January 2011 Rads

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  • Teklya
    Teklya Member Posts: 435
    edited January 2011

    Just returned from a celebratory supper with my sweetie.  We celebrated an anniversary on Friday and my birthday tomorrow. It was soooo nice to be dressed up, out and enjoy a nice meal and some wine and not think about appointments or cancer or rads, or boo boos.  There really is a great life after all of this!

    take good care and just breathe. . .

    teklya

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  • lrr4993
    lrr4993 Member Posts: 937
    edited January 2011

    Congrats Teklya! Three more weeks and hopefully I too can move on and not think about this on a daily basis.

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  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 8,543
    edited January 2011

    Teklya - Happy Anniversary & Happy Birthday to you.  So glad you had a nice time.

                                  

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  • Pennythoughts
    Pennythoughts Member Posts: 81
    edited January 2011

    Teklya - Happy Anniversary & Birthday to you!  Glad you were able to go out and celebrate.  Any time you can do that and go for a length of time without thinking of BC, it is a big plus.  Congratulations!

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited January 2011

    Mommymu - Have you got large breasts? I have large floppy ones and had skin breakdown in the crease under the breast. You can do everything right and will still get it. It's caused because of the fold of skin. Apparently men get it in the fold of skin at the top of the leg when doing rads for prostate cancer. The nurse told me to wear a sanitary pad in the crease. When this happened to me, the nurse would dress it everyday with Solosite and I had to keep a dressing stuck under there. I bought some singlets to hold my boobs in place with the dressing in there - no tape can be used. This happened in my last week of rads and as soon as rads were over, I used MediHoney on it and it cleared up in a matter of days.

    See what the nurse says - they'll help you sort it out.

    Sue

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited January 2011

    Boy took the weekend off and missed out on a lot.

    The prescription the nurse gave we was for silver sulfadiazine, used for burn patients and wound care.  I have to put it on twice a day.  Interesting fact is I already had some from surgery on my leg that did not heal well.  Seems to be helping, also using hydro-cortisone cream with aloe on the itchy spots alternating with the silver, and the aloe vera with Miaderm on the other areas. 

    The area next to my SNB area is really bothering me due to the friction with arm, trying to use cold compresses to help. 

    Expect another cold front to come in tomorrow in the DFW area just in time for Super Bowl festivities.  Hope is does not delay any of my treatments this week as it is my last for regular treatments.

    Welcome to the new sisters - sorry your here but we will take care of you.

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  • marjie
    marjie Member Posts: 1,134
    edited January 2011

    mjbmiller - Trade ya'!  My last chemo is scheduled for Wednesday and the cold front coming through here is bringing a foot of snow.  I don't want my tx put off, I'll snowshoe it if I have to LOL!

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited January 2011

    marjie - thanks for the offer but I will pass.  I was where you were, my last chemo was Oct 1, 2010, and I understand you not wanting to miss, neither would I.  Will do a happy dance for you on Wednesday.  I will be puting chains on my car so I can make my tx if I have to, only if the office is open.

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  • lestwin
    lestwin Member Posts: 83
    edited January 2011

    I am happy to say I slept good last night with the help of a benadryl so that I can face my first treatment without feeling like crap.  I also see the RO afterwards and I am taking all my things, soap, udder cream, corn starch to have them approved (or not).  I feel sorry for you guys who are having bad weather, our weather calls for high 70's and tomorrow mid 80's, above normal temps but that's the way I like it, the hotter the better.

    My udderly smooth cream has Allantoin, Dimethicone, Lanolin Oil, and Propylene Glycol in an Emollient Base and it says it is greaseless and stainless.  Is this what moo goo has?  I hope the RO lets me use it.

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  • rachel5738
    rachel5738 Member Posts: 920
    edited January 2011

    #16 today--into my fourth week of rads...starting to feel some fatigue setting in. It is def nice to have a break on the weekends. My skin is doing pretty good--a little pink but nothing painful. I am def going without bra to avoid any irritation. Looking forward to getting this done!!

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  • saturn
    saturn Member Posts: 139
    edited January 2011

    #14 today... so far so good.  No fatigue yet and my skin looks good.  Just like rachel, a little pink but nothing painful.  I'm using Calendula ointment daytime (and sometimes pure aloe too), and an aloe/steroid gell my RO concocted nightly.  He will be switching me to the boosts mid-week, and says my nipple may get sore (it is a little sensitive already).  All in all I don't feel I have much to complain about so far, and will be 1/2 way through entire treatments by end of week.  But I do realize the cumulative effect, so we'll see.  Having a positive attitude helps! 

