Fall 2013 Rads

Bounce

Bluebird144 - sorry to say it like this but to hell with the techs' feelings - I am glad you are worrying about yourself first. They will be over their little slap on the wrist in a blink of the eye - whereas you will carry memories of the torture forever!

If they persist in being cool I suggest you look them in the eye and tell them straight out that you would like them to behave towards you with the kindness and compassion a cancer patient deserves.

Sometimes medical staff forget what we are dealing with - we shouldn't hesitate to remind them.

(I had a nurse tell me I could do chemo and radiation together - no problem. I told her I would prefer not to and burst into tears. After that she was a lot more helpful.)

Keep on looking after yourself and may you go from strength to strength.

LisaSp

Denise and Jo: It went well. In and out in 15, including x-rays. I felt weird about it though, like I didn't about chemo. Being alone, in a big room holding still, waiting. But on the upside, the tech was very nice. Of course, we'll all be back again tomorrow. Let me know how it continues for you both.

MsP: Thank you. And everyone, thanks for your thoughtfulness. We will all be done soon, like MsP!

PegC01

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to say you all are doing great on what I am reading....I (PRAISE GOD), have only 2 more Rad's to do, then 5 Boosters....YEEE HAAA I'm almost done.....I really haven't had that much problem, I get a little tired for about 1 hr afterwards, but it doesn't last long. I am red across my breast, and it is tender, but nothing Ibuprofen can't take care of...

I am so glad this is almost over.....I am getting nervous because I won't see my favorite Team everyday, I do get nervous and think about recurrence, but I have to remind myself.....My surgeon states he got all the cancer, that it did spread to my sential nodes, not my axillary, I'm done with all the poison (chemo), and Now I'm finishing up my Star war game with all the zapping ( I get 2 zaps, now) and only 1 zap for my booster's. I think I have done everything God intended me to do and go through.

Ladies, don't give up, Thank God for what He has given us, Thank him for the doors He has shown us, and thank Him for having the means (rather it was found by you, or the Mammogram) on finding the "C"....WE will get through this!!!!

ItIsWhatItIs2013

I wish there was a "like" button, Peg....!!!!!

I only have 1 more whole boobie zap,  then 5 boosts to the area of my tumor.... almost done & finally feeling like I did it!

bikergirl

Kika-

Thank you for encouraging words. I just finished 5/34 treatments, the last 8 will be boosts. I mark off each treatment on my calendar. Can't wait til its over.

bikergirl

ItIsWhat-

Yay!!! Almost done!!!!

Otterlike

I started 10/21. First day, bam, red skin, hot to the touch, swollen, tender. Not just psychosomatics, and continued on since. Rad Onc said "Unique, but not out of bounds". That's not when you want to hear "unique" about yourself!! So far, staying at that level, nothing worse as I start Week Two today. I read about Emu Oil and funnily enough, my husband's mom gave me some emu lotion this past christmas... who knew it might come in handy! I have been using Aveeno, off and on. Spring Wind Burn Cream from my Chinese Doctor/Acupuncturist. I'll try the emu and see how that goes. I'm extremely fair and pretty much burn if the sun is shining. One week down, four to go!

ItIsWhatItIs2013

Fyi.. for those iinterested. ?.

I read a rads thread after chemi & before starting rads & stocked up on all kunds of lotions & such....

Im fair skinned/red head...

Im almost done & used just the colendula they give me.... my skin is burnt looking,but its inside the boobie that hurts most... but advil helps... im almost done... its totally doabke

Annie54

DONE! DONE! DONE!

Last rad today....skin has held up well. It starting turning tan the day after whole breast rads finished and boosts began. The inside of my breast is a bit sore today - but that's OK as rads are over for me. Yahoo! Honestly, radiation has been the easiest part for me in this whole treatment saga and it went by quickly. Good luck to all that are in the midst or are just beginning. You will be fine.

Annie

Jo6202

Annie54, congrats. Happy for you. Are you going to do anything special to celebrate?

Annie54

No real celebration except for going out to lunch! It's just enough to know I don't have to go to the Cancer Center everyday - it will wickedly feel like I'm skipping school!

Annie

MsPharoah

Annie54. WOO HOO and Whew!, radiant one! Thanks for telling everyone how you did. I hate to say this, but I got tipsey the evening of my last treatment and slept like a baby for the first time in a long time! As a radiant lady, you exude joy, love and good health. Congratulations MsP..

