Question on timing of radiation after surgery

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How soon after surgery should radiation begin? 

Specifically, I'm asking b/c my PS wants me to wait about a month to recover from surgery, then begin fills for about another month. 

My concern is 2 months after surgery leaves me with a window "unprotected", and I'm TN..  Would 2 months from surgery be reasonable? 

Comments

  • anonymice
    anonymice Member Posts: 532
    edited December 2011

    They started my rads 4 weeks after my bmx, with some similar stats to yours - I was not TN but did have IBC. 

  • peggy_j
    peggy_j Member Posts: 1,700
    edited December 2011

    I think I waited 4 weeks after my lumpectomy. Sounds like your PS wants the tissues healed prior to rads, which seems smart. What does your RO say?  (FWIW, I had a slight variation in rad treatment, so they do customize treatment based on each patient). Keep in mind, rads is being done to protect future recurrence. Your BS removed the known tumor and got good margins. So in terms of preventing future recurrence, it seems like a few extra weeks might not make a difference...but your RO would be the best one to make the call.

  • Sherryc
    Sherryc Member Posts: 5,938
    edited December 2011

    I started rads 8 weeks after surgery.  I think the max window they recommend is 12 weeks following surgery if not doing chemo.  Remember some women have surgery, chemo , then rads.

  • redsox
    redsox Member Posts: 523
    edited December 2011

    The PS and RO should agree on the timing and steps.  They are more anxious to start rads soon if they are worried about close margins or an aggressive pathology.  Also, if the fills are too big before rads, they may get in the way of radiation treatment fields and need to be reduced.  (Reconstructed breasts do not move in the same pattern as natural breasts.)

  • LuvRVing
    LuvRVing Member Posts: 4,516
    edited December 2011

    I started rads two months after finishing chemo (I had surgery before chemo).  I really don't think it's a problem.

  • edwards750
    edwards750 Member Posts: 3,761
    edited December 2011

    My BS said to wait 4-6 weeks to allow your body to heal. I had 2 surgeries - one was the lumpectomy and other one to even up the margins so I waited 6 weeks. Minimum from what I was told is a month. I wanted to get the rads over asap and for the record they werent bad at all.

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