How long after surgery do they do radiation?

Sarah_R

I was just diagnosed w stage 1 invasive ductal in one breast and lcis in the other and I am hearing surgery and radiation are my likely path but have another week before I see the surgeon... I am so desperate for any info to start having a life and some path I can plan even though I know everything can keep changing -- but it will make me feel sane to at least think I can plan the next few months... so -- does anyone know -- how soon after surgery do they begin radiation? Ian it right away? Is there some waiting period ? Help me pretend I can control my future !!

MinusTwo

Sarah - please go to My Profile and enter your diagnosis. Then you can enter your treatment plan when you have it. And once you have that, it truly will be easier. Also it will help if you pick a thread and keep posting on one. That way we will know your entire story without having to go back & read previous posts on other threads.

Maybe you'll have chemo before rads? Especially if you're HER2+? Maybe the path reports will indicate chemo after surgery? Otherwise, no my BS wouldn't let me start rads until my wounds had healed. I'd guess a minimum of 2 months. But every doc is different. Make an appointment with radiation oncologist now and pick his/her brain. And if chemo is indicated, make an appointment with an MO too. This can all be done before surgery, although the final treatment may need some tweaks.

dcdrogers

@Sarah - here's my general timeline.

• Nov 15th - diagnosed IDC Stage 2b, grade 3
• Dec 15th - Start chemo (TCHP) 1 of 6 treatments
• Mar 30th - Finish chemo 6 of 6 treatments
• May 4th - Surgery (BMX) - Surgery should have been 4 weeks after chemo, but since I was having immediate reconstruction it took an additional week before both the BS and the PS schedules were able to sync up together.

• June 1st - Radiologist Consultation - Will have 3 fields radiated. Supraclavicular; Axilla; Chest Wall

• June 8th - Rads Simulation (Mapping etc..)
• June 14th - Start radiation treatment 1 of 25 - I was originally scheduled to start rad treatments on Jun 12th, but for personal reasons started on Jun 14th. This worked out great as it gave me a few extra days to do some gentle stretches on the side to be radiated and work through a little tenderness I still had after surgery.

~Dee

gb2115

I went from surgery to rads and they give you time to heal a little... I think standard is about a month but I have heard of a 3 week lapse, and I read research that up to 12 weeks is not ideal but ok. I think I started at the 7 week mark. I was worried it would get delayed because I had a large hematoma and the dermatitis from hell, but I only had a 4 day delay due a broken machine right before the weekend. all's well that ends well.

Sorry you are here...you will feel more settled once you have a treatment plan. Sometimes it takes them awhile to figure out what that is. Hang in there!