Sept 2011 Rads

Done, done and done!  Doin' the happy dance now, girls.  

cpdsry, I had 5 boosts.  They were to the 6 o'clock position (where tumor was).  The skin there got raw.  I cannot say if that's due to the boost or because it's the underside of the breast.  However, while I was getting that one place zapped, the other parts of my breast were able to start recovering from the redness.

I saw the nurse & doctor after my appt today, and the nurse gave me some nice kind of gel wound dressing.  She put one where I got the boost and one under my armpit where it was most red.  They have made a big difference~very little discomfort.  She gave me a bunch more to bring home.  Also suggested Domebro but said it was up to me if I wanted to use them to dry out the raw skin.  Do any of you use that and/or recommend it? Then she made my follow up appt for one week instead of two since the skin was raw.  Really, she was very kind to me and I appreciated it.

Congratulations the divine mrsm welome to the after rads party.

Congratulations Divine! I will be joining the"after rads" party next Monday-5 to go!,

Congratulations Patty

dawmson-I exercised during rads and I truly believed that it helped keep my energy up. I ate really well too, and lost my post surgery weight.  Good luck staying healthy I don't know any tricks except to wash your hands a LOT.  

Congrats Divine and Patty!! What a wonderful day for you! You made it!!!

I had #27 today. One more full and then 7 boosts to go. Today, for the first time, they gave me a cream...Silvadene cream. The nurse applied it after the treatment and gave me a small jar to take home. Has anyone else used this cream?

Hi Stormy,

Let us know how that movie is. I'm not watching because I'm sure I'll cry all the way through and I cry enough as it is right now! LoL

MostlySew-Calendula is very nice.  Smells better than the aloe, absorbs nicely and works ok.  Found mine at New Leaf Market, brand Boiron.

Hi Ladies....I seems like I haven't posted for awhile and I have missed a lot.  For those who need to rant, you picked the perfect place to do it.  For those who are suffering with burns or any pain, I am so so sorry.  Same with just the emotional roller coaster.  This is some tough stuff you are all going through.  Through it all remember to pat yourselves on the back.  Radiation can be brutal both physically and mentallty.  Still, you are all brave women going through it.  Reward yourself somehow for that.

Tam, Natters, Ceeze, Patty...hang in there.  All of you with the burns.  I am sure I have left someone out and I did not mean to.  I understand the burn.  I have one fairly large area that is still badly burned even 6 days post rads.  This morning when I woke up my t-shirt was glued to the burn and had a lot of yellowish  gunk on it and a little blood as well.  The smell was NASTY.  I took a shower right away and now it is just mostly red but some drying well and just a few teeny spots weepy.  Oh Janey from the cancer center just called, she wants to see me.  So guess DH will be hauling me up there.  Janey said she just wants to look.  She told me to just come in anytime.  Guess I better try to do something with my face before I go.  I'll keep you all posted.  Hang in there all my brave friends!  Sending big healing hugs to all of you! 

Supposed to start boosts tomorrow.  However for 2 regular treatments the RT machine wasn't working so they said they would add regular treatments at the end. 

 Question:  When any of you got boosts were they after your regular treatments or during?  I guess I made the assumption that boosts would be done at the end - but maybe not?  Thanks!

Thanks for the hugs earlier from my rant the other night, esp Ceeztheday and Elizabeth.

Congrats to Devinemrsm and Patty for making it through.

 I restarted treatments yesterday started my boosts, had to be re-xrayed because it is such a small area, and very deep, was unfortunatley on the table for 1hr 15 min, was in tears the last 45 min, just couldn't hold still any longer, the techs were very comforting though. My RO wants me to stay off work til I am done due to the pain and burning, 2nd boost today, went well, 9 more boosts to go, last day should be Mon 10/24..........the light at the end of the tunnel. Found an over the counter cream called SUNBURNT from Walgreens, has calendula and a few other natural ingredients, worked great last week when nothing else would. (Oral pain meds were my friend as well).

 Janis, sorry you are still having issues, I have been cutting up an old t-shirt and putting that on top of the cream and gel I apply to try and help prevent sticking.

