May 2011 Radiation

Sagina....................what are these "stickers" your talking about.......I get #21 starting Monday (we are neck in neck you and I), but I don't have stickers................................Hell am I being slighted.........hahahhaha.................Boob isn't looking good today.....guess it doesn't pay to announce on Friday how good your doing..........and then wake up Saturday morning with the feeling "ok.........who the hell switched boobs in the middle of the night"................much deeper pink, and some crazy lines that are raised, whatever the hell they are, saying to myself................wow I don't have "twins" anymore................I have a D on the left, and God knows what size on the Right...............My lumpectomy side is starting to look like a friggin "utter"................

Oh well, it is what it is...................like I said on another thread...........where the hell are my suspenders...............need them to hold up my "big girl panties"

Today I'm making a fashion statement..........Mens XL Tee shirt, Bra on top of Tee shirt, and my Garth Brooks concert shirt on top of that...................Ok, Prozac anyone

GabbyCal.............I have what looks like a little rash too.......came out of nowhere.........and this goofy looking raised couple of lines....not sure what that is, but silly me to think I was going to escape any problem........

I would do the topless thing, but honestly I'm a friggin size D cup, so it is really uncomfortable having that massive utter just waving in the breeze.......it needs all the support it can get.........like I said..........I can handle the pain and the rest of the bullshit if it become worse, I just can't handle the greasy shit, and the sticky Aloe, cause it never really dries............the only way it does is when I put on a T shirt, and it rubs off, well what the hell good is that.....instead of staying on the boob, it ends up in the T shirt................this is a bitch when it come to clothing, and getting dressed even to just walk around the house.

The nude thing would have to be done with everything closed up, and I have an open floor plan and blinds, and kids with keys...............................Not trying to kill my 3 sons.............should they walk in.................now my 3 daughters could handle the "sight" provided they don't bring their kids with them.................Lord this is nuts.

mamaoftwo - Hi, yep, that was me.  I was clinically node negative, decided on BMX because of family history, had clear margins, cancer was in the upper left quandrant - not near the chest wall, no LVI, not multi-focal, basically a good pathology report except for 2 positive lymph nodes.  

I fought the idea of radiation.  Talked with my Surgical Oncologist, got opinions from 3 Medical Oncologist and two Radiation Oncologists.  

I was not mentally prepared for this, but once I met with my RO, who was the second opinion RO, he sold me on the idea based on my situation.  Since I was clinically node negative, and the positive nodes came as a big surprise to everyone and I refused the ALND, even though I did aggressive chemo and the odds were that it killed the cancer, if I had a recurrance, he said in my case we might not know until after it spread to other organs.  

So I decided to just radiate the axilla and supraclavical lymph nodes, not my chest wall (cancer was on left side).  This goes outside the 'standard of care' so I am actually being treated at a diferent facility than the cancer center where the rest of my team is located.  However my RO works with my team a lot, so it was no big deal, and he also is a member of the tumor board.

The majority of everyone I consulted with agreed with my decision, not all, two really thought I should not go outside the 'standard of care' and that I should radiate my chest wall too.  

Once I made the decision, I felt very comfortable with it.  It actually removed some of the stress I was feeling.

Every situation is different, I would suggest to get at least two opinions from radiation oncologists before making a decision that you are comfortable with.  It is your body, your decision.  

Good luck and feel free to PM me.

Never mind - I just googled ALND and understand it's axillary lymph node dissection.  I am thinking that not having that done, might be the reason the rad oncologist recommended radiation?

mamaoftwo - Like you, I fell into the 'grey area' for radiation after mastectomy.  Both RO's said that if I had gone through with the ALND, and the rest came back negative, then for me, they might have been comfortable if I chose not to do Rads, but emphasized that the studies were still ongoing and inconclusive on whether or not I could skip radiation completely.  So I cannot say with confidence what they would have recommended.  

They both used the fact that I had skipped ALND as a main argument for recommending radiation, especially of the lymph nodes.  My big issue was I did not want to radiate my chest wall because I did not feel that my pathology supported Rads to my chest wall.  In fact my surgical oncologist and two medical oncologists told me, with my pathology, they did not feel that I needed to radiate my chest wall, but that I had to have a discussion regarding the radiated my lymph nodes.  Thankfully my second opinion RO respected my decision, otherwise I do not know if I would have gone through with Rads because my decision went outside of the 'standard of care' and the RO at the cancer center would not deviate from it.

For me the risk of rads to my chest wall was too much vs the potential benefit.  

I am 46, but with my family history of cancer, although I am BRCA neg., I wanted to keep something in my arsenal in case I got a local recurrance, because once you radiate, you usually can't radiate the area again.  I hope that with the treatments I am doing there will not be a recurrance, but I also know there are no guarantees and I had to do what I thought was best for me.

Good luck, and once again, feel free to PM me. 

Good evening ladies.  It has been so wonderful reading all your posts.  I have learned a lot from each of you.  #24/36 treatments done.  Skin is red but not broken down.  I've read where the skin will turn grey before it breaks down.  The area around the base of my nipple is grey.  I'm thinking that would definitely not feel good.  Fatigue is definitely a factor.  I can't nap during the week but I sure make up for it on the weekends--2 or 3 hour naps both days.  I'm still exercising but not at the intensity I had before radiation but I figure its still good that I'm doing something.  Take care of yourselves ladies. 

Thanks every one for sharing your journey and all the tips.



I was given an rx cream to use and theta recommend ercerin creme alternating and none for 4hours before treatment. Figuring the medicated creme in the morning rads in pm and the moisurizer in the evening. I will be on my stomach as well, combination of large breast,left side and site location I think.



