May 2011 Radiation

Got a call this morning that the RAD machine was down AGAIN!  We've been putting off vacation because of the rads, but I really need to get away from this for a while. Has anyone asked to take a couple of days off? If the machine keeps breaking, I don't see what difference it would make. I just keep getting make-up appointments that stretch this out longer. Anyone been through this?

TonLee - I don't have any insight on the little blisters, but overall your skin looks really great. No rash or redness. 

One more to go! They re-marked me for these last boosts and told me to use a sharpie to re-mark if it started to wear off. I decided to have fun with it and drew leaves and flowers curling off the main line. The techs thought it was funny and asked if they could take a picture of it.

Off to make lime cranberry bars to take as treats tomorrow.

15/30....50% done! (Sorry GabbyCal...I like percentages lol)

I've had some pink (mostly clears up overnight each night) and swelling and I've noticed a very small scab at the bottom of my lumpectomy scar which is odd given that I'm 3 months post-surgery.  Itching a little but not making me crazy. Over the weekend I started sleeping in my shaped sports bra again (as opposed to one that just squeezes you flat) with a piece of fleece wrapped around me under it to keep it from rubbing. It takes more of the swelling out each night and is WAY more comfortable for sleeping. I do have trouble sleeping comfortably on my tummy again, tho. =(

I have much reading to catch up...hope everyone had a great weekend!

lesleye  biking 14 mi everyday?  Wow you go girl! Congrats on the end of this journey.

The ladies on the "older" 40-60 thread were talking about the arthritis  issue and have the information. I am walking 3-4 mi every day after treatment, which should be good for me, low impact, but is just making me very lame at end of day, just unusual as I am not currently working and had a very active job before with a lot of walking and stairs all day long that did not bother me. I think my body is just rebelling from all that its been through with chemo and surgery and now the rads.

Romansma - I'm a bit jealous your doc gave you the Miaderm. My doc is such a purist on aloe and aquaphor. My rash is s-l-o-w-l-y coming along, but I'm suffering major grease fatigue.

HAPPY DANCE! All done. A couple week break then onto chemotherapy. I was not sad at all. Almost skipped all the way to the car. DH and I are going out to dinner tonite to celebrate.

wow!! i had a lot of catching up to do today!! I had a "fatigue melt down" on Friday, and just couldn't even open this site, i needed a BC free weekend. Between the fatigue and my nipple feeling like it is going to fall off, and now it is peeling, gross!!  So after i saw the doc on Monday, she decided to give my poor swollen peeling nipple a break and switch to boosts (6) then go back to whole breast. she said it won't really help with the fatigue  give  the rest a little rest.

I can't remember who asked about skipping a couple days but my doc said if i wanted to do my 6 boosts whichh would finish next Tues then take the rest of the week off,  and start the rest the following week i could. Now i am pretty sure she thinks i am a emotionally and physically not tolerating this well and she is prob correct. she said i should try to take this week off from work, yeah right!!! i can't afford any time off, but i am really trying to sleep as much as i can and eat good and take my vitamins and get through this!!! I wish is was one of those people breezing through this, but damnit it is TOUGH!!!! i am thankful to everyone to be able to type this all out!!!

ftblmom3 - Yes this is TOUGH!!! I hope this week gives you a bit of a break.

I've got the burned, swollen nipple too. It's not peeling yet, but I can see that's in the near future. The nipple got bad right when the boosts were scheduled to start. There was no way it could take another hit.  

My incision scar practically touches the nipple, so the MO put a little "block" on the radiation machine so it doesn't get hit during the boosts.

Did you get any special care instructions for your poor, burned nipple? I'm just doing more Aquaphor. (Reminds me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" where the father of the bride cured everything with Windex.)

Take care and feel better. 

I'm curious so am going to pose this question to you all - when you go for your treatments, what are the characteristics of the other patients?

I'm asking because I rarely see other women. Spending so much time on this site, it seems like the radiation centers must all be full of breast cancer patients. Maybe it's the time of day when I go, but while I see a few women, seems to be mostly men. Not all are ambulatory. 

GabbyCal, I've had 3 different schedule times and I'm almost always the only female there. And at 56, I'm usually 20 yrs. or more younger than the others. And the men usually walk around with nothing on under their open-back smocks! I'm used to it now. There is the sweetest little man there who is going thru his second round of chemo and rads for throat cancer and he can't speak. Luckily, I know sign language and he is learning so we look for each other every day. Last Friday, this obnoxious woman came in with her Mom and she sat down in the changing room where everyone was waiting and chirped, "So. What cancers do we all have here?" She kept asking Mr. Jenkins and he would shake his head. She kept saying, "oh come on, don't be shy. You're all in the same boat. What kind of cancer do you have?" Need I say that it's obvious that he has throat cancer? I finally told her that he can't speak and she said, "oh? well at least it's not prostate cancer." He just looked at me and shook his head. He can't SPEAK lady, but he can HEAR!!!!!

Somebody get me a tranquilizer gun! 

Rohannna-i would have lost it on that lady. Last week one day a man who is being treated and his wife were waiting (i have seen them before) but their daughter and son in law also came in, and they were all catching up like they haven't seeen each other in a while. There is only maybe 12 seats in the room, and i just was annoyed with them ALL being in what i consider a very personal area, as it is marked "gowned waiting area", i wish they kids had waited in the other waiting area. It is great they want to be there, but i don't think they should be allowed to ALL be there. I was pretty emotional last week, maybe thats why it bothered me alot, but i still think they should respect everyones privacy, as little as we get at this point!

tsundermann we are on the same no. looking forward tomorrow as that means  1/3 done, at my rad centre, separate men and women waiting areas and another area for visitors to wait, , as i'm 49y its strange being the youngest!!!!!!!!!!!!

rohanna - Sounds to me like you're more rational than radical. Too bad the center doesn't have more control. Maybe they can be enlightened.

everyone - sounds like the radiation clients all fall into about the same percentages.

This isn't about BC, but some of your tales remind me of when my DH had surgery last year. The hospital had a small waiting room for family members to stay during the procedure. This one family took over half the area and stayed long after the doctor came out and spoke with the patient's husband at the end of her surgery. They were carrying on loudly with each other and also on cell phones. It was a zoo.

They were so loud, when my DH's surgeon came out to speak with me, he thought I wasn't there so went back to his office without giving me the update. I guess he had called my name, but I hadn't heard it or seen him through this giant family reunion that was going on next to me. 

Grrrrrrr!!

No incidents so far in the radiation waiting room. There was a little service dog today who was kind of a cutie. Also a guy who was wheeled out of the treatment room on a stretcher hooked up to a couple machines and a half dozen drip bags. They have a TV with CNN which would normally annoy me, but I'm now up to date on the Casey Anthony trial and the Weiner debacle.