Does everyone get boosts?

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mamadog53
mamadog53 Member Posts: 61
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

I am scheduled for 33 and after reading many posts it seems like everyone gets boosts.  Is this a forgone conclusion that they don't tell you about in the beginning?  If so, can you miss a week then come back and do the boosts?  Just trying to plan ahead.

Lynn

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  • cycle-path
    cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
    edited May 2011

    No, not everyone gets boosts. I didn't, and in all the treatment plans I was offered, boosts were not part of any plan.

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  • Letlet
    Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
    edited May 2011

    I did not get any boosts. I had 25 zaps to my lymph node/clavicle area and chest.wall using a bolus. I had a mastectomy.

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  • Latte
    Latte Member Posts: 1,072
    edited May 2011

    i thought that boosts were always given if you have a lumpectomy, and sometimes given if you have skin-sparing mastectomy, but I see that I am wrong, because cycle-path didn't have them. but are you sure that your 33 tx aren't actually 25 tx plus 8 boosts? (that's what I had). I think you need to do them all together without a break, but you should ask your rad onc. i know that if the burns start to get bad from the regular tx, you can switch to the boosts, and then afterwards complete the other tx.

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  • TonLee
    TonLee Member Posts: 2,626
    edited May 2011

    My RO wanted to do 28 treatments with 5 additional boosts to the incision site (33 in all).  My second opinion said he wouldn't do boosts at all....so my RO and I negotiated and I'm doing 28 rads using bolus on the skin until it reddens.

    I believe boosts tend to be "standard" for many ROs.  It didn't make sense to boost my incision because that is not where my cancer was located but he had that in my original treatment plan. 

    When I refused incision boosts he suggested boosts to my axilla (since I refused axilla dissection)...but again, the 2nd opinion said there was no need .. if the machine is set to microscopic levels, 41 or 42 (no idea what that means) then boosts were unnecessary.

    So no boosts.

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  • Valgirl
    Valgirl Member Posts: 187
    edited May 2011

    I had 30 IMRT radiation treatments.  No specific boosts.  

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  • tlundy
    tlundy Member Posts: 142
    edited May 2011

    I just discussed this topic with my RO this week. I am having 30 standard treatments with four boosts.  According to him, the boosts are designed to specifically target the surgical area because history has shown that recurrences can tend to be in the scar area for whatever reason.  In my case I had a MX and they did the marking for the boosts yesterday - drew a rectangle around my scar.   

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  • CTMOM1234
    CTMOM1234 Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2011
    I agree with tlundy that the boosts are designed to specifically target the surgical area in an effort to minimize recurrence. I remember being concerned that the term "boost" somehow meant that I was going to really feel something more powerful for these sessions, but truthfully, that is not the case. I actually found the boosts to have a milder impact on my skin than the full-breast zaps, and my red-lobster skin at the end of the 25 full breast zaps started to recover once I moved on to the 5 boosts.
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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited May 2011

    Ditto tlundy.  My niece is a medical oncologist and she told me to make sure that I have boosts especially if the margins are less than .5 mm to reduce the chance of recurrence around the surgical area.  So I guess, if the margins were greater than .5 mm, then boosts might be not necessary.  My margins were .35 mm and I received 5 boosts.

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  • peggy_j
    peggy_j Member Posts: 1,700
    edited May 2011

    I had 25 full breast rads and 8 boosts.  My skin got red during treatment so my RO gave me a 3 day break between regular rads and the boost. Originally the plan was no break, but the area where it was red was on the side, under my arm, which in my case would also be covered with the boost. Having five days off (3 days + weekend) was great--skin healed significantly and my energy came back. My attitude was much better going into that last week and a half.

    FWIW, my RO said they used to give a 2 week break as standard treatment. (in the olden days? My RO has decades of experience and also teaches at Stanford). He said the effectiveness was the same; I think a lot of the scheduling now is to weigh the convenience/side-effects of the patients. When they gave me my original schedule "calendar" there was a sticker on the day of the last scheduled appointment saying that it was tentative and not to schedule anything afterward, so these breaks are not uncommon.  But you should talk to your doc and nurse about plans. They may want the flexibility. (and I'm not sure what your plans are for the week off, but if your symptoms are like mine, your plan will be to take it easy. ;) 

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