my breast which aches ... 

The reason I am bringing this up is that I was hoping all of you are doing some arm exercises going forward??  I know that these sorts of shoulder/arm issues are common after breast surgery - and they are exacerbated by radiation.  Here are some exercises to try: http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/MoreInformation/exercises-after-breast-surgery

Stay healthy my friends!  

(mckenna -- I am with you, our cohort needs to stay in touch). 

nancyjac

I started working on putting the rest of my body back together during rads.  Just when I was starting to regain some energy after chemo, I got arthritis in one knee.  Got a cortisone shot earlier this week and it's feeling much better.  Still hurts when I do stairs or bend it too far, but at least it isn't constantly throbing and keeping me from any kind of exercise.  Then I got seromas after surgery.  Had one aspirated but it just filled back up.  So now I am in rehab 2X/wk for manual drainage and lymphatic massage.  Therapist is also helping me with some balance and other issues left over from peripheral neuropathy.  All of this just so I can go back to exercising.

sbelizabeth

Nancyjac, we're all proud of you for being so tenacious!  That's a lot to go through to just get back to exercising, but it'll be SO worth it.  

I had a big old seroma after the mastectomy and my RO wanted my chest flat so the rads targeting wouldn't be muddled up by my new "udder." So every Monday morning I see my surgeon for a friendly chat while she sticks a needle in my chest.  Fortunately the skin is numb still, so it's not painful in the least.  She's draining less and less as the weeks go by, so I think the radiation is searing closed the leaking whatevers.

BL, I'm all inspired now to exercise my upper extremities.  I get lots of aerobic stuff on my bicycle, but my arms just come along to hold on and shift gears. Thanks for the link.

And thanks, everyone, for hanging in there with Neeners and me.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."  Hebrews 12:1

Spokanellie

ALL! It's not much support just reading all the posts (which I do, every day) and never jumping in to say, "Hi! Hang in there!!" I'm still here in Spokane cheering you on, Neeners and SB, even though the cheering has been a little too quiet to be effective.

Over the past 10 weeks I've been more plagued by lymphedema symptoms and "appointment fatigue" than anything else. I was seeing the LE therapist for manual massage 3x/week (!) in addition to the daily radiation fun. And theoretically I was still working full-time. Now I'm down to 1 LE treatment/week at my own insistence, since my insurance limits me to 25/year and I sure can't absorb the $160/visit! So I've gone from 8 appointments/week to 1. That feels like a wonderful return to normalcy.

BL - good reminder to everyone about the arm exercises. The LE therapist gave me range of motion exercises that I've been doing for about 8 weeks to help my corded right armpit. Next week she's going to start me SLOWLY on upper body exercises for strength - again at my request. I'm back to treadmilling, but I've lost so much strength in the upper body, it's discouraging. Living alone, I really feel the necessity to maintain strength as well as health.

Lastly, I didn't know if all of you noticed the link Lynne (Jan24) provided, so I'm posting the pic itself from our lunch meetup last week. (Just learning Photobucket.) So fun! I'm on the left; Lynne's on the right. I'm hoping she'll get back to Spokane soon. (Her dad and a sis live here.)

   

Neeners815

You both look fantastic and so happy.  It makes me smile to look at that pic

Today I woke up and scratched under my boob to find a boo boo.  Rut roh. 

Just got back, and I didn't get the guy.  The girl sprinted way ahead of me to the room, no good morning, blahblahblah same stuff I always complain about.  I did whisper to the guy, "I was really hoping you were coming to get me!"  Hopefully he gets the hint and gets me the last two days.  Because she wrote on me again.  It really pissed me off, too!  Ah well.  Two to go.  So close! 

Goodie

AEM - Congrats on being finished!!!!!!!!!!!!    

SB - hope your sister is doing well and resting.  Do you know that date of your last radiation yet?  Ladies, I told DH last night that we are having a bottle of asti when everyone is finished.  He got a big smile on his face and said absolutely!  I can't wait to toast all of my May 2012 radiation friends!

BL - thanks for the link for exercises.  I stretch my arms/chest throughout the day.  I can still feel the stretch and it got a little bit tighter during radiation.  I want to start building up my arm muscles too.  If I get rid of my belly (diep surgery) I don't want fat arms.  LOL

Spokanellie - sorry to hear about the lympedema symptoms.  Are the massages helping?  Did you check youtube to see if you can do some yourself? 

Spokanellie and Jan you gals looks so happy!  I love those smiles.  I have been so much happier since my last radiation treatment.  I feel like a huge weight came off of me to be done active treatment.  It has been such a long 9 months!  My whole family seems happier too.  It's amazing how much this beast affects us! 

Neeners - don't scratch! Just put the lotion on it and rub a tiny bit!