December 2009 Rads Group

Dianne - I had my surgery on 10/29/09 and just saw my Rads onc last Weds for my first appt/eval and simulation & tattoos.  I am waiting right now on a phone call to start the actual treatments.  It's been about 6 wks for me. So I don't think that 8 wks is to long.  You will be o.k.

So Many Women - Thanks for the information on the Calendula cream.  My Rads onc gave me Remedy by Medline.  I was told to apply it 2 times a day at least and to use the cornstarch you cook with under my breast and arm to help keep the area dry after the treatments and as needed over the Remedy.  If anyone is interested in this cream/lotion you can buy it online in a large pump gallon size bottle from Walgreens for about 25.00.  It have Olivamine in it and other things like leaf oil and canola oil than help heal and protect the skin.  It is used in nursing homes to help heal skin. (Google it).  It seems to be very good.  I am already using it.  I also have a question about the Tom's of Maine Deodorant?  Do you use it on the side that you are getting radiation on also?

Pill - That is too funny about the Christmas card your friend sent.  LOL!!! I love it.  My friends are not quite that funny.  

Here's to hoping that I get to start on my 38 + treatments this week and get some behind me ASAP!!! Ready for this journey to be started... the sooner it is the sooner it will be over with.  :=)

Renee

Yesterday had my verification and first treatment, and today was my first regular 8am treatment. 28 to go (5 are Boost).  My skin got pink and sore after the first treatment. The dr didn't believe me at first, I think, but then he said Hm... we'll have to watch that. I can't help but worry what will become of my skin if I'm having such a reaction to the first treatment. I am putting effort into trying to think positive. I CHOSE this because the alternative was mastectomy, and I did not want that. Breathe!!

Anyone else get pink immediately???

Bonnie

Hi All, I hope all those having treatment today had a trouble free session.

I also had my 6th session today (of 15). I have no redness yet. I was told not to expect any until around the 10th session. I already had some calendula cream in the house so I use that after treatment. I also sometimes use 100% aloe vera gel and at night I put on the aqueous cream they gave me. I was told that I would feel tired but it hasn't hit me yet. In fact the further out from chemo I get the more energy I seem to have. It will probably catch up with me eventually but until then I'll try to make the most of it.

Somanywomen - I did get a call from the rads office today and I was suppose to go in tomorrow at 11 for my first txt they told me it would last about 20-30 mins since it would be the first, and if I couldn't come at 11 tomorrow it would be Monday before I could start.  Then10 mins later they call me back and tell me the machine is broken from the storm we had last night and the circuit breakers are broke and if it can be fixed they won't know till about 10:30 tomorrow so they will have to call me back tomorrow and let me know if they can even get me in tomorrow.  They also told me they would work with me on a time to come in around my job.  Not!!! They have nothing open in the evenings they are booked, so, I get to go into work late and I have to be at the rads office every morning at 7:45 a.m. for my txts!! I am a little ticked off.  I am so not a morning person.  I usually leave my house going to work at 8:00 - 8:15 a.m. and get up at 7:00 a.m. now I have to get up every morn at 5:30 and leave my house at 7:15 a.m. to be there by 7:30 so I can be undressed and ready to go in at 7:45 a.m (I undress slowly and don't want to mess up clothes and hair for work).  :=(  I am already tired of rads and haven't even started.  I wish I had went to Birmingham where I had my surgery.

Renee

Indomitable1 - Thanks for the post!  I hate we are having scheduling issues... it really stinks or as I like to say... sucks donkeys!!! hahaha!!!!  I hope you get it all straightened out.  At least my boss it working with me and whatever I need to be off he has let me off with no questions asked and my staff that work for me have been great.  I couldn't ask for better ladies that work for me.  It is times like this that you really find out who your friends are.  I am liking the Remedy, the only thing I don't care for is that I put it on in the morning when I get out of the tub and let it dry on the bobbie while I'm doing my hair and it still feels a little moist when I put my bra on.  Even now my breast feels a little moist from the cream, but I have been putting it on there twice a day for the last week.  I didn't buy the mineral/salt deodorant but I did buy the Tom's of Maine Calendula all natural deo without aluminum which I think is o.k. though not approved by my RAD onc, he told me to use nothing but pure corn starch.  LOL... guess it won't hurt I don't think they know everything.

7th Rad today, different as usual lately, have an appt with Rad doc on Monday to try to get things clarified about the difference in treatment everyday....I feel like I have state of art rad technology without having state of art treatment!!!...

