MARCH 2010 Rads Group

Sugar-

I can't compare radiation fatigue to chemo fatigue, since I did not have chemo, but mine was(and still is) much like yours. My treatments were at 4 in the afternoon, and by about 5:30, a wave of intense tiredness would wash over me. It's not unpleasant, it just IS. I've been sleeping like a rock for the first time in years. 

I finished my treatments yesterday, and the doctor told me I should feel better and better every day from now on.

Mary

Hi ladies.

First of all glad  my Slam Dunk has caught on! Its what got me through~ that and a great Rads team. Two weeks post RADS and just starting to see the burn heal up but still dealing with fatigue and pain but back in the game. Saw Onc today and all moving forward so hang in there ladies there is a life after RADS but be prepared it will take a while for the SE's to subside as all is cumulative. hugs to all.

Heh Mary. I wont beat around the bush here. They did get worse for about 10 days and then all started to settle down. Burn got intensive and so was the interior pain where surgery was but tolerable . So remember to give yourself some extra time once it is all over. Be kind to youselves for a bit longer!

SLAM DUNKED #21 today and dr. changed my boosts from 8 to 5, so that means just 9 more treatments left!!!

Wanted to respond to those who were asking about the "wave of tiredness" as I call it. What you wrote is almost exactly what I started feeling at ~ treatment 14, a sort of wooziness that felt better if I could close my eyes but wouldn't describe it as exhaustion; was worried that it would get worse (both more frequent and more powerful) but it has stayed pretty much the same and I feel it late in the day and evening. So hang in there, it's manageable and doesn't mean you'll get worse, just the same hopefully.

Monday after Easter/treatment #20 brought on the redness (like a nice red sunburn over entire zap area, definitely not the kind of thing that I'd choose to go back out into the sun and get more of) and was pretty worried heading into today's #21 that I was going to be really raw, but am happy to report that am going to bed tonight no redder than last night. Keeping fingers crossed that these last 4 regular treatments won't cook me like a lobster. Asked techs if they ever stop before full course and they said they usually just plow through, so I anticipate whether I'm cookin' or not this week, I'll just take it on the chin (actually left boob) and be happy to head into the boost-phase.

Good luck everyone. Friday is almost here and that means no rads weekend!!!!

HI ALL

I had my # ? zap today i think it would be  around 9  i just love the slam dunk part of it all, Ive been a bit slack in my visits here as Ive found another love, and that is taking up a lot of my time its jigsaw puzzles I'm addicted to them   . My boob is still sore on the inner part and I'm going a pinkish colour ,guess its a bit early so ill cross my fingers i dont burn to much , keep the hard slam dunks up ladies and take care

JOJO

Irishmom,
I think you have the right to feel this way, especially it came as a surprise. They should have known that the construction was coming and discussed with you the alternatives, in advance.

To share with all:
Yesterday I asked the doctor why all the documents I read say that we should not put on lotion 4 hours before radiation. He corrected me: "SIX hours!" He explained that if you have lotion on your breast, the x-rays will go to the skin instead of going to inside the breat. So be aware, the lotion might cause burns if used within 6 hours.

Hi to all my Rad buddies,

speaking of tiredness, had zap no.9 at midday today and for the past hour (it's 4pm here) have felt a wave of tiredness.  It's a bit like feeling dizzy too and like that feeling you get when that first glass of wine hits your brain (I wish!).  Don't know if this is just a coincidence or if it's the rad tiredness kicking in Also have little raised areas like prickly heat rash over my boob. 

#13 down - just over half way there.  And feeling the woozies too - I'm too a bit too swollen and tender to run, so I went to the gym on Monday.  Thought I might fall off the exercise bike.  It's a bummer to hear that the SE's take a while to go away -- I've put off a couple of work travel trips until just after I finish rads.  The first one starts about 5 days after.  I can't really imagine sitting on an airplane with a sore, burning boob.  May have to figure out how to finagle out of that one.   The doctor certainly made it sound like this would be easy and shouldn't impact my work.  I'm only half way there, and I don't thik that's going to be the case.