 Did anyone watch the lifetime movie five? I recorded it but have not gotten around  to watching...I just feel like I am living someone elses life right now, it is truly mine, but with all this , not working, and my husband and I being separated, its all a little overwhelming right now.

Today is my 14 year wedding anniversary, we are still good friends, he just should not be married, long story however, that aspect of my life is on hold til I get this cancer stuff under control.

WOMEN ARE STRONG BECAUSE A MAN COULD NEVER DEAL WITH WHAT I HAVE GONE THOUGH THIS SUMMER!!

 Love and prayers to you all!!

Happy for those who are finishing-sorry to read that quite a few are having some burn.  Started boosts earlier today and came home with a dark reddish (even a bit blackish) burn at the sentinel node that just would not respond to any of the impressive array of creams I have here.  Sucking it up and getting ready for the last seven boosts.  Boosts are quick and relatively easy, except for the one zap that has the machine directly above me, shooting straight down at my chest.  I admit it rattled me a little.  

So much news from all you sweet rads sisters, I could never remember everyone to congratulate, console or talk about stuff with.  I do remember DIVINE (I think I am prescribed same wound dressing) and PATTY finished their rads, and for any others just finishing up, THANK GOODNESS it's over for you!  STORMY, not published except in newspapers when I used to work, but have a book of short stories waiting in the wings, it'll be called "Ripple City," if it ever gets done.  TAM I just think you have been through the mill, and I appreciated the advice about Sunburnt stuff from Walgreens.  I wish you God Speed to the end of your rads. 

For those teary and emotional, gosh, I just hate that for all of you.  I've been there and know just what that's like, and the worst is, there doesn't seem to be any way around it.  Really a devastating feeling.  Usually I am visited by lots of grief when it's late at night, so all I can do is hope I wake up the next day to my regular self.  I have been dealing with depression for years from my car accident, both the trauma and the pain, and then I regret the time I spent in the gutter drinking away my emotions.

So, the way I think breast cancer and treatments do a person is much like post traumatic stress disorder, I think you mentioned it DIVINE.  Cancer breaks down the door without knocking, then holds you down in a vise grip as long as it wants to.  I studied and pondered how can I make the monster go away, and figured out that I myself have to let it go.  I picked my time for the end of this madness, which is the end of rads, I scheduled my cancer doc followup for two weeks later, and I decided that once all the treatments are done, even tho we do not know the future, we get off the assembly line of what the docs can do to treat us, and we're truly as healed as we're gonna get.  So, I shall walk away from the hospital on that last rads day and decide I am once again a living human being!  I will be well. 

Of course, I also think pain is at the root of much of our runaway emotions, too, even tho I have put a sort of arbitrary end place for cancer for myself.  Radiation made my left shoulder hurt, and just the vastness of time left to finish rads up is so impossible, and now this burn thing is actively worrisome, and for many of you it's gotten totally out of hand with more pain.  My back from my wreck has hurt for so long, until about seven or eight years ago, I did not realize how it had turned me into a self-absorbed angry person. 

And I think we're all overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events where we must submit to docs, tests, drugs, surgery, rads people, some like me loss of a breast, and again, it's got no end in sight.  So, best advice I can give is set a date for when you're personally letting go of being sick, "I will no longer be a cancer person," and demand pain medicines for that as needed becuz it's literally like having a thorn in your side to where you can't think, you're frustrated, and it makes us women cry.   

Look, we didn't do this.  And the docs are really the ones who, all things considered, have chosen our treatment path.  But that path DOES have an end, we can say it's so, and the cancer that broke down our door will not only leave, but will fix that dang door and put triple-bolts in it.  In the end, it is our WILL that will see us through, finding that spiritual place in our hearts, and following that light as we resume our lives... somehow, somewhere, someday... "There's a place for us... peace and quiet and open air..."  Yup, I'm an unashamed writing musical fool, fo'sho!!!  Smile.  Lots of love to my rads sisters, GG

Congratulations Bedo, you are almost done. I am 3 weeks post rads today, and feeling good. Redness and itchiness are all gone. I never peeled or blistered so I am done with radiation side effects.