Severe radiation burns to the breast

I also had severe radiation burns - I ended up having to go into specialized Wound Care.  They suggested 4 weeks of Hyperbariac Oxygen Chamber treatment.  It wasn't too bad, just boring.  You have to lay in the Oxygen Chamber for about 4 hours a day every weekday.  You can't take anything in with you, so I would bring a DVD & watch a movie each day.  My breast tissue was still very slow to heal, but it finally did.  The up side to the Oxygen Therapy is the rest of your skin looks flawless.  So ask your Radiation Oncologist about Wound Care - The specialized care is worth it. - Hope this helps & good luck.

I am almost healed and my burn was on the lower part of my breast, about 6 o'clock, which is a hard place to protect.  Here's what I've been doing.

My rad. onc. told me to use a "Domeboro" soak 3 -4 times a day to sooth and cleanse the area followed by Silver Sulfadiazine.  I mix the Domeboro solution (purchased over the counter at Walgreens) with water, soak sterile gauze and apply to the wound for 15-30 minutes, then carefully dry the area with a cool breeze from a fan or blow dryer on cool setting.   I then use Silver Sulfadiazine applied thinly with a sterile method (q-tip) to the exposed wound only.  I cover this area with Telfa - a non-adherent dressing given to me by my radiation oncologist, this is the same stuff that is in the middle of a bandaid but comes in large strips that you can cut to a size to fit your wound.  The last few days I have taken a break from the soaks and cream but continue to cover it with the Telfa and it is almost as good as new.  It is quite surprising how quickly your skin can recover from radiation burns.  Also, my doc suggested I go bra-less and expose the site to air as often as I could but due to the area, I never could.

I hope you heal quickly!

Cathy

the silvadene cream will prevent infection.  cleanse the area gently with normal saline (Domboro is okay but can be drying and prevent new cell growth)you can buy at the store.  you can just blot/wipe gently, do not try and scrape off anything as there are new skin cells forming. Hair dryer on cool setting is a great way to dry like cathy said. apply thin layer of silvadene cream ( this is what is used for burn units) and just cover with the telfa ( brand name) but a non adhering bandage. you could use paper tape to hold in place if unable to wear a bra.  If it starts looking really yucky show your doctor/nurse but the cream is an antimicrobial burn cream. Unless you are having lots of drainage you should not have to change more than 1x/day. the less you bother "the wound", your burn, the more chance new cells have to form.  Hope that helps 

Meridith, I also used the saline to clean mine.  I used a sterile spray bottle and sprayed it on the burned area.  Didn't have to touch it that way.

Hi, Everyone!

So glad to find practical down to earth sharings here.  In 2003 I had radiation to left breast.  Astonishingly, I had very mild reaction - almost negligible.  Astonishingly, because I usually react to everything.  I attributed a lot of healing to fellow patients who early on urged me: no bras, cut-off T-shirts, aloe.  I remember the doctor giving me samples of Aquaphor.  I also remember the doctor taking the position "Don't worry about it.  We have medicine to take care of reactions should they occur."  Again, I still attribute the PRE-symptom approach of fellow patients to my recovery.  No more symptoms for years.

JUMP TO early July 2009 (maybe it was late June).

I had been going to dermatologist for rash of unknown origin which basically was not on my breast.  My breast started to itch.  Still unknown origin.  One morning before work I happened to see a shadow which I thought was a growth.  As it happened overnight, I thought: Wow! What else grows that fast but cancer.  Please understand I could not really see much as it was on the underside of my breast.  My surgical oncologist squeezed me in.

In fact the dark shadow growth turned out to be a blister sac (I think the term is bulbous).  It was about as big as a June Pea (vegetable).  Things were definitely in the mystery mode.  Shortly, adjacent blistering cycles started.  I had an MRI on July 30 with negative results.  On August 28, I had a surgical biopsy with negative cancer.  My wonderful surgical oncologist referred me to the wound specialist in surgical oncology. 