Bonnie, I still do not have redness, did they give you a sensable answer yet as to why you have burn on 1st day?

Dancing Deb8...This is a good place to find info and if you start on page 1 you will see how all of us are having different experiences...I am on 7th treatment with the "Trilogy Radiation System", it is quick and easy if they would just get my proceedure right!!....I have no burning and not tired, but I hear it is accumulative so it may not be until the last few weeks where I may have side effects... 

Hi, Hope everyone is ok. Im posting a quick update because I have to write cards out yet and Im waiting for a call.

Im at the end of my 2nd week of rads and Im starting to burn and the doc said its early to burn. I asked about cream again and they said NO, just take advil. Well I have IBprufin (spell?) for my back along w other back pain meds. . Im getting so mad. I feel like putting the cream on but they have 2 stickers with X's aside of my nipple and Im worried I will mess up the stickers.

Lastly, the cancer society contacted me about Relay for Life in May and June. I appreciate it, but I just want this overwith and do not want to go to cancer activities next year. Is that mean of me?. I will as always donate money for cancer research.

Thats it for me today. I long for the weekends so I dont have to go to the hospital. Sorry this is so short..

 Hugs to you all and I hope and pray your rads is going ok and you wont have many side effects ...Jules

Torona - That's really interesting about the red wine... Do you have to drink it before you have rads or can you drink it anytime of the day?  I am having radiation in the morning at 7:45 a.m. and don't think it would be a good idea to drink it that early before I go to work?  I could if I had to, but I wondered if what you had read showed it would do the same thing to drink it anytime of the day while you were doing rads.

Well today was my first treatment... Yeah!!! After all the waiting.  LOL!! They told me the first treatment would take longer because of the setup, about 20-30 mins.  Well wouldn't you know it the machine messed up and I ended up being there for about 1 1/2 hrs.  The actual txt time was like 5 mins.  I didn't hold my breath or anything.  The machine shot the beams from one side and then moved to the other side and did the same.  I have 4 ink dot tattoos and then they took a lime green paint pen and made a long mark on the inside of my right breast that is being irradiated about 1 in from my areola and told me it was some kind of field marking and not to wash it off let the water run over it and to put my cream on around it, not on it.  It really makes no sense to me why they put the tattoos on and then had to put a mark on my breast that I can't was off for the duration.  It really pissed me off!!! She also told me that I would be getting 28 round of radiation like I am getting now then they would use some kind of vice and squeeze the breast up from the chest wall and do 5 rounds just strictly to the breast tissue and then 5 or 6 boosts at the end to the incision site.  As for the treatment today I could feel a little burning in the sternum area after I got home but not really anywhere else.  That is usually the area that I burn the quickest in when in the tanning bed (I know it's not the same kind of burn).  The tech also told me she didn't think I would have any probs unless it was under my breast.  I've had two kids, gained some weight and where I use to be a B cup I am now a D so a little sagging with skin touching skin.  She said to make sure I use corn starch and keep it dry.  Told me to lie under the fan at home in the evenings.  I'm going to try it their way and if I start getting skin probs I'll change and do it my way. LOL!!! 

As for the cream my rads doc instructions were to start using the cream twice a day for at least 3 days before my treatments started then to use it at least twice a day or more if needed during radiation and apply the corn starch on top of it under my breast and under arm.   I was prescribed Remedy, it is hypoallergenic.  You can get it online in a large gallon pump bottle from Walgreens for 24.99 if you are interested in buying and using.  It is a moisturizer and has healing properites for the skin.  I don't think I would wait till my skin started to burn to get something to put on it.  The only thing I was told was not to put it on immediately before I go to radiation.  They told me if I get up at 5 and shower I can put it on but if I get up at 6 or 6;30 and come at 7:45 not to use it till after txt.  Good Luck. :=)

Mimi, the article about the red wine research that I read said to drink the wine the day before treatment.  Somanywomen is right about doing your own research, though.  I posted a web site on the first page of this thread as well as suggesting the google search.  I had been drinking 1 glass a day before bc for my heart and cholesterol, but haven't had any since Dx because of all the new studies suggesting more than 4 glasses per week puts women at higher risk for bc.  I am planning to drink 1 the night before all my rads though.  I'll drop back to 4/week after rads is over.  Sorry your wait was so long!  I thought I felt my breast/chest area stinging last night but the techs said I wouldn't feel anything until about week 5.  Thought is was my imagination!