Congratulations on finishing, Mary!  I was sitting waiting for my session this morning and I heard the techs telling the guy before be that he's done, and not to come back!  I was so envious.

I'm hoping 3monstmama has found it with the baked goods and dark chocolate.  I'm going to try that one - to heck with this mid-morning carrot snack and off to the pastries.  If nothing else, after all this zapping, I deserve it.

Done with # 12...not too many SE. Feeling somewhat tired in the evening. I get a little dizzy also but my blood pressure was very low yesterday. It's normally low but the nurse said it was very low. Lots of salty chips will help

I'm so excited to share with you that I am just 2 zaps away from finishing!!! 

Yes that's right - today was #26 out of 28!!

Yesterday they told me that they were not going to do my collar bone and neck anymore just front and back from now on!!!  It went much faster today!

I'm still quite red and burnt around the collar bone, under my arm and the top of my ribs but it's bearable as long as I keep putting lotion on it!

The techs warned me today to use the cortisone sparingly - I've only used it a couple of times when the redness/itching was really bad.  So I'll try to perservere with the Lubriderm and the Glaxal Base (got it at Cosco on Tuesday).

I'm feeling woozy too - like 1 glass of wine too many kind of feeling - it's worse in the late afternoon and just before I go to bed.

Speaking of which I am going to bed earlier and I'm taking my RX muscle relaxant every night. 

Hugs to all!

Marie

Cortisone can definitely make its own set of problems.  My stepdaughter had to use it for extreme exema as a kid when she was still growing and was left with what are basically stretch marks.  My husband's recollection is that it made the skin thinner.  Not sure if growing skin and healing skin are the same but seems like some of the same processes would be involved.

Marie: I didn't realize we are on the same schedule. I had #32 out of 33 today, so tomorrow is my last one. It will be kind of strange not to have to rush out of the house each morning for treatment. I was fortunate in that I had minimal skin reaction. My breast did turn pink and the area above and below the fold is darker, but no peeling yet. The nurse did say I might have some flakiness still in the next two weeks. They also warned that the tiredness may get a bit worse for the next week or so before it gets better.

MaryNY and Marie,

Hey no need to deprive yourself of the fun of racing out of the house every morning. Feel free to keep it up with the rest of us!

No treatment yet today---I'm on my new schedule with the lunchtime visit to Zapland.  We will see how my hill climb plan actually works. My office is between 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from my treatment site and the daily walk is going to be my exercise.

The goal is to come out of rads having lost weight and launched an exercise routine before entering the Wonderful World of Tamoxifen. I told the ZapDoctor on Tuesday that I was going to walk up to treatment and he said "there's a bus," and I said "but its part of my daily exercise to avoid fatigue" and he repeated "there's a bus."  I am begining to suspect he doesn't think much of my plan. 

In planning my walking schedule, my theory is that if it has been taking me 12 minutes to walk down from ZapLand then it should be 24 minutes to walk up, right?

Unless of course, I have been a bit too liberal in my daily applications of theraputic chocolates and baed goods in which case I may have to grab the bus halfway up the hill in order to ward off heart failure. . . .

By the way, I find that I am pink this morning.  I was a bad bad ZapPatient and stayed up late watching the PBS show on the Buddha.  Wish I had realized last night that the show will repeat Sunday afternoon at a reasonable 1pm.  Oh well, it will be a good test of my theory because there is no reason not to go to bed extra early tonight.

Andrea I am now going to read your post and think of the topless lady lying in bed......lol

Today was #15, so far so good.....no real SE yet but one thing I did notice was that yesterday when I was done and riding home I had this lump in my throat and I thought I was going to lose it and it lasted for 3 hours....same thing today but not as bad as yesterday....odd huh?  This cannot be a SE of the rads could it?