rads

tessadc · January 2010

Hi everyone. not sure what i'm doing, as i'm new here. it may seem weird, but this isn't actually about me. it's about my mum..i guess i'll just start at the beginning.

Around about April, May, my mum was diagnosed with breastcancer. She had found a lump and had been to the doctor's, but he said it was probably something harmless, but he wanted her to go for checkups at the hospital. A week later we got the results: my mum had breast cancer, and at that moment, the world, which then revolved around our family (being mum, dad and me), fell apart.

From then on mum had scans through her entire body, to see whether it had spread anywhere. They discovered infections in the lymfnode (not sure how to write that) and in the right breast. No more than 10 days later, mum started chemo.
She was to have 6 sets: the first 3 of one type, the last 3 of another, with 3 weeks break inbetween each time. Through the first set, she was very ill.. my dad and I felt so powerless.. With the second set, the thing she dreaded most: she lost her hair. This was so awful for her.. and again, we were powerless..

The next thing was surgery.. she was supposed to have a masectomy, but because the chemo had worked very well, this wasn't neccessary. The operation went well, and mum recovered brilliantly. Until they discovered that 10 out of 10 lymfnodes had been infected. More scans followed, and we had to make it through another week of stress. In the end this also turned out fine..

Mum is now having rads. She's much more tired that we expected, but still she's herself, always trying to help everyone including me with school.

how is everyone dealing with the rads? are you also very tired? I don't know whether there are many more questions to ask.. but any help or anything is very welcome.

christina58 · January 2010

Hi Tessadc, You are very strong to support your Mother through this. They found a lump in my Mothers breast, two months after I was d/x, and we had to wait two weeks for her to get add'l tests done. The worst two weeks of my life! The thought of my Mother having cancer was much worse than me knowing I did. I started rads in November of 35 treatments, of which I have 2 left, and yes I am tired all the time. It started around week 3, my treatments are first thing in the morning and by noon I need a nap...that's something I've never done. My doc told me it was normal since your body uses energy to heal, and it was good because your body recovers more during sleep. If she's having multiple areas done that might be a cause, my treatment plan includes 5. One more thing, my doc also told me that the fatigue sometimes lasts a few weeks after treatment is done. You have picked a good place to gather info, the ladies on this website are a great bunch and have helped me so much...Hugs to you and your parents! - C

mars79 · January 2010

My mom just finished her rad treatment and was not told that she would be fatigued. I can tell you that my mom is very fatigued and that her nurse finally on the last day told her to feel the full effects of the radiation in about another 1-2 months. Just let your mom know that it is a side effect. All medical treatments affect everyone differently! Remember be an advocate for your mom if you feel you're not getting enough information or disagree with something. In the U.S. insurance companies and doctors are not the best at offering alternative solutions or information. YOU have to speak up and do research! This forum seems to be a great place. good luck!

Leah_S · January 2010

The fatigue can be unbelievable.

As far as getting back to normal (whatever that is)I was told to expect 3-6 months after rads if there ws no chemo, 6-12 months if there was chemo. I had chemo and rads, finished mid-Aug. At the time I felt like I was at about 5% of "me". Now I feel like I'm at about 50%.

It's progress but I'm impatient.

Leah

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