September 2010 Rads

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Just finished my last full rad, 6 boosters & I am finished! I have been reading thru alot of the threads regarding skin & seems like everyones experience is so different, in my first week of rads I got a small infection on the side of the affected breast but with shots and strong antibiotics it left, thankfully! I experienced the small red itchy bumps but after using alot of aloe they were gone in a few days, trying not to scratch was horrible. Right now I have what looks like a minor sunburn but a bit sensitive in the arm pit area as I have never been burnt there. Hope fully I will not have any delayed skin reactions.

As for a small gift to myself I think I will do some shopping for a new outfit and an hour long massage! Hang in there girls we are heading for the finish line! Health & happiness to all of you wonderful, supportive ladies.

gin2ca:   My rad onc told me that I may experience a little roughness in my throat and a bit of a cough - I suspect they are radiating the same area on me as you are having.  I have just completed #15 - 10  more to go, and so far I have very little skin issues, and no cough.  I haven't noticed anything with the throat, but I do find myself a little thirstier than usual, so I just keep drinking more water.

It won't be long before we are on the other side of this - I have found that the last 3 or 4 weeks have gone by pretty fast.

Ok, after yesterday's treatment, I actually had some shooting pains above my mx scar and my underarm is definitely hurting. Luckily, the Rad Onc is going to see me today before my tx, so he must have suspected I'm getting close to needing a break after seeing me on Monday. The lanacane is helping both pain and itchiness to some degree. Miffed- my Walgreens and CVS only have 2 x 2 hydrogel sheets. I was told to go to a medical supply store if I needed bigger ones. I think I would need at least 4 x 4 to begin covering my sore area. I'll have to find one today. Like I have time to drag a$$ all over town. I think the pharmacy should have these behind the counter or something.

Got my 21st tx today and had measurements done for the boosts. They say the lead shield should be ready tomorrow so they'll see if the fit is correct. If everything goes as planned I'll start boots a week from tomorrow and be done on Nov. 5th. This rads stuff seems so sci-fi to me. Can't see it, can't touch it, just know it's there zapping me and turning my surgery scars dark.

 Have had shooting pains in my breast now for a couple of weeks. Starting to see eruptions on my skin in the chest area and have a terrible hacking cough with congestion that could be rads tx related. Am being radiated on the right side and the inflammation and wheezing is on the right, too. Am on inhalers to stop the wheezing and a ton of other meds to suppress the cough and mucous. ARNP prescribed meds and RO is following closely. Rapid pulse and heart murmur have him on alert, but his thought is that some of the heart stuff could be related to the Herceptin. Heck, isn't there any part of this cancer tx that's going to be easy? Something? Anything? Seems like everything is a big ordeal and gets bigger.

MelBel-Wow- way to go!!!! I am so glad your tunnel has seen the light.   Good luck with your new healthy life.  It will seem odd to not have to go for some sort of treament or Dr's appt for a little while after spending all these months in the trenches of BC tx. 

Well, I have to see the Rad Onc again in the morning because my skin is really really red and has a rash and looks very angry and now is starting to get painful. 

Bon,  My throat is not just scratchy anymore it is painful and I now have the cough and my nose is running off and on.  This whole thing stinks.  I am trying so hard to be almost normal but these things won't let me.   I keep praying my skin will hold up but it doesn't look like it will.  Hope your Dr's can help your throat and cough and mitral valve and all the other annoying treatment comps you are having.  I actually don't feel all that bad so far but I am afraid it is coming.  I am still working 5 days a week and keeping up pretty well but don't know if that will continue.  I am just taking it one day at a time and doing what I can.

Well, time for some shuteye because last night I had a very restless night after recieving word from a 1st cousin that she was just diagnosed with Stage 3 BC also.  Boy that bites the big one.  I would not wish this mess on my worst enemy but I have told her that she will have any and all support she wants from me.  I am going to recommend that she try these boards.  She has no parents or siblings living but has a daughter and son but they don't live near her.  She lost her mother last year but does have a loving supportive hubby. 

I'm done too.  Yay!!  They have a bell just outside the treatment rooms where you can 'ring out' of the program when you're done.  I didn't.  I just wanted to quietly slip back into my life and, frankly, get the heck out of there.  I told the rad assistants - you guys are great, but, no offense, I hope to never see you again professionally! They agreed.  One rad assistant came and found me while I was changing and gave me a hug and wished me well.  Who needs bells and whistles? 

Par-ty!!!!! 

MelBel and Swiftbird--yaaaayyyyy!!  Congrats ladies on finishing.  Doesn't it feel GREAT not having to make that trek every day!  Heal up, and onward in good health now.  

ginca, hoping you get some good news from your RO this morning and can continue on with this.  What a shame about your cousin though!!   You sure will be able to help her walk through this.  Do you have a strong family history of BC?

