Summer 2013 Rads

melody46

After wearing cami w/ built in shelf bra I find that wearing an actual bra now is annoying.  Maybe I just need new bras.  Regbeach I dont have any mucous when I cough and its an odd cough more restrictive and I cough and it goes away for a few days very odd.  But my CT showed they look good according to my surgeon, I see the MO in a couple weeks, he's who ordered it.

Anonymous

Oh my.  They had massage-therapy students waiting around in the rads waiting room today to give massages to everyone who wanted one.  Ahhhhhh....  Wish they'd started doing this sooner, but happy for what I got!  They'll be doing it every Thursday for a while, but I only have one more Thursday.  I couldn't believe how tight my neck and shoulders were.  Much better now.  

So I discovered it's still too soon to wear a bra.  I wasn't miserable but it just itched and  made me want to scratch my boob and I know that would be a horrible thing to do right now, so back to braless for a bit longer.  I'm grateful I'm able to get away with it at the moment.

How did everyone's day go?  GWTF, how is the nausea?  I sure hope you were able to find something that worked to lessen that.  It sounds miserable.  And your cough, Heart?

28/34

LW0919

Is there anyone on the board that found that Tom's deodorant worked for them?? Day 3 of wearing it and I can smell myself! I even tried reapplying several times today. Thank goodness I have a desk job and only get sweaty during hot flashes and tat I can wear regular deodorant on the left side. Does anyone have suggestions on how not to stink for the next 6 weeks??



Also should I already be itching under my treated boob after just the second treatment? I'm hoping its just a random itch and not already the beginning. I was hoping o have a little more time before I actually started feeling it.



I'm going to try a sports bra. I work in the corporate world and don't think I can get by without a bra and 2 big boobs. Today I wore a camisole with my underwire bra on top of it and a shirt over that. I felt ridiculous!

GoWithTheFlow

LW, I always itched under my breasts in the summer.  It's kind of nice this year that I don't have breasts to itch under (gotta try to look at the positive).  I'm sure no one knew you had a camisole under your bra.  

nyama, Nausea is better with zofran, but still feel a bit lightheaded.  Skin in the middle of my chest has bumps and appears to be starting to break down.  Have a few other darker spots but they are okay right now. Glad tomorrow is Friday and I get two days off.  Monday they rescan me and will be dropping that top field thank goodness.  I'm hoping that includes where it's breaking down but not sure.

Lenn13ka

LW- I used Tom's and I felt bad for the rad techs as I came in at 3:00 while still in work clothes. ( outdoor job...very sweaty). I ended up barely using it as using nothing worked almost well!! Washed immediately with aveno when I got home and that helped both my skin and the sweat. The further into treatment the less I sweated on treated side.

I have been wearing cotton stretch tanks with built in bras with a cotton button down shirt over it. Very comfortable!

GoWithTheFlow

I've been living in my v-neck tshirts from walmart.  $4.84 each and they are in pretty colors.

Aviatrix58

Wow I wish I'd have found this site in March when I received my diagnosis!  Better late than never.  I have only 6 rads treatments to go (out of 33), one regular treatment to the entire area and five boosts.  I am blond, blue-eyed, fair skinned and didn't have any breakdown of the skin until yesterday when a very small area in my armpit started peeling. The Dr. prescribed Silver Sulfadiazine which seemed to have nipped it in the bud very quickly.  I've been using 100% Aloe Vera gel religiously, applying a cold compress twice a day, and stopped wearing a bra unless I was in public.  Basically, I'm treating it like I would a sunburn. The first skin reaction I had was a mild pink color, then freckles started showing up, then large dark spots that looked like bruising, then some mild swelling, and now it's bright red.  Minimal pain. I've had some heartburn issues which I've treated with Tagamet.  Some fatigue but not dibilitating - I am an avid cyclist and have cut back on the number of miles I ride and am slowly building my endurance back up. Every once in a while I would have a scratchy throat after my treatment for about an hour or so. 

Dr. has now told me to eliminate the bra completely and as a size D it has been quite an experience trying to find something to wear in public.  A tight cotton cami under a cotton button down blouse seems to work the best in our hot weather.  

Am post-menopausal so will be starting estrogen blockers as soon as rads is done.

 Luckily for me, I'm a teacher so if there can be a good time for this diagnosis, this was it.  Not sure how well I would have handled cancer and a classroom full of high school students.  

Thanks for the comments and encouragement.  In spite of a good prognosis this is all a bit overwhelming at times.  It's nice to know you're not alone.

Moderators

Welcome Aviatrix58! Glad you found us now, and thank you for sharing your experiences and advice!

GoWithTheFlow

Woke up in pain less than 6 hours after taking my pain meds.  Center of my chest, the skin is "crusty" and felt like it was splitting when I rolled over.  Five more!

