July 2009 rads group
Comments
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I finished rads almost 2 weeks ago. Now I have a red, itchy area on my back ... .is that an "exit" burn?
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Ask you dr for a preseciption for Atarex ( not sure about spelling) it is normally used for allergic itching reaction, but after only 14 treatments my skin is red and itchy. Dont want to scratch it so I took an atarex and WOW stopped itching within 5-10 minutes. Will definitely keep it on hand.
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My radiation MD and others I have spoken with who have done rads actually say that the two weeks after rads can be the worse for some people. They say at around day 15 you should feel 50% better....I sure hope so...5 more left to go for me:)
Re "exit burn", my MD checks my back every week for any reddness and that is the term she uses.
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Today was my last boost - I am done!!! YA!! Skin has started to heal other than where i was getting my boosts.
Helen - I have a burned spot on my back as well - upper portion - - i had positive nodes and that was within one of my fields - the machine would zap me from below - so in my case it was entry. Ask your doc to check and whatever you've been using for skincare, make sure to get your back well greased up as well.
Thanks to everyone on this board for helping me keep my sanity!
Love & Light to all~
Andie -
Annette-
Thank you for posting your situation all those weeks ago. That kept me sane knowing I was not alone. I would be happy to share about the tests I went through and what they did find. You can contact me at campingmom02@yahoo.com if I can help you with more detailed information.
Today was my first day with no rads and I hit the fan early in afternoon and had to leave work to come home and sleep- that has NEVER happened. Others seem to be experiencing that too!
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Hi All! Three more boosts to go! This Thursday will be IT! Then, Friday and Saturday is my birthday! So glad I'll be done with rads before my birthday - what a great present! I'm starting to heal and am beginning to get some energy back. Taking it one day at a time. Hang in there Ladies!
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Survivorsal- I finished rads 2 days before my 44th B day. It was an awesome celebration! I wish you the same!
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Happy Birthday Suvivorsal and LoriL!!
The skin breakdown underneath my breast is finally showing signs of healing. It's still a bit sore but nothing like it was. Thanks Becky ... for all of your advice and support. Hope you're having fun on vacation!I am back to work full-time this week. Wow! I am so profoundly exhausted that I just make it home and crash. Last night I ate a bowl of cereal and went to bed. Too tired to do anything else. I've also decided to ditch the caps and wig. Putting that wig on almost makes me ill. Brings back the whole chemo thing and it is very hot ... especially in this weather. I have about 3/4" of hair. I wish there was more. Can't wait to be able to put some product in it to give it a little "style". But this is the new me. No pretending ... take it or leave it!!!
Hugs to all!
Nancy -
Wooooo Hooooo.....look at me doing the dance of joy! I am done. Donuts for everyone at the center. We all cried....I didnt think I would be so emotional. Even though I have herceptin until next March I feel that I have made it. Thank you ladies for being there for me. I cant tell you what this dialogue with all of you has done to keep me going. BTW....hubby is back to work without pain and a full court schedule to keep him on his toes. Nancy.....I too am ditching the wig( or hairy hat as I told my grandkids) Leah.....thank you for taking the time to start this group.
Hugs and Kisses to you all.
Deb
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HURRAY I am done! Underneath the breast still very sore but not quite as raw, starting to peel by the fold on the top of the breast but not nearly as sore as the bottom, hopefully the cortisone will help and will be feeling better in a littel bit. Does anyone have any input on about how long before you can wear a bra again, I am a size D and and tolerate a front hook over a tee for about 30 minutes, it is hard to get much done when you gotta hang on with 1 hand!! Congrats to all who are done today it a a great feeling, also got good news yesterday the lumps on the thyroid are not cancer they want to monitor cuz not sure why so many but sometimes it happens and it is functioning right. Will enjoy the next few days with no 3.5 hours RT drive plus the treatment time!!!
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carollynn79. great to hear nodes on thyroid not cancer. I was to have PET scan tomorrow to check nodes on thyroid and 4 small nodules in right lung. Insurance is refusing, so it has been cancelled for now. They say a PET scan is experimental. Dr is calling tomorrow to see if he can get it approved. If not they will go thru an appeals process. In meantime is just wait not knowing what these all are. I am really tired of doc, insurance, tests, rads, chemo and anything else that has gone along with bc. I finshed 23 of 37 rads today. 2 more reg to go and then boosts start next Monday for 3 weeks. Will be glad to have them over. But until we know about this other cannot think I am done. Hugs to all. Annette
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NanA I am sorry to hear about the insurance issue, I had 2 fine needle biopsy's of the thyroid they checked 2 of 5 nodules. I know what you mean about not knowing I want to go see my boys out in Vegas and Albuquerque but could not make plans until I knew what was up with the thyroid it was a 6 week wait for testing, appointments etc but it was like a weight lifted once I knew. Will keep you in my thoughts and hope all gets tested and comes baack negative. To me the unknown is the worst.