Hi All. I had my 8th session today (of 15), so I am more than halfway there. I still do not have any redness or soreness. It is certainly strange the way our treatments and symptoms vary. With my fair skin I would have put money on me burning, and there is still time for it to happen.

I met a woman from New Zealand on another thread and while she was doing rads she was advised to drink a glass of wine every evening. She did still burn towards the end of treatment, but it might have been worse without the wine. At least it made her feel better. I would try this but I have lost my taste for alcohol since chemo and I can only manage a very small amount now, less than a glass :-(

The centre I go to for rads is all decorated for Christmas, with trees, tinsel and lights everywhere. It is also getting much quieter because fewer people are starting their treatment at this time. They say they are expecting to be very busy in January.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend with few side effects.

Jayne glad you aren't burning! 

I am going to get my hubby to buy me some red wine and I'm going to drink a glass every night and see if it works.  I don't like red wine... if I drink wine at all I like white, but I will try anything to decrease the burn.  I had # 2 today!  I have to say I cried before I went in and then again after I got to work.  The stress of all of it is finally catching up with me I guess.  I have noticed also that my underarm and the backside of my arm is bothering me again and it hasn't in a couple of weeks.  It seems to be really sore.  I am wondering if it's from the RADS since I'm not having my underarm irradiated or if it's from the position they are putting my arm in to do the radiation.  I am voting for the second.  I am having some burning inside my breast but no redness on the outside.  The burning sensation just comes and goes.  Are any of you experiencing that?

8th Rad yesterday and boy do I have questions for my Rad doc!!!!..I am almost 1/3rd the way through and she and the techs finally got together for the treatment that she had wanted my to have ( the tech told me yesterday that there had been a misunderstanding!!)..I knew something was not right and now I want Rad doc to explain to my husband and me every treatment from 1-8 as to where and how much rads were given and exactly what to expect for the rest of my treatment!!

I am not having any se's fo far except that the left back of my upper underarm the soft fatty part is extremely sensative....

Mimi, you can just take the "resveratrol supplement" if you do not want to drink wine....

Jules, thanks for birthday wish, but my son woke up to a $3200. dollar estimate to get his car fixed, (had stopped working completely day before) needs a new motor....he was in tears....Since he drives to college (about 45 minutes a day) it is extremely important that he has a reliable car, we had just put new tires on it....Now he must make a decision  to repair or replace (sounds like some of our decisions), he buses tables at a local restaurant and saves all his money and we were hoping this fund would give him a good head start when he finishes college, hate that he may have to use some of it for car repair or another car!!..At least he just has one final exam Mon and then not have to go until Jan 2010, also a good friend of mine is loaning him their extra car until he can figure out what to do....so it could be worse.....

Have a great "NO Rad" weekend everyone........

Mimi, my lumpectomy is on left about 2:oclock outer area (exactly where my underwire used to end, that's how I found the lump) and I had sentinal nodes taken right in middle of underarm shaving area...I too am not suppose to be irradiated there....But, as you can see in my posts, I really don't know where they are aiming...I wouldn't doubt that my toes are being irradiated and that they have missed my breast completely!...My toes are feeling a little wierd lately..LOL......

My underarm is bothering me ever since the mapping.  Very numb again (that feeling had subsided for awhile but now it's back.)

 I understand the tears completely! I fell apart during the mapping, and then again during my first tx of 25. 

I don't think I'm going to make it to the end. My resolve is just gone. I have been harboring this fantasy of telling everyone on Dec 31 - " that's IT. I'm starting the New Year fresh, no more rads, no more treatments....No new year deductibles and high bills!" (We have hit our max out of pocket for this year, so the rads treatments are not costing me out of pocket anymore, but beginning 2010, it starts over again...

Maybe I'll ask if we can increase the dose and accelerate the process so I can "officially" get it overwith before the turn of the year- instead of just quitting. 

Yes, it is all a bit overwhelming. I know, I know.... it's all downhill from here- having completed the chemo.  But, I am tired. Don't really think that it's the rads as I've only completed one week.
I, too, have a new discomfort in the underarm area but think it is related to the positioning. I don't have the "custom mold" so it takes about 10 mins to "get things lined up." More uncomfortable than the underarm is the backache (between the scapulae) I develop while lying on the table. I've been taking an occasional tylenol vs. ibuprofen.

I would have liked to have completed rads before  the New Year, too but had delay after delay. At least I've finally started. Good luck Pill in whatever you decide.

Will try to get the Remedy. Thanks for the info.