Bounce

OMG - I never thought I would say this but if I make it to the end of rads in one piece I am going to have something with alcohol and sugar to drink for sure!

I never drink but it seems like the perfect time!

Its going on my list.

ItIsWhatItIs2013

Yay.... Annie!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not far behind ya

denilynne

Hi Radiants,

Bluebird, you were asking how many x-rays. Well, my first radiation out of 29 was yesterday. They took 4 x-rays. Today, they took two and then told me that they would only take them every 5 days from now on. They want to make sure that my positioning is correct on that metal board they call a table. Yesterday, it seemed to take forever but today was about 30 minutes from start to finish. The techs were very nice. So far, so good. I hope my anxiety level continues to go down with each treatment. Yesterday was unbearable. I ended up taking 1/2 ativan. It helped but I should have taken a whole one. I've asked my PCP to renew my prescription until this is over.

MsP, thank you so much for your kind words yesterday. All you girls on this board are so supportive and appreciated!

PegC01, I know what you mean about the anxiety of reccurence. My surgeon said she is sure she got it all too but I still wonder. Time will tell, eh? My sister died 3 years ago from ovarian cancer. She had such a terrible time. I have anxiety over that. They tested me for the BRCA1 & 2 genes and I tested negative, thank God. My sister was negative also.

Annie54, congrats to you on your LAST treatment! You did it!

I have a question. Are we allowed to drink say, beer, on the weekend when we are not getting treatments?

I could use a stiff one.......drink that is! :-)

♥♥♥

Lav

Yahoo you did it Annie54! So happy for you. Still got a long way to go but Im sure time will surely pass and soon Ill be celebrating too.

Bluebird you shouldnt feel bad and think of how they feel because they arent the ones with their arm up for 2 hours! Now that they take d xray only once a week im out in say 10 minutes shouldnt take longer than 15.

Has anyone had d problem of aquaphor residue? I seem to be having aquaphor residue and I dont out on any aquaphor in d mrngs but no matter how much I try to rub it away with soap its become more today. I dont even apply anything else except aquaphor as thats what my oncologist has told me.

As for having a stiff one I use to enjoy my wine during the weekends to relax and after being diagnosed Ive syopped drinking alltogehter. I dont know was it the wine on weekends?was is having a sweet tooth? Ive stopped sugar completely as well. As long as I dont get a reccurence Its worth it but does one just stop living? Makes me wonder. My onc says theres no proven study that sugar is d cause and my radiation oncologist says i have to completely cut out sugar from my diet. And they are from the same group seems like they have to sit down and decide which ways d right way!

Bounce

I haven't had a cookie or a biscuit or a piece of chocolate or cake or bread or sugar in almost 3 months!

I'll say it agan. If I make it to the end of rads in one piece I am going to get PLASTERED and I am not talking about Band-Aids.

(Don't worry ladies - all it will take to get me tipsy is one drink.)

Today I was in a shop that sells "health" food and there was an open box of cookies (biscuits) on the shelf at my eye level for people to buy by weight. I wanted to stick my head straight into the box and scarf them up while making om nom nom noises. Luckily I didn't.

I was about 10 kilos overweight when diagnosed and one of the first things I thought was that if I put on weight on Tamoxifen I wouldn't be able to move and life would be even more miserable. I don't know about cancer and sugar but sugar in general is not good for me so I cut it out.

I think my craving for alcohol right now is actually a craving for sugar.

I am glad I have started thinking of things I want to do.

Lav

Bounce I can just imagine you doing that! Thank God though with the sweet tooth that I have Im still not craving. It usually hits me that I need to have a chocolate when Im omsing but somehow its mind over matter as for having a drink well that craving is a little bit more difficult to manage at times especially when we have a get together with some friends n family but Ive somehow managed to say NO thank you Im on medications. I had put on weight too Bounce around 10 lbs when I was diagnosed but im 5'5 and weight 147 lbs so its not like I was obese or anything but jist the same Im working out cut down completely on d sugar though I sometimes wonder how long im going to feel ok about it! I mean heck watching everyone around u enjoying themselves with desserts and all d yummy food and especially a friend of mine whose actually obese and shes absolutely fine! Grrrrrr makes me think that it cant be the cause then of this big C word that Ive got! My sister in law had stage 3 and shes not a drinker then what?

Lav

Bounce are you on tamox already? Im so dreading that. Dreading it worst than rads too especially due to the side effects. I mean with my life being a soap opera its not like I dont have enough depressing and mood swinger things going on! My doctors prescribed me with meds to calm me down and its been a challenge to never have to take them and be dependent on them at all. And now comes a pill that I have to take thats gonna give me those side effects?!

