Breast changes 7 months after radiation

DaniLind

I've noticed since I finished radiation say at 6 months that my breast gets swollen by the end of the day in one area & the hair follicles are enlarged. I have seen 5 doctors & they all say 100 percent post radiation changes, not to worry. Just did one year mammo and ultrasound and all good.Of course I thought cancer bc when you google anything with large pores it immediately brings you there, but they say absolutely just from radiation. Massage, cold compresses...Does anyone else have anything like this?

redhead403

I'm just a month out of radiation. Waiting for the color to fade. I do have something to say about my RO and Surgeon. They left a lot out in their preoperative teaching. And the radiation oncologist made me feel that I had to pull every answer out of her. Probably because radiation causes so much damage. If we knew how much, probably wouldn't have had radiation.

MomofGirls42

I’m just under 3 months done radiation but I definitely notice some swelling and discomfort in my treated breast- and probably is a little more pronounced at the end of the day. I just saw my nurse practitioner last week and she said that’s completely normal and from the radiation. Glad you got a clear mammogram - mine is booked for the end of April and I’m praying for a good result 😊

Spoonie77

Have you been evaluated for Breast Lymphedema? It enlarges pores & is swollen & painful. I would look into being evaluated by a certified Lymphedema PT.

I'm 18 months nearly since RADs finished. It took about 12 months or so for my breast tissue to normalize. I was dxd with Breast Lymphedema during RADs. Its managed but most doctors are not aware that Breast LE can happen without arm involvement.

Wishing you luck & healing.

Spoonie77

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/common-questions-about-breast-related-lymphedema#section-5

MinusTwo

Radiation damages muscles, nerves, etc. and according to my RO - that is permanent. She encouraged me to stretch EVERY day or the damaged area would continue to pull back - like a rubber band. My RO is also the one who did the preliminary diagnosis & sent me to a lymphadema PT.

Attached is a link with good info about lymphadema and how to find a trained, certified therapist.

Lady-Bug-4-Me

My surgery was 11 months ago plus ended radiation 9 months ago and some days I feel like I have an infection in my breast it is so sore and hot and I can put an ice cub on it and doesn't faze it and doesn't feel cold to my breast when on it? Some days just feels bruised and always has the feeling of an orange peel instead of a breast in spots when I rub my had across the skin, my nipple also if it purks turns the color of yellow sand.

I had a new mammo in November of same year and says no cancer and also have talked to cancer doctor etc which they say these things happen after radiation so I just try to massage it when it starts hurting too much and that seems to help but doesn't stop it ever totally.

I also had the back of my arm on the side of the surgery go totally numb (caused from limf nodes taken out) after surgery and just now recently the feeling is coming back more a little each week and I have been messaging it alot and think that was what brought it back? So hoping this will also help the breast stop with so much pain but? It wasn't numb like the arm just doesn't feel cold at all ever! The doctor said sometimes the body will re-align itself to help things go back to feeling better and sometimes it doesn't so just hope for the best.

DaniLind

thank you so much for the reply!!! Helps so much.

Lovetoberestored

Hello, new to this conversation. I just finished my 4 weeks of radiation almost a week ago. Has anyone had pokey pain in the breast? Mine is overall uncomfortable but these shooting pokes of pain seem to be getting worse. I try to massage but not sure if it’s helping or making it worse. I’m reading more of ladies having issues even moths after the radiation and that’s so discouraging and my RO never mentioned that before the surgery..

Chick-a-dee

Hello - I have triple negative breast cancer and will be finishing chemo therapy and advance of surgery in the next couple of weeks. Trying to make a decision between having a lump back to me and radiation or mastectomy and reconstruction. Has anyone else made t That’s sort of choice? I will be meeting with our radiologist oncologist as part of my decision process. Any advice is welcome.

Thank you so much

Floral

I can only say what I did. I had a bilateral for estrogen+ BC in my left breast. I do not have BC in my family and tested negative for any of the genes they tested for. Nevertheless, I opted for total removal. I didn't want to have to worry about the other breast and didn't want to go through the whole mammography thing ever again. I have dense breasts and I have a feeling that my existing cancer had been there for awhile before they were able to see it.

If I had triple negative I would absolutely have the bmx, but that's me. I had no problem with surgery or recovery. The worst thing was the drain in the cancer side, but it had nothing to do with the cancer. I also had radiation which I had no effects from whatsoever until the last week of five weeks when I had some skin breakdown that healed quickly after the radiation stopped.

I agonized a bit over implants versus flat with prosthesises (SP?). It came down to me trying to guess which would annoy me least, because I was hearing things I didn't like about both of them. I decided that, knowing myself, the better gamble would be the implants. I have had the expanders now for four months and will probably have them until the fall due to my plastic surgeon wanting the tissue to settle down from the radiation before he does the exchange. So far I have no real complaints about the expanders and I'm hoping the real implants will be the same. My thinking was when I made the decision that if the implants are a disaster I can always go flat if need be, but I'm not sure you can go the other way.

Good luck and good health.

Zadiegirl

so glad I found this post. I'm 2 months post radiation and have the enlarged pores. Google always points to IBC. I was starting to get really scared.