May 2011 Radiation

Good luck to all of you (Juliet, Tammy, and Spartina) that are starting rads tomorrow - I have one more week to be nervous about the unknown!  I start after Memorial day.

Welcome everyone starting rads.....off to week 2 for me, did have a nice weekend though without rads!  I am fretting over geting back to work, just got the notice that insurance is done and i will need to pay out of pocket!  I know a lot of women here work through rads, but I truly dont know if I can do that if I cant wear a bra.  Summer will be way too hot to wear a cami and a shirt, esp during the hot flashes! I also cant take the chance of bumping the radiated side , I work with violent adolescents.   Oh well, things will work out somehow.

ftblmom3 - I agree! I'm so grateful for this discussion board. I know all the people in my life, while dear and caring, are worn out and tired of hearing about my cancer and treatments. Aren't we all? You all give me a place to share this experience with others who have no choice but to keep soldiering along. 

Dolphin: My armpit still hurts too - I can only lay on the other side or on my back...I actually pulled my peck muscle too the other day and now it hurts to touch.. Hubby said I must of pulled on an adhesion.... 

I might have a delay of my rads arggggggggggh!  I just figured out my breast is turning blue when I get up and moving - I talked to the RO nurse and she is talking to Doc... It might be a circulation problem ..  I don't know what it all means yet.. but I'm nervous... Waiting for call...  Has anyone else had this problem.. Its been almost 5 weeks since my last surgery.

Got the call back - wants me to go braless LOL - I'm a 42DD - Like this is going to happen... the other option is wearing a cami under the bra and go braless as much as I can.. The reason for this??? will it bring more circulation into the breast to have them flop around?.. I am so embarrased..anyone have other ideas??

Oh yeah - he said to come in 15 minutes early before my first treatment (may 31st) to take a look at it...

carberry - I know its not funny but it did make me laugh!  I needed to laugh, thank you for sharing.  That aquaphor really is sticky - I can't use aloe - found out i'm allergic to it.  I keep saying ... this too shall pass... So you can't wear a bra either?

#6 done! Met with doc today-discussed my swollen pink boob-she said its edema, and the pink is from that not radiation burn! I was actually relieved to hear that. She thinks because my two surgery sites are so close together (from SNB and tumor was top leftish side of breast) that I may benefit from wearing a bra during the day anyway to see if we can get the fluid moving better. She also ordered me to take it easy. LOL I did way too much lifting and moving things the week before radiation started, so i am attributing some of it to that!

hdangelbaby-its ok to have those days. I seem to have more of them than i expected, i had a really nice nurse say that it is totally OK, that the WHOLE experience, no matter what therapies you had to have or operations or whatever stage, it is still CANCER and its scary and emotional. Type out those emotions here, at least we DO understand!!

#6 done today - still using just the Biafine the RO prescribed and so far, other than the black marker marks all over my boob, I really notice nothing - not pink, not sore, notta.  Saw RO today after treatment and he said I would at some point, no matter what.  Found myself all misty eyed while waiting to be called back today, not sure why.  Thought this would be a breeze compaired to chemo or Herceptin, but just an overwhelmed feeling.  Don't know how I'll feel come Wednesday when I have both #8 radiation and #3 Herceptin, they're both in different locations too, but thankfully just a few minutes apart.  I think it's the only time I'll have them together.

6/30 (20% done!) and $0 on the scratchers!  I'm pink and somewhat swollen. Had the first meeting with the RO since the original meeting and he asked if I was feeling fatigued yet. Uhhhh...I was kinda hoping that wasn't until week 3 or so. lol  I definitely sleep more, but I'm doing alright. The swelling is making me a bit bruised-feeling but nothing significant (kinda like what I used to get every month with PMS, come to think of it!).

I'm using Miaderm (that stuff is pricey!), aloe and eventually...Aquaphor (avoiding it until I gotta use it lol). I wear the  one-size-too-big bra over the non-pilling fleece during the day and go braless in a t-shirt once I get home.  I'm sleeping braless but I hate that!

Dophin: I'm 11 weeks post-lumpectomy on a 1-node SNB. I have a numb area that feels...weird! But no pain anymore...

Gina:
I'm LOL at your "boob whiplash" comment

Tinaj:
Sorry your scratch off haven't been winners yet...there's always hope!

For me:
I had my first treatment today. It was OK. Long drive to get there though (~45 mins) and I have the 7:15 time slot, so I left my house at 6:25 this morning.

So far so good. I forgot, and wore my underwire bra. I'm ok for now. The only real discomfort I have is b/c they removed my port on Friday. The doc was in there scraping all over the place until I was finally like, "Dude..what are you doing?" He said, "I'm disrupting some of this scar tissue"

So, OK--that disruption left some pretty serious bruising on my chest and boob. My port was in my cancer side, so they wanted it out before radiation could begin.

Anyway, I'm kinda tired today, but seriously, not from radiation at all, from having my 4 yr old and 2 yr old boys with me today

Take care everyone!

ftblmom3: I, too, am a 38D!  That said...I was starting to work my way into a C when the swelling came out of the bad boob...it was the larger of my two.  So, I bought a 40D to wear through rads.

The instruction sheet I got from my RO office had an interesting bit of information I don't remember seeing anywhere:

The degree of [skin] irritation is related to at least seven factors: the part of the body being treated, whether skin needs the full dose, whether X-rays or electron radiation is used and its energy, the angle of the beam relative to the skin surface, whether or not skin folds will be irradiated, the total dose needed, and the daily dose given.  When the beam is tangential or oblique to the skin (i.e. not perpendicular to the skin surface), skin reaction is more pronounced. That is why treatment to the breast...result[s] in more prominent skin reactions. Usually these reactions start during the third to fourth week of radiation...

Oh, sagina...I have to stop reading your posts!!  Ugh.

You still have a seroma?  I had one of those...HATED it.

The cami is working for you?  And wearing a bra is just simply not possible?

Man, it's gonna be a crappy summer.  So sorry you're in pain!  Remind me what creams you're using?  I'm tempted to pony up the money for Miaderm.

pejkug3~ The seroma is just a little uncomfortable when I have to put my arms over my head for treatment, it's at the lumpectomy incision site.  I only have a couple of more weeks to go and I know that I am fairing better than some others, and a little worse than others so middle of the road is ok for me. 

The cami is working.  I don't know how it's made but it does give some kind of support without binding.  Even if the RO said I could wear a bra, I wouldn't be able to stand it right now.  The reddening under the arm reaches back just a bit where the bra would go. 

My RO prescribed Radiogel and asked me not to apply anything else unless he gives to me.  My co-pay was $22.50 and I've been through two tubes so far.  Radiation wise, I can't tell you how it's working since I have nothing to compare to (thank goodness), but it's not greasy at all, looks more like a leave in hair conditioner.

For me radiation is more a chore than anything else, going every day, trying to keep the skin from touching...etc.  Happier days are coming soon, and if this gives me a little bit more of chance to never do this again, then that's ok with me.