Mammosite

NJ Mae,

I had 1.5cm IDC removed on 8/12/10 and followed with 5 days (ten treatments) MammoSite. I was finished with it all on 8/24/10. I would highly recommend MammoSite if you qualify for it. It helps preserve the tissue that would otherwise be exposed to all those weeks of external radiation. It was painless, not without the extreme fatigue that radiation causes, but very manageable. I am now almost 5 months past treatment, healing beautifully, having some lymphatic problems that are minimal and treatable, otherwise I'm great. I had the best of care by the most professional group of people you would ever want. I hope your experience is as positive as mine. Good luck and let me know how it all works out for you.

Sue - I had Mammosite back at the end of July 2010.  I would do it again - 5 days of treatment rather than 33 was a no-brainer for me.  Yeah, it was a little weird to have the catheter attached to the bottom of my breast.  But I was able to place it crosswise at the bottom of my sports bra so no one could really tell it was there.  I actually went out to dinner and wore a nicer bra and dress...no one could tell it was there.  The hardest part was figuring out how to shower and keep it dry.  They were pretty insistent that I not shower, but my breast surgeon said "use a baggie."  I managed to wrap it up with a zip-loc bag and tape, and was able to take a quick shower with no problems.  I had no issue with site infection as the nurses were extremely diligent about dressing the "port" after each treatment.  I also stayed on antibiotics until a few days after completion.

One thing to be aware of - there can be future complications such as a seroma.  I just developed one in February and am going to the doctor this week.  I'm sure it will need to be drained.  I thought I had escaped any long-term side effects, but not quite yet.  I also had a bit of esophageal irritation for about two weeks, which started on day 3 of the treatment.  I found I couldn't eat anything spicy as it burned going down.  Not a big deal - I just avoided those foods for a couple of weeks and everything was back to normal within two weeks.   I did not feel any significant fatigue from the treatment, and I actually participated in the Race for the Cure on the Sunday after I finished. 

There are a few other discussion threads that you might want to check out if you want to read more about people's experiences.  Like all the other treatments, some people breeze through without any issues and some people will experience every side effect. 

 Michelle