Bon...you are almost there now.  The finish line is in sight!  I so know what you mean about this all feeling a little sci-fi.  That machine itself makes no noise, although some noise came from a corner of the room.  It just silently does its stuff, but you see the effects develop slowly and surely. My left breast has gotten quite a tan.  Hope your meds are doing their trick and you are feeling some better.  From that standpoint, it is good that you are there every day so they can keep an eye on you and your progress!

A quiet machine? Mine makes a deep rumbling sound when on and then adds a high-pitched whine when it's sending out radiation. Also, the lights flash before it starts radiating. The techs said that was to warn anyone still in the room who shouldn't be there. It's fairly new equipment in a large private hospital.

I have 7 more then 8 boosts. I am fair skinned and signficantly sunburned, including under my arm. I've been using aloe and Eucerin from the beginning; now I'm putting cornstarch under my arm and under my breast, hoping to avoid blisters. I had rads 21 years ago on the other breast and had a problem with blisters; my Rad Onc said that blisters are from rubbing.

I've realized that when someone is looking for a good Radiation Oncologist,  the area to focus on is how detail oriented he/she is and I would (if I could do it over again) ask patients of this doctor how throughly he/she checks them when they are lined up on the machine.

 This week I started my boosts. On monday I was set up and the doctor came in to check the set up that he was approving for the rest of the week. He looked at me, asked who my surgeon was, and commented that he really did a lot of cutting. I was puzzled because my surgeon was very precise and an excellent surgeon. When I finished and saw myself in the dressing room, I saw the area that they drew on it. IT WAS HUGE, STARTED JUST OUTSIDE OF MY TUMOR CAVITY AND CONTINUED BEYOND MY BREAST BONE. I went to talk to the doctor and he said I'd have to talk with the physicist as well. To make a long story less long, he totally messed up on the planning AND even with the bad plan I was lined up about an inch off of the plan to make it further away from the tumor cavity. I came back later to talk with him after he reviewed it and he once again blamed his bad plan on my susrgeon because he said the surgeon put little metal markers in which he was following and a wire over my scar and he accidentlly followed the wire so his plan was just too long. This wasn't at all true becaue his plan didn't even go near the cavity, my surgeon did NOT put metal markers in (some do), and the cavity is easy to see on the computer. So, he revised my plan and my husband (a doctor) went with me the next day and we spoke to the doctor who was covering for mine as well as the physicist. This doctor was so nice, didn't make any excuses for what happened, and helped us go over the plan with the physicist. My husband asked the physicist to come in for the set up. The doctor checked the set up and made little changes and was so careful. On wednesday another doctor was there and she also was so careful, touched me to feel the cavity.... (My husband told them he wants the doctor to check me every day as well as the physicist). Today my doctor will be there. I'm worried that I might jump off the table and strangle him. I didn't know doctors touch and look and make adjustmenets to the set up. DO YOUR DOCTORS MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE SET UP AND LOOK THROUGLY??? If my doctor just glances at me today, I'm going to say something.

Hi!

I so hope JanetfromPgh is doing OK.

Hi Ladies,  Thanks so much for all the best wishes. 

I have to admit, and I guess act as cautionary (hey, I'm trying to keep it real) -- even after my last boost (which was tuesday), the skin that was affected by the total treatment broke last weekend (NICE... errrr, I mean, gross...) and the boost area skin is starting to break today.  My boob is HOT.  I wish I meant that in a sexytime way, but alas, it's just hot, and burnt.  But it doesn't HURT, which it did last weekend, so I can't complain too bad -- just have to find clothes that fit over my inches of padding!!! But I never had to take anything stronger than advil, so I am not complaining too hard.  It's all worth it.

Woohoo!!! 

Yay sespebadger!!  Welcome to the well done crowd.  I am SO glad you made it through!  What is it with the thumbs?  I've had it too, just one thumb and not all the time, but when it hurts, that joint really hurts and it just started within the past two weeks.

swiftbird...your skin story sounds positively icky.  People have used the word break before, but I'm not quite sure how it breaks...as in a split, or??  Sorry you've had issues with that--I'd have trouble dealing with it.     Let the healing begin.

dutchgirl are you in Bermuda now?  (I saw someone else mention Bermuda but had missed your telling about going.)  Love love love that island!!  My husband works for a hotel company and early on in his career (with Sonesta at that time) he had the opportunity to work at their hotel in Bermuda and grrrr...turned it down because the hotel was not "big enough".  That's been at least 30 years ago and I have yet to forgive him.    Enjoy yourself...what a gorgeous place!

Everyone should be getting close now--hope you all are doing OK!

Hi!

Finally, done with 23 full and 7 boost treatments.   November 2, follow-up visit with radiation oncologist.   Nap time.

How are boosts different for you? Next week, my Rad Onc is going to mark me for the boosts, which begin a week from Monday. I asked a lot of questions and got few answers. He said it could be a different type of ray; could be from a different direction, different length and intensity. They (I presume he and the physicist) will work that out after the marking. Does anyone have details? I didn't even know there were different kinds of rays (from the same machine).