AUGUST 2009 RADS

Great, Cake, half way there!  I have to have 28 rads and 7 boosts, so i have four weeks left. 

Didn't know what a bc.org-ers was, but DUH, finally figured it out.  How to you find any?  Sounds like a great thing to do.

Alyad, congratulation on being finished.  Anti-inflammatory will help with the itching, I use Aleve, and it really has helped.

Its nice that you had ccbaby there when you got to ring the bell.

Congratulations Alyad!   We have a bell at ours too!  Do ALL the cancer centers have bells to ring, I wonder?

We had a bell in the chemo area and yes......I think I must have rang it at least 12 times.  There wasn't anybody sleeping at the time.

There is also a bell in the Rads department and I will be ringing that one also!  Whoever came up with that idea is brilliant!

Kawee - They use it as a celebration for completing your treatment.  The bells at the chemo and rads center hang on the wall and you get to ring it on the day of your last treatment.  Then everyone in the vicinity claps for you, etc.  It lets everyone know that you are finally done with your treatment and it does feel so great to be able to go up and ring the heck out of the bell.  Well.....at least I did.  I don't know if everyone rings it to the extent I did but it sure made me feel really good.

Congratulations to those of you finishing rads. and keep your chins up for those of you in the middle of rad. It will be over soon.  I finished on Aug 20th so its been a couple weeks. Im actually more tired now than I was while doing rads. My skin is slowing returning to normal. I have had lots of peeling. The huge square tan that I got from reg. rads is disappearing and the pink-redness has lightened so much from the boosts  after two weeks of  no radiation and the swelling has gone down tremendously to almost normal.  Please have faith that you will get thru it. I did.  Love you all.  PS. I am also suffering from sinus infection too. Made the whole weekend miserable.

Hi cakeisgreat,

Why not send the kids to the dentist with dad?  that might be more fun.....

Any way good luck today, what part of the world are you from. Maybe someone lives close by and can help.

kathy

Alyad- i forgot to mention.. i am having problem swollowing too. The doc prescribed an anti-inflamatory. hope that helps.  Though he keeps saying 'no' to anything stronger than aelo-vera cream.

6 more to go.  The last 5 will be 'boosts'.

Uma

Peg 119 - They told me it's quality control, to be sure you're being radiated in the same place, where it needs to be, all the time.

 Going into 4th week, gulp, we'll see what happens!

ikat...I laughed out loud when I read that they should go to the dentist.  That would end up being on America's funniest videos.  Oooh, I could be rich!

O3132W--I think there is something like that around here...I remember the "slam" day when I got all the news and information, and recall child care being in there.  But they go back to school tomorrow, and I'll do the rest of the rads when they're in school.  Thanks for the suggestion!  I'll keep it in mind if I need to get more treatment sometime (HOPEFULLY NOT!).

Definitely more sunburned and dry today.  I wish I could tan!

I'm a little slow about joining this thread--just finished 10/36 today.  Dr. says everything looks "fine," however, it's not his breast that is being baked.  Just hope the rads are doing what they're supposed to do.  There's a good article in yesterday's Time Magazine about treating the immune system as a new approach to cancer treatment.  Talks about chemo, rads, and now vaccines.  Hope it proves to be effective.

I loved going to the drum circle and meeting Alyad--I see they're starting one at my work place, too, so think I will check it out as well. 

And, I've run into CCBaby twice now--once in the rest room and today in the dressing room!  I didn't know about the bell--was there one in the infusion center, too?   

Take care Ladies.  Helen

I'd like to jump into this group since I'm also having rads throughout the month of September. I had #11 today and am now 1/3 through with the process.

I have just started getting a little redness, oddly enough it seemed to occur directly after today's session (either that or I'm just not that observant). My Rad Onc gave me several small tubes of Aquafor and said a "little goes a long way." She said that the 2 tiny tubes could probably last through the remainder of the rads.  I find that if I put in on while damp it seems to work pretty well. (It actually makes a pretty nice handcream.)

Q - Does anyone still have a Seroma, and if so have you been told that you will probably need an additional Sim?  Also, I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but  I don't really understand the bra thing. I have been wearing my regular bra which is not an underwire but should I expect to have a problem with it.