By today, the wound specialist appointment day, the blisters were very aggressive and mostly bloody raw as a lot sloughed off in the shower this morning and I could see definite changes going on below the skin where previous blisters had been and new skin was.

Because of the location and the fact that I had pulled out my old well worn = soft T-shirts from radiology days, I have had almost no pain. The wound specialist confirmed that I was experiencing radiation burn which undoubtedly had been going on all these years but surfaced now for whatever reason.  I immediately thought again of the victims of the atom bomb.

I have been prescribed 1% silver sulfaiazine cream and Telfa pads (2x day) discussed in this thread.  I was  also informed that if I did not respond sufficiently, I would probably have the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber treatment - another: "Wow! Like the divers."

So thanks for describing the boring time I might have to spend in the chamber That it might be for weeks was a surprise as during my appointment those things were left until that bridge needed to be crossed. Of course I looked up the chamber stuff on the Internet this evening but didn't get the helpful first hand experiential details shared here.

It was all your sharing and my fellow radiology patients' sharing that prompted me to enter this group and share what's going on with me.  No one said anything about my changing from soap and water to saline which I will definitely do thanks to you folks.

To get a better idea of what a large part of my breast looks like, feel free to do GOOGLE searches (as I did so often).  If folks want to save time, let me know and I will do a post at another time listing some of the more graphic URLs I found helpful.

 I thought for sure I had cancer as the similarity was so close to pictures of untreated breast cancer and of Paget's Disease.  After cancer was ruled out, I found bulbous similarities with pictures of a family of dermatilogical stuff with the acronyms EB and EBA and even ended up wondering if I had Impetigo.  (The blistering has been decidedly more aggressive and with a more "serious" look since the biopsy.)  These were on my list which I took to today's session and of which I was immediately assured were not the case.

Hope these sharings help others.  Good night! I have to get up early for work tomorrow

~  ~    ~  ~  ~

Dear Angel, Thanks for replying.  I agree: this developmnet is shocking!  I am also seeing it is also simply the way things are, that is, the way I am at this time.  Actually, what I have been but not knowing.  Quite frankly I think your mention of subsequent cancers caused by radiation are probably something that will surface with more collection of data.

I did not interpret your post as ranting and return your <<gentle hug>>, Angel, as well as passing mine to all our sisters.

UPDATE:  Now that I know that the proliferation of blisters and their many stages and sizes are symptoms of  vast numbers of tissues of all sorts damaged within long ago by radiation such that they and whatever normal tissues remain have been struggling for oxygen "to the point of desperation/survival" - basically due to the fact that damaged tissues whose job it is to carry or in some way faciliate the presence of oxygen, I am in awe that I am actually watching what is going on. 

Even as I type here, with my breast exposed to air and in the space of a relatively short period of time I sometimes see eruptions of new blisters and great expansion (filling of fluid) of others.  It is also something like watching water simmering and boiling.  It is me simmering and boiling!  It is so many of us simmering and boiling!

As I am experiencing some mild itching in areas of my breast not having blisters and as I notice with greater clarity a whiter color of my nipple area  (which I interpret as having been there but not so noticeable from day one of radiation), I anticipate blisters are "on their way" to surfacing in these areas.  Thanks to the info posted in this thread, I am placing the silver sulferdiazine (SSD) over these areas as well.

I look forward to my next visit with the wound specialist as I definitely want to hear how it is that actual healing takes place.  Do you or anyone know if the SSD is some kind of oxygen producer making it a helpful aid, a barometer for consideration of the oxygen chamber? Or is its basic benefit pain relief or ???? 

I am assuming that the Hyperbaric oxygen chamber infuses an overload of oxygen that revives/enables tissues to do what it is that they normally do which includes reproducing and functioning in a normal manner because of normal oxygen, actually super normal levels.  Considering that almost the entire breast is apparently severely damaged I am astounded that massive turn around would be a possibility. 

