Radiation September 2018

NJmom2boys

Hi Everyone,

I finished my last treatment this past Tuesday. Skin did great and overall I barreled through the radiation as if if were on a mission. No tears. Tough.

So....here comes the part I wasn't expecting. Anxiety about something bad happening. So any pain I feel, not breast related, it could be anything, I think I have the worst thing. I google my symptom and think I am done for. Is this normal? I am thinking that it is because in my brain I think if I got breast cancer, I can get anything. Anyone else feeling this way?

I do hope you are all doing well with your treatments!

NJ

Anonymous

LIFE1963, I will let you know what my oncologist says. I won't be seeing her for a month.

NJmom2boys, Congratulations of you last treatment too.

Counting the days until Friday, when I take my first hormone pill. I'm no doubt over hyperventilating, but I'm scared of having an ever lesser quality of life.

egregious

Hey NJmom2boys, good news that you have finished your treatments! It makes sense to be wary, because something terrible has already happened. But I think this will fade pretty soon.

duffyzmom

NJmom - not unusual at all to have that worry. It probably is some form of PTSD. In many cancer groups there is a term Scanxiety for the fear

grandmaadams

NJmom - I don't think your anxiety is unusual. The first person I reached out to after diagnosis was my sister-in-law who is a nurse and a breast cancer survivor. She has walked this path with several of her family members, our mother-in-law and now me. She has been a blessing. We had long talks about what would happen, when, etc. She told me that for a long time after her treatments were over, every little twitch or twinge scared her ... what if it's cancer ... The anxiety will fade with time but being on alert with changes in your body is not a bad thing either. Congrats on finishing. Today I have rad treatment #7 out of 21 ... marking the days off on my calender. Good luck to you.

odat4me

Tomorrow is my last radiation treatment. Realized why I enjoyed just having that to focus on for 8 weeks, I could put off all the other troubles and just focus on radiation everyday. I did drop off divorce paperwork to my lawyer today as I intended to leave my verbally abuse spouse prior to getting breast cancer. Now I am ready to start living again even if that is hard too.

Anonymous

I start Anastrozole tomorrow. Is there a best time to take the pill, in the mornings or evenings? I do know you're supposed to take it the same time of day. Thanks!

LIFE1963

Viewfinder I take mine at night right before I go to bed. I chose that time because I brush my teeth and I take my pill and if I go to bed at 9 I take it at 9 if I go to bed at midnight I take it at midnight and so on.

Keep in mind when I first started taking the pill I did have side effects headache, joint pain and insomnia. However the headaches are gone, the joint pain isn't as bad, however I have noticed when it's cooler out I do tend to experience it more but I'm also doing radiation right now so that could be part of the problem. The insomnia, that could be the anxiety I'm going through right now and not the pill.

Huggs

Anonymous

LIFE1963, does Anastrozole cause insomnia? By taking it at night, does it help avoid insomnia?

I already suffer from terrible insomnia. Go to bed, wake up two a.m. or later, and am awake for a couple of hours before falling back to sleep.

Because of the many possible side effects, including possible severe allergic reactions, I'm wondering if I should take it in the morning (I live with my daughter who can observe me but may not be able to hear anything at night). I don't mean to sound paranoid but my concerns are based on years of having negative side effects to many medicines.

I've been invited out for lunch today so will probably start tomorrow.

HoldingOn52

Viewfinder, I've been taking my anastrazole in the morning. I also suffer from chronic insomnia, but I've not found the insomnia to be any worse than before I started the drug. I've been it for almost two months.

LIFE1963

Viewfinder -

no I don't think it's the Anastrozole that's causing the insomnia. What I'm going through is all fall asleep and then wake up in pain and then I can't get back to sleep. I don't think the pain is from the Anastrozole though I'm going to radiation right now and my arm is pissed off! LOL and I have a bad knee from many years of volleyball that's not happy right now either. I feel once I get through all this radiation and start healing from this years events I can start working out again some and my muscle and joint pain I won't be so bad. Also hopping h it is going to bring in some of my anxiety levels down as well. So no I don't think it's anastrozole. The one thing I have noticed but I had it during chemo to is super duper dry skin!

Anonymous

It's been two weeks since my radiation treatments (16) ended and my burn marks are just starting to fade. Does anyone know how long it takes for them to completely fade?

LIFE1963, Thanks so much for the information. I wish you continued improvement from the SE.

odat4me

I am one week out and I notice a big difference in the redness. It’s funny how I have a lot of little dots. I heard from some people at the Livestrong program at our YMCA that it took a couple of months. I think it depends on how well your skin handled. I feel like my affected breast feels less firm very mushy

flag6818

I'm a little more than two weeks out from rads. Breast is no longer pink, but slightly tanner than other breast. It's also a little perkier than the other side!

How is everyone who's on tamoxifen doing? I'm suffering some side effects: night sweats occasionally, sore joints, and seem to have a little anxiety (not sure if that last one is the meds or just everything from the last 5 months).

odat4me

I am not doing the Tamoxifen. They have me on Lupron shot once a month and daily Fumera. I think because I am 48 and close to menopause they think it is best to get me on a post menopause regimen. Maybe because I had cancer before. I have a follow up appointment with oncologist Thursday. So far no side affects. Boy does it hurt where they gave me the shot though! Glad to hear you are doing okay flag. Hope the side affects calm down. I do Yoga it really helps with anxiety

Anonymous

My last radiation was three weeks ago. Just the past few days, the color of the radiation burn went from a dark tan to light tan. Like odat4me, I have a lot of little dots. What used to be my nipple is very dark brown.

I decided to take Anastrazole in the evenings because my insomnia, when I finally fall asleep after sitting up for hours, causes me to sleep late several times a week. I've been told to take the medicine about the same time each day, so evening works best for me.

Whome08

My last rad was 9/26. I healed well and the discoloration is starting to disappear. Recovering from my total knee replacement. The past few months have been a challenge. I am tired, but it's hard to say if it's due to radiation or surgery, physical therapy or all of the above. Moving onto follow-up visits with BS and getting new images in January.

Thank you for all the support from all the wonderful members of this site. Looking forward to the end of 2018.

Anonymous

How long after radiation treatment do you still apply moisturizer? My burns have diasppeared, though the area looks like suntan.

duffyzmom

Update with a new development. I finished radiation Oct 3, 2018.

I had implants that were sub muscular silicone and 2.5 years old when I had radiation this fall. In January I noticed a lump in the radiated breast. Following an US and Breast MRI it has been determined the implant has ruptured. Better outcome than a recurrence of the BC but am not looking forward to another surgery. I'm scheduled to see my PS this week and scheduled for an implant exchange surgery at the end of the month. I'm sure we'll never know if the radiation is what caused the rupture but I assume it played a role.

Domzie30218

Ok ladies, I am freaking out. I am about four months out after finishing rads and found that there are some hard areas around my nipples.  I had nipple sparing double mastectomy and reconstruction on both breasts.  I just saw my medical oncologist in mid-January and everything looked good then.  I honestly don't know if these lumps have always been there and now just realized that my self-exam always revolves feeling around the perimeter of my boobs and not directly on the nipples.  I scheduled an appointment for her to check it out tomorrow but my goodness.  This fear is crippling.   There are hard spots on both breasts around the same area, right above the nipple.  I'm praying to God it is just scar tissue.  This is just such a sobering reminder that this is my new normal.