Heart2930

LW0919- I was actually surprised that the Tom's peach scented did work for me. I used Secret on the non-treated side. Once you get farther into treatment the sweating might stop. I know mine did.

GWTF- So sorry about your skin issues. As if the nausea wasn't enough! I used Neosporin plus pain ointment at night. This was against my nurse practitioners advice, but once my skin started breaking down the aquafor really burned. The neosporin in combination with the lidocaine gel was not too bad. It also stopped the dry skin splitting feeling everytime I rolled over. It still hurt when I rolled over, but I didn't feel like I needed to turn the light on to check for blood. It kept everything just lubed enough. Now this was against my nurses advice. I guess some people can quickly develop an allergy to neosporin and now was not the time for that allergy to develop. 

Still have the cough and asthma issues. Going to my primary care today to talk about new meds. Good thing since I have developed a wicked sinus infection. Feels like my right eye is going to explode. I actually received a PM from a friend yesterday about trying tumeric for the asthma so I am going to pick up some of that today.

GoWithTheFlow

Heart, thanks for the suggestions.  Going to talk to them today when I go in because what I have isn't cutting it and I can see me calling this weekend if I don't get something else.  

I hope the tumeric works for you and you are feeling better soon.  You've been through enough!

regbeach

My mom's bright red/pink spots, turned to blisters.   By the time I got the Silver Sulfadine, they sort of looked like pus (since I didn't put lotion in that area, it's all I could think it was).  I am assuming that is just part of what the SS is for, right?  Nothing to call dr. back for?

I put thick amounts of the SS on.  I am hesitant to wash it off since I don't want to rub the area.

Thanks.

corky60

Hang in there Summer Rads girls! You may reach a hump where you don't think the treatments will ever end but you just power through it.  Focus, focus.  Take a deep breath and inhale gratitude.  You can do it!

Anonymous

Welcome Aviatrix!  Glad you found us--lots to learn on this site and a goup of wonderful women to learn it with.  I'm also a teacher, so can relate to your "if there's a good time...." feelings.  Although I moved recently, so wasn't teaching this last semester, I did pick up some online courses for the college I was recently teaching at...but not now, for which I'm grateful.  Don't know if I could concentrate enough to grade, advise, lecture, etc.  I also will be starting the estrogen inhibitors soon--one week after I finish rads so something new to look forward to. Blech.  (But so grateful they now know enough about our cancers to focus our treatments specifically for our own biology.)

Good luck with the turmeric, Heart.  I don't have asthma, but I've been taking it for a while now since it's also supposed to help with radiation.  But I know sciencegal has had some really positive results for her asthma in taking it.  Her advice has been to make sure you get the brand that also has piperine in it because it helps with the absorption.  There are a few threads on it here on the board.  The most recent active one is here: http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/58/topic/806914?page=1#idx_17

Thanks for the encouraging words, corky.  Only one more week left for me.  Yes!!!!

Heart2930

Regbeach- If I looks like pus I would call the doctor. Infection is always a concern. My RO had also said to watch for areas that seep too much. A little clear or slightly bloody drainage is ok once the skin breaks down but a lot of clear drainage or anything that isn't clear is not good and to call.

Welcome Aviatrix58!

Thanks Nyama! I remembered her earlier post but with so many posts now I had a hard time finding it. Thanks for the thread too!

Thanks GWTF! I hope you are feeling better over the weekend! You have been through enough yourself.

Healing wishes to everyone over the weekend!

beachbound009

Today was 10 of 33 for me.  The fatigue is probably my biggest complaint right now.  I’m trying to stay active by walking a few days a week (big changed from running 4-5 times a week) but with taking 2 showers a day and applying my potions 4 times a day, my marks are barely staying on.  This has been stressing me out so I asked my RO if I could do henna tattoos where my marks are.  From what I’ve read, henna tattoos are all natural (of course I’ll research before I buy to be sure) and they stain the skin for 3-8 weeks.  I was excited when he said I could try it.  Now I’m trying to find someone to do this for me so I don’t have to order the supplies and wait to have it delivered.  Has anyone else had their marks done with henna tattoos?

encyclias

Had to check it out first, Beachbound.  I googled henna tattoo Pensacola and came up with five links for henna artists right here in this small city.  Try your city.

Carol

Johnetta

Hi ladies! I am so thankful for these boards. My first time posting. I will be starting rads in August. I just finished round 4 of  scheduled 6 chemo treatments (CT). I had a severe allergic reaction to the fourth treatment (was fine the first 3) so I am thinking of stopping at 4. I have 2 questions for you ladies:

Have any of you with lymph node involvment (I had 2 nodes involved) only had 4 rounds of CT?

Could you suggest a "shopping list" for beginning rads? Lotions/deoderant/other that worked for you

I will be reading all of these posts from beginning to end to know what to expect. Thank you ladies for sharing your experiences.