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carollyn - I'm also a D and I wore a bra through the whole thing because I worked. (Finished last week YAY!) I would think you could wear one as soon as it feels comfortable to you.
I wore a Moving Comfort brand sports bra with a wide band, so it didn't put pressure on the "underwire" area. It came with underwires but I took them out. It has kind of big formed cups, so it didn't create pressure the way some of them can. I also got a couple of packs of men's undershirts and cut about 8-10 inches off the bottom, so it would be kind of like a tube top. Then I would turn that piece inside out and put it on under the bra so the bra wouldn't rub against my skin. I just saw the same bra in a catalog recently - I can try to look it up if you're interested.
I also got a bra at Whole Foods of all places just last week, for wearing around the house. It's stretchy cotton and has a wide, fabric covered band and is kind of a crossover style. I am loving it because again it doesn't put any pressure on.
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Eileen45, Thanks for the ideas, right now I am raw and peeling quite a bit under the breast but it is healing, I tried a front closure on top of a tee shirt rolled as you suggested, could wear it for about an hour, sure it will get better soon is much improved from the weekend already!
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Last rads for Annabelle tomorrow, 9/2. We're done!
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Yea for Annabelle, Dutch hope she is feeling well, if not tell her to hang in there it heals fast at least I am.
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Not much posting on here lately. Friday is my last day, but kind of hard to get excited. Had a bronchoscopy on Monday to look at 4 nodules on lung. Won't have answer until Tuesday, so the end of rads might not be the end. I am trying to stay positive but being tired all the time and burns that are ozing make being up a little difficult. If lung is OK then all that is left is herceptin every 3 weeks until March. I have a prescription for Femara I will be starting next week after rads and tests are over. I did not want any SE's interfering with anything. I have an ortho visit tomorrow and a visit to the thyroid surgeon Monday and Pulmonary doc for results on Tuesday. Bad knee for ortho check, thyroid had nodules but just goiter and one radiologist labeled as b9 and suggested watching for a year. PCP wanted thyroid surgeons opinion on the year wait. I am sure getting tired to trips to the clinic every day. Praying that Tuesday comes out good and we will be seeing the end. Annette
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It's been a LONG time since I've posted on this thread. I found rads to be the most difficult and distressing treatment. I don't know how I would have gotten through it without all of you. Just going through it with others helped me. I needed to be off this thread for a while to heal emotionally from the rads. It took me a while to realize it - I would skip posts and tell myself I'd get to it "later" etc.
Congratulations to all who finished!
Annette, I'm glad you'll be done soon and can get on to the next stage of your treatment. I'm hoping for b9 results of your lung nodules. I hope your skin heals quickly. Mine looks fine but still itches a bit.
This weekend is Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year. I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a good and sweet year, and may G-d bless us all with a year of good health.
Leah
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Hello guys! Congrats to you finishing up and the ones with a while to go...Hang in there. It really does end. I'm 3 weeks out of radiation and was never so happy in my life ( other than when chemo ended ) My burn actually got worse about 2 days AFTER I finished up and then a few days later started healing. At least the raw blistery part. I still itched for quite a while but I'm feeling very little effects now. My underarm has lost a lot of the soreness as well from my surgery on May 11th. That's been a slow process. The swelling in my arm is just now starting to go down a lot. My Dr. wants me to wait until my body has had a chance to heal more before I have reconstruction, so I've decided to wait until after the 1st of the year. I have started my Arimedex and will be having 2 scans a year now. I had a scan last Friday and praying it is clear. Had a bone scan and ab scan 6 weeks ago and they were fine. God is good to me.
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Last Rad was today.!!!!!!! Waiting for results of lung biopsy. If those results are good I am done everything but Herceptin which I will do every 3 weeks until March. I am praying for good results.
Annette
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Yea Annette, I too have thyroid nodules, had biopsies on 2 of 5 nodules, one rather large, they were B9, have to have another ultrasound end of January, BS said he will check when I see him every 3 months too. My burns healed quickly but was very sore for a week or so, still itchy but all else is well. I struggled thru rads amd was very glad when it was done. I still have trouble sleeping finally gave in and am taking ambien, it really helps, Rads doc thinks it is the tamox not the rads that is keeping me up now. I am only 5 months into this journey and very tired of all teh doc appointments, gyno, endo, rads onc, med onc, surgeon, I am grateful for their great care but it is a long drive, 80 miles to see my docs, lover the rural life but have sometimes...., now we hit a deer and have to get the car repaired oh well no one hurt!!