Anyone else care to comment/correct my thinking?

I am also thinking that a mastectomy may be proposed. But I am also aware that late radiation burn has only relatively lately become a more significant focus of concern in the medical/scientific community and finding out what will be happening is a collective effort such that a mastectomy would probably be a last resort.

Thanks, again, Angel! 

Hi everyone. I've done 29 sessions of radiation and I only have 4 days to go. I've been on break for a week now to let my skin heal up a bit before I get the last boost. Its super red, itchy, weeping, a couple of blister andd peeling.  I was using a lotion called SBS that the nurse said was the only thing I could use. Now that my skin is severely burned I'm using the Silver Sulfadizine and domeboro soaks - each 4x a day. It really doesn't feel likes its helping after a week of doing this faithfully. I'm curious that some of you said the silver lotion is only to be applied to the open sore spots and thinly. I've been applying it all over, like the SBS, and thickly. So, thanks for the tips. I'm wondering if anyone else was ordered to use the SBS and if possibly the SBS made things worse? ALso, does anyone else have to take prescription pain meds for the stinging and burning? Is this normal??

My breast didnt really burn but my underarm did, very badly, i had to lay off radiation for 2 full weeks, using silvadeen, did help it a lot, but the skin is still gone.  Luckily I am still numb from surgery so I didnt have much pain.  I dont know if the skin will ever come back.  It looks pretty bad.  And I can believe someone had a dr that didnt tell them not to use soap.  Unbelievable.  Someone needs to make a list of the DONTS so people know about it before treatments.

Hello again, Everyone!

I don't know how to just jump in so I'm replying to my own last entry for the sake of linking.

Recall:  I had radiation of LB back in 2003 with minimal side effects but am now having severe blistering "out of the blue".  The blistering prompted a recent LB MRI and LB Biopsy, both of which were negative for cancer. Please refer to my previous entries.

When I returned to the wound specialist, I was told my blistering breast was not acting like late radiation burn.  I did not get an explanation at the time but my treatment was changed from SSD 1% to betamethasone dipropionate oinment USP 0.05% and jellied gauze and was directed to return in two weeks after seeing my dermatologist.

As things turned out, my dermatologist couldn't see me until Oct 5, the day before my scheduled return to the wound specialist!  Therefore, I am doubly glad I took it upon myself to begin taking digital pictures so that there are some photos before the biopsy of August 28 as well as after.  The pictures include some big and really big bullous type of blisters - which eventually broke. I surely hope my dermatogist is able to familiarize herself with all this stuff before my appointment. 

Fortunately, I had a previously scheduled appointment this week with my surgical oncologist on Oct 1.  I had already dropped off some of the photos for him as well as bringing more to the appointment.  As the aggressive blistering has moved more into what looks like raw sores he had a quick private conference with some colleages who agreed that while the 2003 radiation may have predisposed me to whatever is going on, they did not think this is radiation burn as such and look forward to hearing the input from the dermatologist.  My surgical oncologist explained that with radiation burn (late?) they would have expected to see basically dead looking skin, including maybe yellow green awful looking stuff.   Basically, I guess yucky dead stuff as opposed to the red raw flesh and blistering so evident.

I have not been instructed to do soakings as some of you have found so helpful.  I also shudder to think I might have to take off work just to see if soaking and ??? might help.  However, if I am asked to take off a period of time, I realize I must. 

Well, GUESS WHAT?  I am not completely ruling out late radiation burn based on all the sharings I have read here.  I now realize I must also leave myself open to some kind of skin thing (??exotic skin disease??).  This is quite the adventure in more ways than one.

SOAP:  Thanks to your sharings, here, I inquired of the wound specialist about saline as an alternative.  I got the impression the staff was still comfortable with soap but acquiesed to my opting for saline.  Is there a soap someone has found appropriate?

The fact that what I have appears strange to medical staff is confusing for me as what many of you have shared in terms of raw flesh and slow hearing sounds so similar to my condition.  Lest I give an incorrect impression of competency, my medical center is part of a university with a plethora of respected medical departments. 

