January 2010 Rads Start

Golden Eyes; I had rads to the spine, but the thoracic and lumbar spine, not the cervical spine. The cervical spine is the only part of my spine without cancer, so far anyway.

The worst side effects I had were with my stomach, because part of it was in the radiation field. I am still suffering reflux and heartburn from it, but my stomach was sensitive to begin with, and I've had reflux issues in the past which I have been on medication for the past few years.

I wish you all the best, and hope you can get through this with a minimum of side effects.

Congratulations to kim09, daylilyfan, JulieCA, and gogo_xago's mom for completing rads!!!

Forgot to tell y'all this.

Nurse case manager says rads beams intersect in the armpit...that's why it is common to have a burn spot there.....

so extra goop for the pit!!!!

BOW WOW

Greetings to all,

Congrats to all who've completed tx and are healing well!  And best wishes to all who are beginning their rads journey...don't be alartmed by my whining in the next paragraphs as everyone's experience is so different and all in all it's not been that bad.  Most people tell me I l "look good...considering" whatever that means.  So..on to the whining part..

Been nursing my increasing SEs since I finished on Monday....chest area between breasts is red, raw and itching.  Armpit was irritated but plenty of RadiaPlex has kept the SEs at bay in that area.  The chest area is bad and under-breast seems to be increasing. 

So it seems time during the tx's was the easy part....these afterward SEs are the yuck part.  It's been 8 days since last full tx so right on rad onc's schedule.  Not sure if there's more to come or if it's now going to taper off.  We shall see.  Good thing I bought those really soft special bras...they are all I can wear these days. 

Still at the office (now that I don't have to race out at 2:30 everyday) but going home to nurse myself.  Good night all. 

eclectic_art Jan25/2010 No No 28/7

Well I am officially done.  Had to postpone yesterday because of the snow.  It is going to seem strange to stay at work for a full eight hours tomorrow.  I haven't worked a full day since before Thanksgiving.  What with being off December for surgery and starting the rads the same day I went back to work.

sophie we are right on track together....watch out for the underboob!

I am definately feeling more like myself   woof!

CookieGal and Sophie,

Q's...what  "special soft bras" did you get? Did you have to go braless at any point due to discomfort? I understand a snug, soft T-shirt to prevent skin/skin contact is helpful. I start this Monday...looking back, would you have used/not used any particular products/methods etc? I am looking forward to the 6 oz of wine per night  

Thanks in advance, ladies! All of the posts here have been a huge comfort to me! Wishing you all welllllll!

Thanks so much, Juanelle!

Congrats on passing the 1/2 way point!

Did you buy the T-shirts larger or snug?

Best,

Dawn

Hey Quarter405...I start 2/15 also...quite a few of us it looks like. I have been bouncing between each thread so we can all support each other through this. Wishing you the best!

Good morning! Two weeks and one day since end of rads, I think I'm out of the SE's "danger zone". My skin is red/tan, not much change. No peeling. No itching. I've been fortunate not to have the burning and peeling that some of you have experienced. My rads nurse had said to apply creams for 14 days afterwards, but I'm going to continue another two weeks, keeping the boob lubed. I wore a real bra yesterday for the first time in....a month?..... and it didn't irritate the delicate skin under my breast. So far so good. The fatigue is still there, but much better than last week: now in the morning, I feel like I only had two shots of tequila, instead of the fatigue last week when it felt like I closed the bar down... 

A high-five to kmf for finishing rads today!

Congrats to all of you who have finished and to those whose SEs have now subsided.

Just reporting in- I've finished 5 out of 10 boosts. Next week is the home stretch. My skin was pinkish/red, especially in the pit area and like others have reported, the skin changes didn't really show up until three to four days after I was done with the full breast rad. On the mend now...just tan, no peeling. Fatigue is mild.

Off for lucky number 13 today!  Happy weekend to all.  I know we all look forward to the short 2 day break we get from rads!

Question about the boost treatments---

I had a mastectomy and next Thursday I start the last 5 of my 33 radiation treatments. The doctor calls these five "boosts" to the scar area.  He said that scar tissue has the least blood flow and therefore needs additional radiation to make sure it gets equivocal oxidative treatment to the cells.  I have been getting 4 fields of radiation each time so far, covering a roughly rectangular area of my chest from the arm pit to sternum and above the collar bone down about 6 inches.. 

Will they use another blocking plate for the boosts that is narrowly cut to only allow the radiation to reach the scar line? About how wide will the slit be in the plate.?  I haven't burned badly yet and this boost business has me concerned about burning the scar.

bird