July 2011 rads

Here we go again, another week of rads.  I have a strange rash in my arm pit and my stickers have all slid into new positions.  It will be a long morning on the table.

pejkug-  Twins are so much fun!!

Hi all I started  June 20  but will finish July 29 do you mind if I join this group. I will have 30 treatments i have done 19 I'm starting to get red and it itches.I was very tired and down on Saturday but Sunday was better and now I'm sitting here just not wanting to go to treatment today but know i have to.I know others have had it worse as I only had to have a lumpectomy and Rads and I thank god for that but it is still hard and I cant wait till it is all over.I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that your treatments all go great.

Good luck to everyone this week. 

Lena, yes, my RO said that the ribs on the rad side are slightly more vulnerable to fracture, but only with a significant injury.

I too was bummed that my summer got sucked up by rads.  I was supposed to be spending the summer out of the country.  Instead, I've been out of the sun and out of circulation.

My armpit is the pits right now.  

Thanks, Gma Foley, for being our cheerleader.  It's great to hear from those of you who've made it to the other side!

Autumn is my FAVORITE of all the seasons.  I keep reminding myself how much I love autumn to get myself out of the funk I fall into over losing summer. 

14/28 WBR - completed as of today.  Plus I'll have 5 boosts.  But I'm done with 1/2 of the WBR!  Woot!

I will finish my rad next week. At first it was very uneventful. They were rad three spots including my armpit where the lymph nodes were removed. Well the surgeon left a little cup like arera under my arm that does not allow air to penetrate the pit. You can imagine what kind of issues this is causing. My arm pit has become extremely irritated and changes odors from dead shrimp to a dirty trash can to God knows what's next...but no regular body odor.....just gross. I can not wait til this is over. Had that area not been put back together that way, I doubt I would have had one issue.

Lena- Looks like we're on almost the same schedule.  I had my first of 28 treatments today.  Pretty uneventful.  They did draw all over me with magic maker but cleaned it off when they wre done.  Said this was the only time they will be doing that.  I have 2 little tattoo dots that are so small I can hardly find them.  Hope the techs can.

They did more drawing on me too Jan, only they told me they'd probably be doing some drawing on me at EACH treatment. Maybe that's because I said I didn't want tattoos? But the magic marker-appearing marks they made and stickered over (instead of tattooing) at the sim are still with me -- they just drew on me MORE today and said I could expect a little bit of it every session. Supposedly though, putting on cream (and taking showers) would make these "new" marks go away....haven't noticed yet, but I've only applied cream twice so far and haven't taken my shower yet. So who knows.

Lena - I do get some drawings on my skin everyday.  One tech draws a heavy black line across the top of my breast.  The other three draw a light dashed line in the same place.  I have said over and over how much I appreciate the light dashed line.  And I've done it in front of the woman who draws the dark black line.  She hasn't gotten the hint yet...but I think she's on vacation or something.  I haven't seen her in a few days.

Momof two - when did you start getting red?  I'm constantly checking to see if I'm red.  (14/33)

Hi everyone, 

I start radiation tomorrow with my dry run, then every morning after that for 28 visits.  Several of you wrote that your summer is ruined from radiation and I was wondering what you meant?  I haven't been given any instructions yet and wasn't planning on doing anything different than I am now, and I spend a lot of time swimming in lakes and pools and running outside.  I was assuming that as long as the skin is covered, being outdoors will not be a problem - but then again, I have no idea what to expect.  I was just not expecting anything too terrible.

Laura

I was told to stay out of the sun and no swimming. Also, it means no family summer vacation this year because I won't be finished until it's time for our son to start college. I am more tired than normal also so I end up taking naps and am not getting much accomplished, but it hasn't been terrible yet. I almost halfway finished.

I was told it was alright to swim. Swim laps anyway. I do this 2-3x/week. I'm going to try to swim in the morning or evening when the sun is low or down. If my skin becomes an issue I'll stop. Swimming has really help me get my mobility back following BMX.

Pejkug3 I started to get red about 16 or 17 treatments .They also remark my tattoo with a marker every time I come in. We also had to change our vacation do to this but that means next year will even be better.