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  • Omaz
    Omaz Member Posts: 5,497
    edited January 2011
    I did #15 today.  Breast is a little pink but so far so good.  8 more whole breast then 7 boosts.  Asked today whether my nipple will be in the boost area and apparently not.  I was glad because nipple is a little sensitive already.   Fingers crossed.
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  • lestwin
    lestwin Member Posts: 83
    edited January 2011

    I was thinking I was doing pretty good considering I go for my first rad today however, I got a letter in the mail saying my health insurance was being cancelled today at midnight.  I freaked out (I have a medicare employee (spouse retiree) insurance.  I just got off the phone after 45 minutes with them and have had to re-enroll all over again.  Apparently, they got a bill from a lab in California for this BC and assumed I had moved (even though I had already confirmed my address of 30+ years).  I live in Florida so why I got a bill from Ca. beats me.  This whole thing left me crying, I didn't need this today!  How can one of the largest insurance companies be SO STUPID!  As we used to say in Britain.BOLLOCKS.

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited January 2011

    Lestwin - hope your first tx goes well today. The whole health insurance thing must have been stressful - stupid idiots.

    MooGoo has these ingredients:

    Purified water, sweet almond oil, olive oil, rice bran oil, emulsifying wax, milk protein, allantoin(comfrey root active), aloe vera, vitamin e, glyceryl caprylate, piroctone olamine, guarsilk, p-anisic acid (basil extract) It's fragrance free and mineral oil free. Sure is a concoction.

    Sue

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  • localgirl
    localgirl Member Posts: 39
    edited January 2011

    Afternoon everyone!  3 more to go!!!  Of course both of my kids and my DH are sick so I'm slightly flipping out about getting sick before I finish.  Plus there's a gala I am going to on Friday and I would really like that to be a celebratory night and not one where I'm too sick to even go! 

    Anyway, glad to be nearing the end, just in the boost phase now.  Only using aquaphor and so far so good.  A bit of itching, some skin irritation where the took off the tape that had been there for weeks, but feel very luck overall.

    Only bummer news is that my RO said if I wanted to consider any type of reconstruction I had to wait 12-18mos since that's when my right breast would settle down after everything.  He said since the goal is symmetry, you want to wait until it's finished changing before you try to make anything match it.  Makes sense, but I was hoping for more like a couple of months, not over a year! ugh...

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  • Omaz
    Omaz Member Posts: 5,497
    edited January 2011
    What are the boosts like compared to the whole breast radiation?
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  • Victoria67
    Victoria67 Member Posts: 44
    edited January 2011

    I'm doing #20 today, which will be 2/3 of the way through (yay!)  Skin doing ok, still red and blotchy but it doesn't seem to have got any worse which is good. I see the rad onc tomorrow.  The weather is really hot here at the moment (about 97 forecast today) and I don't have airconditioning so I'm going to 'borrow' a friends house to get some relief as the heat makes the itching and irritation worse. 

     Irr4993, I also have some red spots like freckles over parts of my breast.  In other parts, it is completely pink/red, so I don't really know why some areas just 'freckle red' and other areas go completely red, I'm definitely hoping it will fade when I finish!

    Good luck Lestwin with your first tx and all the best to everyone else this week :)

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  • localgirl
    localgirl Member Posts: 39
    edited January 2011

    Omaz - The boost involves radiation just to a local area around the original tumor site.  For me, then have a column they add to the machine with a metal plate at the end that has a whole cut in it the shape of like a jelly bean.  The beam passes through the plate and the radiation only passes through that cut-out.  THey drew the area on me with markers so they can line everything up.  The beam is on for ~15seconds and that's it!  I'm outta there.  Pretty quick.  From what I've heard they are assuming that the most likely area for cancer cells to go astray is around the tumor where you had a biopsy and surgery and things were moved and jiggled and such. They just want to "boost" treatment to that area to make damn sure they get the source!

    I have 5 boosts all together, today was #2 so I should finish on Thursday if all goes well.

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  • Omaz
    Omaz Member Posts: 5,497
    edited January 2011
    Thanks localgirl!  I am glad to have the boosts, especially since I always worried about the biopsy needle path.
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  • Hope60
    Hope60 Member Posts: 223
    edited January 2011

    Hi all - I've never posted here before but have been lurking....I finished chemo at the end of December and I'm supposed to start radiation later this week....I think.  Had my planning session last week and was told they would contact me about when I'm starting.  But today I got a phone call....I need to come in tomorrow for more planning.  Is this normal? Has anyone else had 2 planning sessions?  I'm working myself into a panic, thinking that they saw something on the CAT scan they did at the first session......Thanks.