Bounce

Hi Lav

I don't think my weight gave me cancer. I am happy to say I was lucky enough to be in a ward with another lady who had her lumpectomy an hour before me with the same surgeon and she was skinny as a broom. I think the fact that 2012 and 2013 were very stressful - I am not even going to run through the list of things that made me sad and worried and cross and aggrevated one after the other - added to which I ate almost anything I wanted and exercised never and to top it off I had very little sleep due to my daughter's cat all combined to leave my body less able to destroy a rogue cell that found a nice home in my boobie and settled down to do some growing.

Given my family history of cancer (even a male cousin got BC) its not suprising something trigerred it. Its just suprising that I actually went for my Ultrasound this year and didn't skip it!

My eating better now is also influenced by the fact that colon cancer may also run in my family. I figure it won't kill me to eat healthy choices but it might if I don't.

Once I am done with rads and have been on Tamoxifen for a few months I might relax my eating habits a bit. But I might not. I will have to wait and see.

It is hard to see other people doing crazy things like smoking cigarettes or drinking Diet Coke and eating Pringles for breakfast and not being struck down instantly - but lucky them. Shit. I wish I could have been like them too.

Cancer didn't come to punish me for anything and it won't jump on every smoker to punish them either. And that's ok with me.

My daughter was trying to help me destress and relax one day and she was floundering around for words - then she said "unclench".

I have adopted that as one of my healing words - firstly it just plain old makes me giggle when I hear it or say it and its so applicable to everything - not only my butt cheeks!

From now on I am trying to live an "unclenched" life.

JeriGrace

Hi all, just back from my first of 30 rads. Was nervous but mostly just of the unknown. The techs were great. I had a warm blanket and they kept me covered up as much as they could. I also have some wonderful blue fuzzy sleeves that they slip on my arms to keep them warm. It was over very quickly, even with 2 x-rays. I think it took them longer to get me in position than to do the rads. They said they'll do the x-rays every 5 days and I see the doctor every Wednesday. Feel like I'm off to a good start on this final leg of my journey.

FierceBluebird

Congrats Annie!

Bounce, I'm with you. I am celebrating when I am done! But with that said..

I was lucky to get an opinion from one of the top oncologists in the country. (As a favor from someone at work.) He's an oncologist that other oncologists go to with difficult cases and is very involved in research and compiling statistics. Anyway, the point to my rambling was that I asked him what things research showed could be linked to cancer. I put on a lot of weight during chemo for 6 months. (Darn steroids!) And you read so many articles about "don't eat sugar", "lose weight and exercise", "become a vegetarian", "eat an alkaline diet"... blah blah blah.... and it's hard to decide what to believe. I fully expected to get a lecture from him about losing weight. He told me the only thing that can be directly tied to cancer risk is alcohol. Of course it is better for your body to be healthy, eat properly and exercise, but they have been able to prove without a doubt that alcohol increases your cancer risk by a significant amount. He said he tells women that they don't have to stop drinking entirely, but that whatever they "normally" drink, - drink less. If you drink two to three times a week you are at a high risk. If you drink 2-3 drinks when you do drink, drink less. If you are an occasional drinker it "should" be fine, but they don't know.

I try to take all advice with a grain of salt, but I do plan to pay better attention in the future to limit my drinking once the scare wave is over and my life gets back to normal. I never drink anymore, but I am looking forward to a celebration when done! Of course one drink will probably put me to sleep these days!

Woo hoo...I'm done!....ZZZZZZZzzzzzz

MsPharoah

Lav, I used Aquaphor but I didn't have a residue problem.. My rads were early morning, right after my shower. I used Aquaphor after rads and used guaze over it so by the time I got to bedtime, the goo had penetrated either my skin or the gauze. At night, I used Aloe Gel. I'm not sure what your schedule is, but perhaps you are either using too much or too close to your treatment that it isnt absorbed/rubbed off enough to wash off. Not sure, but maybe that will make sense.

