July 2011 rads

LindaJ - no, my name is Christy.    It really brings perspective to my situation to hear what other live with on a day-to-day basis.  Yes, BC stinks.  But there are those with a far worse cross to bear everyday.  This BC journey has certainly made me more minfdful and aware of those who live with chronic conditions everyday.  I'm thankful.  Thankful for this whole crazy journey. 

But I never want to do it again!!

pejkug3...I am a Kristy too! Although with a "k" instead of a "ch". I also have a friend who spells her name Christie. I always teased her that she didn't spell her  name right

I am 18 of 33 treatments (7 of those are boosts I think) So far, just a faint pink and minor sensitivity. RO said I look better than most at this stage, but warned that it will get worse. Just hard to tell how everyone responds. But I am pleased that I'm doing good so far! Fatigue is the main issue, made worse by the driving I do every day (3 hours round trip). But I am trying to go to bed earlier and the Ambien helps too! Just wish I could sleep when I try to nap. I just lay there, except for one day last week when I slept for 90 minutes! But that only has happened once in three weeks. But RO says rest is fine too; it doesn't have to be sleep.  Hope you are all having a good, cool, SE-limited weekend, the last one for July.

Lena-So sorry to hear you are suffering.  I'm sending hugs and positive thoughts your way.  Rest all you can, Hope you can manage to eat enough to give your body energy to heal.

I finished my rads on Friday.  One of my incisions is itchy and hurting at the same time.  I go back to the radiologist tomorrow to check it out.  In the meantime I put polysporon on it.  ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

pejkug3....  I agree, blisters are bad news. 

LindaJ..  I have stayed away from the sun since rads began...  Not quite sure where these bumps or even small blisters are coming from.  Last week RO advised cortisone and no relief yet.  I hope he has a better idea tomorrow.   

pejkug3...  RO was calling it a rash...  After one week I say "No Way".  A rash would respond to cortisone.  I just want these next 17 to fly by.

The extreme heat is adding to our problems with our skin.  I am bummed as well and please know that we will see an end to this in the very near future...

Hi LindaJanette,

Yes, I will be kind to myself.  Please do not feel bad about venting.  That is exactly what this forum is for.  Everyone has a different experience with rads and if yours is not positive, you do not have to pretend that it is.  Good luck dealing with the blisters and I hope you get good news on your Oncotype.  Please continue to let us know how you are doing. 

I try not to think about all of the 'extra' radiation I've received.  I had the CT scan for boosts and then my RO cancelled my boosts.  

This is kind of like a board game where one dice roll pushes you ahead 5 spaces and the next back 6 and the next ahead 7.  I'm trying to just "be" in the moment, but it's difficult.

Well wishes to all of you.  You're in my thoughts daily.

My RO and I decided to cancel my boosts.  Although boosts may add extra insurance, in my case the added SEs would've been very damaging.

I sure wish there was a "LIKE" button on this forum lol.. There are a lot of times I would like to just hit the "LIKE" button on some of these posts

@jankc - I have easy to burn skin and have even had skin cancer on my face many years ago, but have been very lucky so far about skin reaction to the rads.  I just finished treatment 13/16 (doing the double dose treatment so have to go fewer times).  So far I have just turned pink then tan then pink.  I  put on aloe after treatments and several times throughout the day.  I started using the Aquaphor once I got pink, but I think that may have actually made me get more pink.. So, for now I am sticking to just the aloe.  After treatments are over I will start back with the Aquaphor.

@Elizabeth1889 - My rad/onc told me that there is a risk of a kind of cancer that you get on your skin.. I wish I could remember exactly what he called it.  He said it does not increase the risk of another BC.  He said of all the women he had treated he had only seen this happen once or twice and I believe he said it happens fairly quickly (like within two years).  I was worried about it too because of my history of skin cancer.   I have to look at it this way.. I had no risk for BC yet I got it.. My sister would have a much higher risk and does not have it..So, if it is going to be it is going to be.. How many cases have you actually heard of women getting cancer from the rads themselves? I have not heard of any except the one the rad/onc told me about (of course I have not really researched it much either).

Mama, Elizabeth, venting is OK.  Jan, yes sometimes I do take painkillers and I'm on Wellbutrin plus Ritalin too, but there's only so much painkillers I feel I can take, so I only take them when it's absolutely necessary (AND I don't have to drive), i.e., somewhere between "Geez, this is really annoying" and "OMG all day?! Enough already!" See, painkillers kill pain but they also kill BRAIN and I'm not willing to kill the brain unless the pain is already killing it, if that makes any sense.

11/33 today, and I spoke too soon about not having any SEs because I almost forgot (and it's one of the rarer ones) the rads doctor telling me about it being a very slim possibility (particularly compared to skin issues and fatigue). Sooooo, drumroll please... My first side effect from rads IS.........

COUGHING! 

Yes, coughing! :-O My entire chest wall is being irradiated, and small amounts of radiation are getting to my lungs (can't avoid it). RO said some patients getting what I'm getting could develop a dry cough from it. It started late Saturday afternoon, wasn't too bad and I didn't think much of it. But yesterday from around midday on it was really bad, I was having all these coughing fits on and off, and THEN I thought "Rads? Maybe..." They stopped awhile (early evening) but overnight last night was awful. My Pack Rat was here so my multiple overnight major coughing fits woke HIM up as well as ME! At which time I decided to point the finger at the rads on this one (I don't smoke and I don't have a cold/flu).

So, after today's zap, I asked one of the rads nurses if it would be OK for me to buy an OTC cough suppressant/which one, or if she could prescribe me one she preferred.  She said she preferred to consult with the RO -- who wasn't in today of course -- on that and would call me later today to let me know "OK, go ahead and buy such-and-such" or "We called in a prescription cough medicine to your pharmacy." It's 4:33 PM now, so I'm still waiting for the call. My pharmacy is close and open till 6:30 so I can wait a little bit yet.

No noticeable skin changes yet that I can see (I'll just keep on slathering my body with that Jean's cream!), and though I do feel tired/totally no energy (unless my Pack Rat motivates me...heh heh), well, since I don't know which is more likely to cause fatigue: recovery from near kidney failure or radiation treatment, I don't yet know where to point THAT finger.

Lena..................out of Rads 7 weeks............had a cough while doing Rads............no big deal, just annoying.............and also my sun damage spots did get darker since Rads.............again..........no big deal.

I am done !!!!!! 30/30 I don't go back  for 3 months,I am happy but a little sad, I have meet so many people and became so close to them,Seeing them every day and I am going to miss them

momoftwo...............felt the same way...........I actually have LE and have to go for that so when I'm at the hospital the Rads dept is right near my LE specialist, so I go and see them..............they were wonderful, and it is kind of bittersweet at the end..............they were very good to me. and my RO was wonderful.......never led me wrong, or failed to listen........she was great......