May 2011 Radiation

Tinaj  those sound fabulous!  May try them for our 4th of July guest.  Got lots of celebrating to do, being done with treatments.   Finally started my tamoxifen today, was putting it off.  Info says it may cause bone pain.....really?...dont think I can deal with any more bone pain.  If anyone was watching me try to get out of the pool yesterday (didnt put ladder up yet) it would have made funniest home videos!

ftblmom - A big **Yahoo** goes out to you for finishing!!! What a great sis to treat you to some well-earned pampering.

tinaj - Oh yes, the Ginger Pear Martini's a winner. Thanks for sharing the inside scoop. Clearly, I need to get out more so do need you for my life coach. 

TonLee - the Dawn continues to amaze. I squashed a blueberry right on the front of my all-time-favorite soft-but-light yellow bathrobe. I soaked it in the Dawn tub and it mostly came out. Forgot it in there for a couple days (my friends, I'm sure you can relate) and to my amazement, the whole thing came out completely. 

Gabby....that's great!!  I love when things come clean, especially when I think they won't.

New and all...ok, I won't post any pics.  It wouldn't be honest anyway...

Saw my RO today and he looked at the red area under my arm and said, "Uh, this isn't from radiation.  This is from friction."

I laughed and said, "So, you're a dermatologist now?"

He said, "The skin was tender from rads, but this is a friction burn!  I can still see little scratches.."

So I mentioned I might have danced for 4 hours with stiff lace rubbing against it the whole time.  And it didn't hurt then because there was an open bar.... What?

He prescribed me silvadine (sp?) which seems to be another name for destin diaper ointment!  lol

I'm DONE tomorrow.

Oh yeah.  Just an FYI for any lurkers.

I have 100 Aloe from Wal-Mart, and 99% Aloe with Arnica Montana from Trader Joes.  The Trader Joe's stuff is MUCH better once there is damage to the skin.  It feels better and actually helps heal things up...Arnica Montanta is an herb that my PS prescribes before doing nose jobs, and it keeps people from bruising.  I took it after my MX and it got rid of my bruises in a week..

Anyway....tomorrow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tammy,

That's awesome.  Congrats on #26!!

TonLee-yea for tomorrow!!!

I obnoxiously texted or told everyone i talked to today "Guess what? I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO RADIATION TODAY!!!!!!!!"  You know, i don't know if its just because its my first day  from not having to go, but i think MENTALLY this radiaiton stuff is so draining!!! I swear i don't think i could have done another week without falling apart. I feel so "FREE"

Congrats to everyone finishing. Enjoy this 4th of July weekend! Still no rads for me.....RO thinks we need to give it the rest of the week to do a little more healing. Fine by me....still having to take pain killers to sleep at night. Have to keep my chest wrapped too or the open wounds stick to my clothes and pull the skin off when I take the shirt off. I don't have any "puppies" so it's easy to keep it wrapped all the way around me, I just have to use a burn pad in the areas that are raw. Interesting tidbit....my RO mentioned that he sees much worse reactions in those that have taken chemo previously. My white blood counts have been falling every week too and they are getting back down where they were while I was on chemo. Anyone else having that problem?

Romansma: I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time!  I've not had chemo nor the reaction you've had...but I read that there is a special kind of bandage they often use on burn patients that has petroleum jelly of something that both soothes and doesn't stick that gave some of the gals who had similar reactions some huge relief. I searched the forum and it looks like two were mentioned: One was Xeroform and one was Adaptic by Johnson & Johnson. I'd ask your RO if he can give you something like that!

romansma,

i had chemo prior to rads. at my follow up appt after chemo (2 weeks after last chemo), my white blood count was 2.8.

i went in for a check up last monday ( 2.5 months after last check up) and my white counts were still 2.8. my MO said it's normal(ish) to still have low counts during radiation

Romansma - I did that before I was dx - kinda weird - they never figured out what was wrong with me..My MO told me whatever it was he couldn't find anything wrong and I would never have to see him again LOL.... I couldn't believe the look on the MO's face when I came back 6 months later with cancer..

Ladies, I have a weird question... does anyone else obcess over there other breast?.. I feel like soon as I finish rads..something is going to happen and the cancer is going to be in the other breast... I can't seem to let it go...

DONE!!! WOO HOO!!!

Total $18 on scratch offs.

Thanks Gabby!

I made brownies this morning for the techs.  I wasn't always a ray of sunshine heading into the torture chamber...and it wasn't their fault.

But smelling those chewy brownies made me crave chocolate all day.  So far I've been good...but I'm out of skinny cow ice cream sandwiches....or I'd be noshing one in celebration!!

All $18 Juliet! 

I may have to invest in a serious razor.  Holy crap!!  The hair, um down there!  It's on steroids!!  Almost as if chemo resuscitated previously tamed hair follicles....and wouldn't ya know it??

BATHING suit season....gah!

Pfft $34...you can afford a razor AND a fake tan!....

GabbyCal: my Costco had them on sample last week too!!!

TonLee:  CONGRATULATIONS!! Glad to see you finally finish! You're FREE!!

GmaFoley:  I have had my moments of worry about boob 2.  I wouldn't say it's an obsession, but it's been a big concern since this cancer was not palpable and was only visible as an "architectural distortion".  I have dense breasts which can be hard to mammo cleanly.