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carollynn79 - I have been in that position in the past as far as having to drive a long way for docs. For 17 years we lived on a tree nursery 10 miles from a small town, but 60 to the nearest specialists of any kind. Our son broke his ankle in a jet ski accident and had to go to Springfield or Peoria for treatment of it once they got it stable in the local ER. When our son was in high school one of his friends hit a deer his first night out with the family car after he got his drivers license. Our other son hit a deer this last year with his minivan. His whole family was in the van but no one was hurt except the deer. The joys of rural living. Our older son works for Del Monte getting farmers to raise green beans for them. so he will always be working in rural areas. I am appreciating the fact that in 2001 we moved to just outside Champaign, IL and it takes me 15 minutes to get to the clinic where I see all of these docs and I have seen lots of them . PCP is local and the onc, rads, ortho, BS, labs, x-ray, CT, MRI, echocardiogram, pulmonary, etc are just the 15 minutes. When you have 37 rads that is a good thing. The onc gave me some oxcycodone for pain and it makes me drowsy, so I have been taking it a bedtime if the burns are bothering me. They are blistered and oozing. The ones from the regular rads are healed already, this is just the area of the boosts and all the blisters seem to be around the incision. They are somewhat painful, if I move the wrong way. They told me to just keep using the biafine and by the time I go for my 2 week checkup they should be almost healed. I have a prescription for Femara the onc gave me last week but I have not taken any yet because I had the bronchoscopy this week and a visit to ortho about my knee and I did not want any new SE's changing anything for these visits. Ortho want to do a series of 5 injections into my knees to replace some of the fluid and cartiledge that has eroded away in my right knee. I think I am going to do it, but decided I wanted to wait until after the result of lung biopsy came back. It will be easier to make plans if every thing is OK., if not then we will be back seeing onc and what he thinks we need to do next. I don't know if the shots and chemo would mix well and you have to do the shots once a week for 5 weeks.So now it is just waiting. I will probably start the femara on Sunday night, so if I have any problems I can call first thing on Monday. I woke up after about 3 hours of sleep and can't get back to sleep right now, but I will probably be able to sleep again later. I have been going thru a little of the fatigue and if I sit down too long without doing anything but reading or watching TV I fall asleep. It's not as bad yet as it was after chemo. About 2 weeks after I was done with chemo I could not stay awake if I sat down, for about 4 days all I did was sleep. It wore off pretty much after the 4 days but it sure ruined the memorial day weekend in May. It is a good thing my husband is so helpful around the house. He has done most of the cooking and alot of the cleaning thru all of this. I have kept up with laundry and paying bills etc. He is retired but bakes as a hobby and takes bread and bagels to a big farmers market in Urbana every week. His bagels have gotten so popular the he takes about 45 dozen every week along with about 60 loaves of bread, so it has kind of turned into work instead of fun. I don't know if he will do it again next year. It runs thru the week before Christmas and then starts again the first week of May. Last year we did not get to do anything during the off time except surgeries and chemo. We are talking about a cruise in Jan or Feb if everything is OK on my tests. I think we may do one that goes from Florida to the panama canal. It goes into the lake in the middle of the canal and turns around and comes out the same way it went in. It stops at the virgin islands, aruba, costa rica, key west and a couple other places. It would be nice to get away from Illinois weather that time of the year. We are all praying for good results when I go in on Tuesday to see pulmonary doc. Hugs Annette
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Annette my youngest son lived in champigne for a littel while so have been ther twice, it is a nice area, we went to a winery over by the Andersons. He now lives in Vegas so have to flt instrad of enjoying the nice drive! My family is looking at a cruise in March it leaves Miami and goes to Grand Cayman, anotehr island, Belize and Cozemel, my DH is not sure he wants to go my sisters, Mom, nieces, sister in law and one brother so far is going. My DH had a lot of trouble with the boat ride when we went on a Hawaiin cruise and not sure he wants to go again. My family does not get to see alot of each other so we are excited, all 3 of us sisters together for 1 week will be great, hope Mom can stand us good thing we are not all staying in the same room again!!! Get away wil be great. My Onc had me using Dromboro soaks and gave me a steroid pack that really helped me heal fast they call it the wonder drug but not everyone can take it, for me with my arthritis and other joint pain it was great, had to check with a few docs to see if they felt any surgery would be needed in next 3 months or so but once had the didn't see it I took it. I had a hip replacement Oct 08 so it has been a very long year as far as medical. I am feeling better starting to walk a few days a week back to work and busy in the yard and garden so really hope you get feeling better soon, I found that I could not use any creams ont he burn they made it worse but did not have the one you mention. Hang in there in a short time you will be feeling better. Gotta go time to get going I am canning salsa today! Hope all goes good Tuesday, PM me with the news. I go see a new Gyno Monday have not seen one for years, last pelvic was almost 3 years ago, had a uterine ultrasound and it found some small issues but now with tamox have to be more careful with the fibriod tumors always had the blood work and Mammo but doc kept changing and last two said didn't need it every year so said great, now the surgeon says I reccomend so and so I will make you an appointment soo now I will go more often I am certain! I really like my surgeon and he is very big on follow-up and checking especailly with my onco score and possible tamox side effects.