Bounce, Lav and all my other drinking buddies. I could go on and on about this topic, especially that drinking alcohol is not good for breast cancer patients. And that we have to give up sugar, fats and graze on Kale! Blech!! I am a social drinker, love a glass of wine with dinner and have been known on rare occasion to get so rowdy that my husband has to put me in my jammies (or not!) I am not obese, but I am always lovin' on the foods that are bad for you. I would say that I was about 10 lbs overweight when I was diagnosed...maybe 15? Anyway, as it turned out, I selected my oncologist because 1) she was considered the best in town and 2) she told me a glass of wine each day was no problem. Little did I know that chemo would make wine and all other goodies take like spit! So I lost about 15 lbs on chemo. I heard that chemo makes you gain weight, but I couldn't understand that since there was very little I could stand to eat during my treatment. I am very careful about my weight now, but I have not cut out all the goodies, including alcohol from my diet and am trying to manage with exercise and just cutting my portions in 1/2 (as long as it isn't chocolate). I learned a lot from chemo about food. Not enjoying the taste of food was right at the top of my list of horrible chemo side effects. And I will add one more thing.....who said chemo and radiation were good for us??

Bounce, you are sooooo fun! Your words are so descriptive.

Maybe when we all get done, you guys can come to Vegas and we will tie one on!!!

MsP

Lav

Bounce I so know and feel what you mean when you say the stress is what did this I feel exactly the same way. My life is full of it. And the worst is I tend to take things too much to heart. My 34 yr old brothers passing away in a very painful way. My older brothers marital issues as well his legal issues. My fathers sudden heart complications and health problems along with teenage growing kids. Somehow Ive always lived a stressful life. And thats what this cancer has taught me to take things one day at a time and that I sometimes need to just destress and live for myself instead of always worrying about others. What use am I going to be as a mother if Im always sick.

Bluebird thank you soooo much for sharing that information. Shall definitely bring in that change into my life but i dont think that is 100 percent right either. A friend of mine is a vegetarian not a drinker not a smoker no history of cancer in her family either and she got cancer stage 3. My sister in law also is not a drinker not even socially and she had it too stage 3. I guess we should just try to live a healthy lifestyle and try to not have anything in extremes! And yes I definitely do plan to have one drink when Im done with rads I definitely deserve it and so do all of u!

denilynne

So I guess that means that a couple of beers this weekend are out for me :-*

cakes

My onc knows I love to have whine/wine time with my sister (once/wk). She told me to take B-complex if I continued to have my wine. I have a glass of white wine almost every night while making/eating dinner. Moderation is the key, although like MsP I have been know to rowdy once in a while. Like the night after I finished rads.

FierceBluebird

denilynne, I would say a couple of beers are within the normal allowance of social drinking occasionally. I just prefer not to chance drinking a glass of wine or beer too often. Especially because I want a big glass of wine! (counts as two!)

I used to love a cold beer in the summer or a glass of wine in winter. Not everyday, but often enough! I plan to only occasionally drink socially from now on.

But everyone is different and so is the cancer. There are healthy-vegan-skinny-athlet- tea-totalers who get cancer as well. We all just try to do what we can in moderation. Except for chocolate. Moderation and chocolate do not belong together in the same sentence. ;- )

Gracers55

hello all,

Finished crappy chemo 9/13 and have ongoing Herceptin until May. Finished RT 12 of 20 today and am trying to continue to hang tough. I'm sure you all know that continuing to stay positive is exhausting. And then we are told that a positive attitude will help with survival. Double burden in my mind. I want my life back but it will never be the same. Best to you all.

Gracers

swellrider

Well I start on Monday. I don't get to be part of the new study so will have to on my back. Does anyone out there have large breasts that were radiated while on their back? I can't quite figure out how they can be so accurate when they are working with something so jelly like and floppy. It definitely does not sit evenly and in the same place each time. I have already had my planning session and they just let it flop to the side. Anyone out there with some experience?

Annie54

swellrider,

I just finished rads yesterday. I'm large breasted and laid on my back during the rads. What I experienced is that the machine radiated my breast in sections....mine was in thirds. I could see the lights on my breast (from reflection in machine) as it whirled and saw that the upper third was first, then the light field would lower and the middle portion was zapped and then the lower third of my breast was done. The machine would then move overhead and point the beam and radiate the other side of the breast. As the days go on, you see how specific the radiation field is by the area of the skin that becomes pink. I had a straight line of color across the top of my breast.

As has been said before, the areas that can have problems in large breasted women is the fold under the breast, and under the arm. I did get VERY red in these areas but fortunately did not have any skin breakdown. As soon as the whole breast rads ended and the boosts began, the pink went away rapidly and the skin became tan. At my simulation they had me lay on my back to make sure my breast lifted enough to expose the fold or crease under the breast - otherwise I was told they would radiate me on my stomach with the breast hanging down.

Good luck!

Annie