I am hoping to use the non wire bra I wore after the lumpectomy but much prefer the underwire support. No way I can go to work without supporti g the girls so I hope the bra is wearable. I am trying for afternoon treatments but had to give a 2hour window. Leaving for a 2:00 appointment everyday is going to be tough I hope it ends up closer to 4. Ok I have to stop stress g about what has not happened yet and see was the schedule is. I guess I will get it at the simulation.

I agree we keep getting told that rads are nothing but I thinknthey will impact my life more than Chemo. I this it is the5days a week. The tattoos and vulnerability. I am worried that rads will interfer with working more than Chemo did....and it is probably the whole surgery chemo rads combination that starts getting to us.



My simulation is scheduled for the 31 and rads start June 9.

Wow when the hell did this fatigue kick in........................It seems overnight.  Oh Thursday and Friday I was running here and there with my daughter right after Rads...........I am so friggin tired today, and I have my grandaughter's bridal shower..........Good Lord this happened almost overnight.........slept great last night, so its not that..............WTF...........this is horrible, now I know what the women meant when they said "fatigue".................It is like someone has sucked the energy out of you..............Holy Shit....................and I have 13 more treatments to go...........I'll probably be in a friggin coma by thern......................Guess when people say "how are you doing with radiation", I can't say "great" anymore, but then again I could lie.

Not drinking much water, so maybe that could be it too.............oh well, "shit happens"..........

Hi Ladies............I was told by the MO, that the new study in women over 70 says you don't really need rads since it doesn't improve you  recurrance, or mortality rate that much if you do get it.................Thatis for women over 70........I'm well past that at 76................However my RO said because of the one area of 1.2 mm margin, even though the rest was 2 mm margin, she would still recommend Rads...............she called it an Insurance Policy, since that study was not done on enough women, and she thought 1.2 mm wasn't quite enough......................although it is acceptable around the world as a good margin.

So I chose to do Rads..............Did fantastic for 4 weeks,...20 treatments.............need 33, but as of today I am feeling a few of the SE that the ladies describe.........I'm not tired, I'm just beat, like I lack energy.............probably wouldn't sleep if I did lay down, but being awake is exhausting too.............WTF happened..........this is all of a sudden.................Maybe this is what the MO meant when she said sometimes the SE are not worth the risk of not doing the Rads..

Well I'm in it now, so time will tell........just hope this doesn't get much worse............a little rash, and redness too, but tolerable.

I have had 2 RADS treatments; so far, so good. I know it is early in the treatment because I have 29 more to go. Good things so far - the appts are right on time and the techs are all very nice. I was told to use only 100 Aloe Vera gel - the kind without alcohol as an ingredient. They told me under no circumstances to use anything w/o bringing it in for them to check. No shaving, prefer I take showers and the fatigue should set in about halfway but if I listen to my body and rest when I am really tired I should be okay. I got the markers...look kind of gross but no big deal either. A neighbor had Rads and they weighed her every time. Is anyone doing RADS being weighed? She had an aggressive cancer and had chemo before rads and she still has a port in and her cancer was treated in 2002. That really blew me away...10 years+ with a port? I know her cancer was more aggressive than they first thought but still that many years later? Anyone ever heard of that either? diane

I begin radiation tomorrow afternoon. Then I'll be an official member of the May Rads Club.

JeanH ~ I'm working full time as well and am a woman's clothing size DD (not the cute Victoria's Secret kind of DD). The bra issue was emotionally painful for me.  I love my under wire balconette bras....I did what I was told from day one and put them away.  I bought soft cotton bras bigger than my regular size, and laughed when I saw them in the mirror!  The RO kept telling me to try to go without at all.....I tried one evening to go to dinner with my DH without a bra, first bump he hit, I really thought I was going to have black eyes or boob whip lash!  I started crying and made him take me to a clothing store....I bought one, went back in dressing room....then dinner.

I'm on 21/33 and now my skin hurts whenever anything touches it, kind of like a bad razor burn...I've left the cotton bra and graduated or regressed we should say to a zip up in the front mastectomy cami - it doesn't lift them but keeps them from flailing around! 

pejkug3 ~ I never ever would have believed I could go without a bra...but the cami I wear does offer enough support that they don't move excessively like when driving.  I where the cami with a button down cotton top, and it almost looks like I meant to wear it that way....I had a lumpectomy so I have a lot of skin to take care of, the floppy kind of skin.  I really didn't have any real discomfort until this week - I see my RO on Tuesday (once a week while in treatment) and I see my MO on Thursday for my 3 month out of chemo check.  I completely trust her and she told me before rads started that she was going to keep an eye on my skin and would step in if she felt the need to.  I'll update you after Thursday after that.

This is the cami that is getting me through rads.

Amoena Hannah Camisole w/drain management, Vitamin E & Aloe #2860
Style #:2860

TonLee - It was beautiful in Ohio yesterday and today, right?  I was out in the full sun both days watching my kids play baseball.  I wore T-shirts (normally I would wear sleeveless or spaghetti straps) mainly to cover the marker marks.  It was so hot!!!  Ugh - I'm going to have to cave and get the additional tats.  I'll never make it until midJuly wearing all of these clothes

spartina and juilet - Tomorrow will be Day #1 for me too.  I think I'm more nervous than when I started chemo.  I'm going at 3:15 everyday, so if I'm wiped out I can go home and crash . . . well, until it's time to take the kids to swimming, baseball or something else.

I've got my aloe and Aquaphor all ready for #1 tomorrow.  Now all I need is a little courage.  The unknown is so unsettling and let's face it, this journey has been full of unknowns!

Tammy