What should I expect

Trinity, there will be members of the community along to give you more information and personal experiences, but a good place to start reading about what to expect from your treatment is in this section about radiation from the main Breastcancer.org site.

Judith and the BCO team

Trinity .. I am fair as well and used Aquafor and pure Aloe Vera.  I still burned and had little white blisters.  I was lucky that I work from home.  I didn't get the fatigue until the last two weeks .. and then it was pretty tough.  I would have had a hard time going out to a job everyday.  The fatigue lasted a good two weeks after rads ended.  It didn't take long for my breast to heal .. and today you can't tell the difference from the other one.

I wore tank shelf shirts with a blouse over that.  But because I was working from home, I was able to just wear old t-shirts most of the time.

Wishing you the best,

Bren

Trinity, I would recommend following your radiologist's recommendations about what to use and what not to use on your breast to the letter.  It's not a good idea to use certain types of creams and oils because they can possibly hold the heat in and cause the burns to be worse.  You can't "prevent" burning with creams, etc.

I worked all but one week during rads - it wasn't too bad until about the last two weeks.  Wearing a bra becomes an impossibility - I wore very large, long athletic bras or camis instead.  One thing you'll want to do is keep the area underneath your breast powdered with cornstarch because skin-on-skin can cause problems unless there is plenty of powder.  I ignored the powder recommendations and ended up with a keloid scar on the underside of my breast.

I did not use any cream or oils while getting rads based on my doctor's advice, although I understand Aquafor is recommended by doctors.  I was given a tube of lidocaine gel to use for the pain from the burns.  But I did not burn very badly. 

I'm doing rads right now.  I'm not particularly fair skinned, but I am large busted - DDD.

The cornstarch thing really works?  I've tried using cornstarch powders before and I always get boils from them.  But maybe plain cooking cornstarch is different somehow?

I'm not wearing a bra for the most part but I wear men's A shirts at night...one to wear, another shaped into a "W" and tucked under the breasts and in between.  I'm a side sleeper and I'm trying to avoid skin-to-skin in my cleavage.

My rad techs talk like I'm doomed because my breasts are so large.  I swear, my breasts have not been smaler than a D since my freshman year in HS.  Even when I was a runner 10 years ago, I wore a DD. 

I have 8/33 done - no major reactions yet.  I'm following Omaz's skin care regimen...except for aloe.  Aloe never does a thing for me with sunburns and I hate the way it feels

I think I looked shocked when my RO said I couldn't wear bras. I said "Not wear a bra to work, are you crazy???" But I found some things that worked for me. You can try using your current underwires, just take the wire out, and also use a bra extender (for bras that hook in the back) - they sell them everywhere now. I also went out and bought a few larger cotton bras, and cotton tank-type bras.

I used Aquaphore and aloe, but I don't think they made any difference. I stopped using talcum powder years ago and now just use the baby powder that is cornstarch with aloe.

I worked all through rads and wished I didn't. I had to cut my hours the last few weeks. You'll have to see what works for you. Some people walk or exercise throughout and it helps them cut the fatigue.