I'm looking forward to any input you may have and will be checking in after my appointments of Oct 5 & 6.

By the way, do try to see/rent the movie, "Julie and Julia".  Meryl Streep was her outstanding self.  The audience laughed throughout and clapped at the end!

MOIST SKIN DESQUAMATION Guess what!  + Question

I found a picture of what a lot of my breast looks like now (As far as the bullous blisters: they broke of their own weight but a lot of very small blisters amid raw areas are evident.  Maybe the gel gauze is keeping down the large blister activity.).  Anyway, the picture focuses on moist skin desquamation.  The picture happens to be of moist skin desquamation caused by radiation of anal cancer.  Here is the picture's URL

 http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://faculty.washington.edu/tquang/detach-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://faculty.washington.edu/tquang/medpicgal.html&usg=__Nbxh7sQD2OjSM-SYKlAVVAcNpAE=&h=480&w=640&sz=40&hl=en&start=73&um=1&tbnid=NirpWTAmaYmH3M:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlate%2Bradiation%2Bpictures%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D72%26um%3D1 

Subsequently I did GOOGLE search for moist skin desquamation and suggest you try the same.

???? Is anyone familiar with moist wound healing technique using

vigilon, C.R. Bard, Inc., Murray Hill, N.J.

Successful results using vigilon were described in the following URL from that GOOGLE search

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8343554

I will be seeing my dermatologist this afternoon and the wound specialist tomorrow afternoon.  Rare disease and/or late radiation effects ......

Any other input is also welcome.  THANKS and >>hugs<< to all.

Jaquedjones - It is  a sunny fall mid-Monday where I am.  Sorry your center was closed.

Hope y  u were able to get some first hand help by  now.

RCindy here's hoping my visit to my wound specialist will help both of us in this area.  In the meantime, I hope you will get a chance to look at my posting as I remember I have at least one URL regarding hydrogel dressings.

Have you been given jellied (petroleum saturated) gauze?  Another question I will be asking is how to keep the jellied gauze moist.

Hi Cindy --

 I did not burn, but i did get an allergy-plus-infection that led to a lot of sloughed skin. (Because there were allergies involved, i was not about to put on any creams until i figured out what i was reacting to.)

My radiologist recommended TELFA pads -- they are non-stick. *Really* nonstick, not just claiming it!  They made a huge difference -- much less painful than regular gauze pads, because they did not disturb the wound when i took them off. Don't use tape on or near the irradiated skin -- just lay them on. (I used tape onc, on an area i thought was outside the rads field. It wasn't. More TELFA pads ...

Also, you don't have to buy TELFA brand -- the store brand right next to them is just as good and half the price...

My prayers to all.  I happened across this site googling Silvadene ointment (my mom has radiation burns from colo-rectal radiotherapy.  My suggestion to all is if you are experiencing any blisters, rash, burning or itching after starting any of the ointments recommended:  Goggle it.

There are pharmeceutical sites that will give you more info than you want with their use of unintepreted medical terms.  But much of it is easy enough to understand and the rashes, blisters and burning were possible side effects, from my reading between the lines, due to an allergic reaction.  Some sites suggested contacting doctor as soon as possible to get something different, maybe non-sulfa, and stopping use if reaction very bad (I think skin starting to blister and fall off might qualify.)  Long term use of Silvadene or the other sulfa ointment was not recommended, reactions occured more often (though not usual) when large areas of skin were covered.

Google it.  If medicaid does not cover it, try A&D ointment after saline wash as suggested by others.  Smaller breaks in skin are usually like breaks in a baby's bottom with bad diaper wash.  Wash very gently and well with cool water and apply ointment gently.  If very bad, use zinc ointment which is cheap and found in any drugstore and is anti-bacterial.

Blessings on all of you who share.  It is uplifting and helpful to anyone who follow the chain of emails.