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  • Omaz
    Omaz Member Posts: 5,497
    edited January 2011
    Hope - Most likely they are trying to be extra careful and get everything just right!  Also, I had a planning session and then went back for a simulation and then started my rads.  Perhaps this next appt is for the simulation??
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  • BrilandGirl
    BrilandGirl Member Posts: 49
    edited January 2011

    To Hope60

     I had two planning sessions also.  I don't think it's because they saw anything--they told me that I would have two from the beginnng.  Just finished 6th session today and not bad so far.  Get yourself some good aloe.

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  • lestwin
    lestwin Member Posts: 83
    edited January 2011

    I just got back from my first tx and as, you can tell from my previous post, I was pretty enraged and upset with my insurance company.  Bloody idiots!  The rad seemed to be really easy, over in a few minutes then I saw the RO.  He gave me samples of aquafor and told me to only use it on the top of my breast once a night and use the corn starch under my arm and breast before rads each day.  I reiterated how sensitive my skin was and he told me I am only concerned if you start to peel.  I see him every week so as far as I am concerned he better be on top of things if I get an allergic reaction or start having real problems.  He made it sound like a walk in the park but from being on this forum I know differently.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be one of those who sail through (ha ha).  DH took me to our favorite grill and bar so that I could relax, that's why I just got back.  By the way, he asked me "are cooked through yet" I could have choked him........twit.

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited February 2011

    Omaz - I worry about the needle path too. Good we're having rads.

    Lestwin - I was thinking of you while I had my treatment - how did you go with your arms up above your head given your damaged arm? I hate that part the most. Glad you went out and enjoyed yourself.

    Sue

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  • Hope60
    Hope60 Member Posts: 223
    edited February 2011

    Omaz & BrilandGirl - thanks so much for responding. It would have been nice if my doc had told me about the 2 sessions in advance.   I've  gotten almost no information from the radiation team I'm using.....seems to be very rushed & disorganized.....so I'm feeling my way through as I go.  I had chemo at the same hospital and had a great experience with that group.....go figure.  So thanks for the reassurance....I feel much better now.  I hope the rest of your treatments go well.

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  • Sherryc
    Sherryc Member Posts: 5,938
    edited February 2011

    was off for a few days and I have lots of reading to catch up on.

    Lestwin-hope everything gets straighted out on your insurance.  I had a lab report that was from Californai as well I think it was for my OncotypeDX.

    localgirl I know what you mean about not wanting to wait.  This cancer was my second lumpectomy so my left breast is smaller than my right.  I am one week post rads and my RO told me to wait 6 to 12 months to get it fixed.  I have an appt with the PS set for March 15 so at least I can talk to them and see what kind of options I have in getting it fixed.  I am very small anyway so think I will just go bigger.  Told my DH that with all the Hell I have been through I am going to finally have some breast that I really like.  He thinks I am a bit crazy.

    Congrats to those who have finished and I will be at the finish line for those getting close.  For those who are new and getting ready to start good luck and use lots of creams to keep the skin in good shape.

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  • beacher4209
    beacher4209 Member Posts: 540
    edited February 2011

    localgirl, why do you have to wait so long? im hoping to have to only have to wait like 3 months. Oh darn seems like they never tell you the truth till it gets to that place. Im sorry this has happened to you i may be in the same place....

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  • Teklya
    Teklya Member Posts: 435
    edited February 2011

    Brrrrrrrrrrr.  minus 31 this morning with a windchill of minus 43!!!!!  I don't even want to head out for my treatment!  But I will because this is #19.

    take good care and have a good one!

    Teklya

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  • lestwin
    lestwin Member Posts: 83
    edited February 2011

    Suepen:

    Thanks for your concern about my arm.  My right arm (which was damaged as a child and pretty much doesn't work but I can use my hand to some degree) is the one that bothers me with my arms behind me but it's bearable.  My left arm I have seemed to have eased pretty well because I have been exercising with a ball and I can now straighten it out without too much pain so maybe it is not LE after all.  I haven't heard from my surgeon whether the vascular surgeon found anything wrong with the veins or not, go figure.

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited February 2011

    No rads today the office closed due to bad weather.  My office closed too which is very rare.  RO office said if the Plano schools are closed tomorrow they will too.  Suppose to be below freezing tomorrow through Thursday.

    Got some camis yesterday before the storm came through, feel good now since nothing is scratching my skin.  Real red now, got a perscription for silver sulfadianzine cream.  It seems to be helping the chaffing but is messy.

    Well see what tomorrow brings.

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