I just want to throw my two cents in and let you all know that you can do it. I just finished rads on Friday, 26 WB/7Boosts. I am very fair, blond hair, blue eyes and burn if I even look at the sun, so I was very worried about rads. I was pink the first week, which slowly moved to red on my chest, SN scar, and under my boob, but my skin held up nicely and I never got any blisters. My boosts were right over my nipple which wasn't happy and is still quite sore, but everything is already starting to heal quite nicely and is moving more towards a tan with a little peeling. I started using creams from day one and was very diligent. My treatments were in the morning which I loved because there was never a wait. I got bumped to the afternoon a couple times and the wait could be an hour or so. I showered before every treatment, lubed up with Miaderm immediately after and throughout the day, used a thick layer of aquaphor at night and put on an old tank top that I didn't care about cuz it stains. I really didn't like the greasy/sticky feel of the aquaphor, but my skin would actually look so much better in the morning, so it was worth the effort. I had some itchy spots and my RO told me to use 1% Cortizone cream, wrote me a script for 2.5% when it got worse, but the creams really helped keep the discomfort down. I am large breasted and was able to wear an underwire bra throughout my treatments. The fatigue came and went, and I just napped when I could. I had a hysteroscopy to remove 5 uterine fibroids in the middle of my treatment, and in hind sight I probably should have waited. My RO said it was fine to go ahead, but the fatigue really hit me hard right after and I got slammed with a horrible cold and still can't shake the cough. I am experiencing some pain in my sternum and having heart burn this week which I never have had before, but all in all, rads were very doable. I made an effort to walk every day, and I think it really helped my fatigue. Some days my husband had to push me to go, but I was always felt so much better afterwards both physically and mentally. My heart goes out to those of you that are really suffering from the SE's of radiation, but I wanted to throw it out there that that is not the case for everyone. I certainly would not like to repeat the last 7 weeks, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. My biggest complaint is that because of my rads, we weren't able to go see my daughter who is working in Italy this summer. We had never been and were so excited when she got an internship there. I guess I now have to look at it from the perspective that because I did the rads, I will have a lot more summers to go travel and do the things I want to, so this is just a bump in the road so to speak. Hang in there everyone, you can do it! Hugs.

JUDY - Thanks for posting your positive and encouraging story.

So far, rads has been easier than I expected.  I kept getting warnings about how terribel it would be because I'm large breasted.  I think I'm doing pretty well compared to some who really suffer through rads.

DAMARIS -

I'm following another BCO member's (OMAZ) skin regime...

100% pure aloe by Fruit of the Earth right after treatment

Miaderm (2-4 hours later)

Faulding Essentials Vitamin E cream (4-6 hours later) --I'm using Fruit of the Earth Brand Vitamin E cream because I couldn't find Omaz's recommended cream

Progressive Emu Oil (2-4 hours later)

Aquaphor (before bed)

Be liberal with your creams and use them regularly.  I'm through nearly 1/2 of my treatments - 15/33 -  and this regime is working for me so far.  I'm just a tiny bit pink, no pain and no itching or peeling so far.

Good Luck!

Today was treatment #10 of 33.  Nothing bad is happening, but I have to smile because just last night at a get-together I was answering everyone's questions and saying "well, I don't have any side effects at all yet."  I don't believe in jinxes, but it cracks me up that I woke up this morning to pinkness, random stabbing pains, and feeling like I needed someone to light a fire behind me to get me to go anywhere. Those were the 3 things I was told to expect, and it's funny they all started at once. I am using my aloe vera gel and drinking my protein drinks.

The pattern is getting familiar - Tuesdays they weigh me (ick) and I check in with the RO who seems relieved when I don't have any questions and he can go on to the next person. Wednesdays they X-ray me (on the same table, so I can take a nap while they're waiting for the RO to look at the X-rays) and they peel off the stickers, re-draw all their artwork, and put on new stickers.  Today a dietician popped in, told me to eat my 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and be sure to exercise, and popped out. I really do like all the techs and the nurse. They make me feel as comfortable as it is possible to feel in there.

This is also cute - the techs are so careful to put a "modesty blanket" to cover my other side while they're doing the treatment - like I'll be twice as embarrassed if they're both visible?  I do really appreciate their efforts though. They are very nice people.

Time to hit the pool - they have said I can swim as long as I'm comfortable (and wear a white T-shirt before the sun goes down). I am guessing maybe later into treatment if my skin is uncomfortable then I might not swim, but I will do it now while I can. (High of at least 101 today so the water will be quite warm.)

Hope everyone had a good day.