GoWithTheFlow

I wouldn't go overboard shopping until you know what your doctor is going to give you.  my doctors have given me 4 different lotions already.   

I did buy emu oil, but seldom use it.  I have used pure aloe that I keep in the fridge.  And I love the Lindi cooling pad (but you might be better off doing the roll.  I bought that recently but haven't opened it yet as I'm still using the pad).

Loose cotton shirts.  I've been living (night and day) in the cotton t-shirts from walmart ($4.84 each and came in nice bright cheerful colors).  If you still have breasts, you might need a camisole and loose overshirt instead.  I believe they have inexpensive ones at Walmart too.  I have stained most of my shirts with my sharpie markings coming off when I sweat in the heat, or from some of my lotions.  Some of the lotions/gels also leave a stain.  

Heart2930

Well..... Saw my primary care today. I came home with a bag full of new prescriptions. Seems like everything for asthma interacts badly with tamoxifen. So we are going to switch drugs on different days in order to try to lower the chances of a bad interaction and in some cases the toxicity of the interactions. Sounds pretty scary, but at least most of these don't have the "sudden death" interaction issue when used with tamoxifen that my old ones did.



I have decided not to use the turmeric and here's why since there was some discussion earlier about it. There are two schools of thought with research going on about the turmeric tamoxifen combo. One thinks turmeric helps tamoxifen keep cancer at bay which is great. The other however thinks turmeric blocks one of the binding agents in tamoxifen and thus renders it less effective. Not so great. I left surgery with positive margins that we are not able to get clean, so we know we left some cancer behind. We hope rads killed anything that remained, but nothing is 100%. Because of this I just don't feel I can risk making the tamoxifen less effective.



Hi Johnetta- Welcome! I agree with GWTF. I wouldn't buy too much. My RO told me not to buy anything since he would give me anything I needed. I also would suggest you buy some cheap cotton tank tops that you won't mind throwing out when you are done. The grease stains just never come out. I have soaked mine in both Shout and dish soap, but nothing helped. I would also recommend you buy some Tom's deodorant since you won't be able to use anything with aluminum in it.

CLYDAY

Encyclias your in Pcola?? I am too!

beachbound009

I'm in Pcola too!

encyclias

Hi CLYDAY!  Yes, I am in Pensacola.  Hi again, beachbound!  Surprised to see there are three of us on the board from a relatively small city.

Finishing the last of my rads next week at Sacred Heart's Cancer building, at West Florida Hosp rather than at their bigger facility on Airport.

Carol

DiZZyMom

Seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Only two more to go. Last boost on Tuesday and then I leave for vacation Thursday. Going to the beach and I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay out of the water since I have these lovely deflated blisters oozing non-stop. I guess I can just lay on the beach in my major cover-up, scarf and sombrero.........with my toes in the water and drink something with a little umbrella in it. While my husband wrangles the kids in the water

Have a nice weekend everybody, no treatments for two days!!

GoWithTheFlow

WOOHOOO dizzy.  Glad i'm not the only crazy person leaving on vacation two days after rads end.  But you are smart enough to have someone else drive.  I have a 6 hour drive to my destination.  Hoping i can suck it up, run on adrenaline, and get there without meds.  

CLYDAY

Carol congrats to almost being done with Rads! And hello beachbound!! Small world!

Dizzy get some UV shirts like the surfer kind while your on the beach. They are like 50+ uv protection :-)

CassDugan

10/30 today, 4 weeks to go.



I noticed toward the end of both last week and this week that I'm feeling a sort of a lump in my throat that I've seen other women mention. It's a great appetite suppressant, feeling like there something caught partway through swallowing. It's on the list to ask my RO about next week. Last week, the feeling was gone by Sunday midday. This week it was back Wednesday night. I almost never have digestive issues and my diet is about the same so I'm tending to think it's rads related.



Any recommendations for things that have worked for other women? I've tried taking some OTC remedies for digestive troubles like gas or heartburn but no luck. I tried cough medicine too.

Anonymous

I've had a bit of sore throat since Tuesday which was #10. It doesn't hurt all the time or even when I drink, but it hurts when I swallow food. At least it reminds me to chew more.



So far, (this was day 13) I've had no skin issues. RO said, I'll probably start pinking up next week.



I have my yearly mammo and surgery follow up next Tuesday. I'd be lying if I said I'm not a bit nervous about that. I hate the thought of going through another year like this one.



Paula

CassDugan

Yeah, even chewing thoroughly doesn't seem to help, otherwise I'd find a way to make all my meals into smoothies! . Even swallowing water feels vaguely weird.



Good luck next Tuesday, Soteria. I hope it goes well for you.

lorettaloretta

Hi, l'm new too. Surgery 5/14/2013

Just finished gene testing and starting rads on monday, guess I dont understand why you had chemo and I didn't. My oncologist said the risk from chemo wasn't worth it and mine was worse than yours?