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Great results on the lung biopsy , no cancer in biopsy or in the lung washing. Rads done last Friday. I can see the end. Herceptin until next march. A few follow-up tests. Echocardiogram every 3 months on herceptin and another CT scan in 3 months, and a breathing test every 6 weeks while on herceptin, pumonary doc thinks it might be affecting the lining of my lungs and wants to check and make sure tests every 6 weeks stay the same as the baseline one I did today. It was easy. No problem doing that every 6 weeks. It feels wonderful to consider myself cancer free. This is really the first time I have been able to feel that way. Hugs to all. Annette
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Annette, that's great news! Congratulations on that and on FINISHING RADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also hadn't been to a gyno for a few years (do all post-menopausal women get so casual about this I wonder?) and can't go where I used to with my HMO. Went to someone new and was VERY favorably impressed. She was both sympathetic and extremely careful. My oinc had recommended that I have my ovaries out because not only does bc put me at a higher risk for ovarian ca, but my grandma died of ovarian ca and I have something called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which raises my risk even more. In addition to a regular pelvic exam plus pap, this new doc arranged the paperwork for the ooph and also ordered an ultrasound. She said that since I'm on tamox she wants to monitor the thickness of my uterine lining.We also talked about prophy mast on the other side and recon. She agrees that doing the ooph at the same time is a good idea, so for now the paperwork sits in my briefcase! Of course I mighht decide not to do the mast in which case just one easy surgery. By the way, did the ultrasound and all looks normal.
On the home front, this past weekend was our New Year holiday. My dd and her family came to us, and it was wonderful. We have a custom to eat apple dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet year, and we also dip our holiday bread (called challah) in honey. My 4 1/2 year old grandson loved that, as did his 1 1/2 year old sister. Her vocabulary is only about 20 words now, but one of them is "honey". This was the first time she'd had it (last year we didn't give it to her since honey is dangerous for babies under a year old) but boy did she learn fast. At breakfast one morning my grandson put pepper on his cornflakes just to see how it would taste. Wonder what kind of year THAT symbolizes! Grandchildren are the best!
Leah
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Annette! What great news!!!!! A big sigh of relief for you! Cancer free is a gift we all want!!! Congrats!
Leah! Happy Sweet New Year, I hope your sx will be covered in honey, What a great sentiment, for you and yours, the kids sound adorable!!! Enjoy! Love, Dawn
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Good news for several of this group. So glad that so many of you are doing well and making progress. I'm in the process of arranging a return to work .. but it's getting complicated. I also have found a llump on my arm - a couple of inches above my elbow. The family doc didn't know what it was and told me to ask the onc. The onc didn't know what it was - she thinks it's benign but told me to see the surgeon. So now I have an appointment with the surgeon in a few weeks. It's right under the skin - doesn't hurt - doesn't seem to be growing ..... guess there's always something and guess I'll always worry.
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Lena sounds like a great custom. I really liked my new Gyno she added Calcium with Vit D to my supplements and told me all felt good and she would see me back in a year, of course if the patholgy has any issues she will call but feeling positive, hip BC and lumps on thyroid are enough for one year!
Helen, hope your lump is B9, it is very scary when we find any lumps now.
Annette- Great news
I have a rash on my chest in between my breasts and a moving toward my radiated breast, anyone else with this problem after Rads, I am assuming that is what it is, does not itch a lot but some.
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Oh Annette I am so happy for your good news!
Leah- Happy New Year
I finished rads on 8/26 and went back to work on 8/31. It is so good to be back in the swing of things. I see the PS next week and can't wait to have the reconstruction surgery done.
Helen- I hope the lump is B9 too.
Carollynn I had a rash in between too, just keep lotioning up and it will slowly go away. All I have left now is a little peeling.
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Thanks Maureen
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