January 2012 rads

Just had my first treatment today. Piece of cake, although I know SEs are cumulative.

Just came back to work from tx #11.  A little tired, but I think that's from the drive there and back!  Ah, traffic.  Still beet red, but not painful and the swelling seems to be going down. Maybe the anti-inflammatories are doing the trick.

On the way out I told them all my favorite bad joke: "see you next month!" They all paused and said: no, wait, what, no, oh, I get it...   I love saying that at the end of each month.  For my coworkers, it's gotten old so I enjoy having new folks on which to inflict my humor!

Was told that if you boil water, add salt let it cool then moisten a facecloth in it and lay over treated area.. This is supposed to help with the redness.. Going to try it.. won't hurt

Hello ladies.  Glad to see everyone is moving right along.

I finished treatment #16 today.  So far just a lot of redness and soreness.  My boob is also swollen.  My RO said all this was normal.  So far, I've only used Aloe Vera gel once.  Ossa, I might try your recommendation for the redness.  I'm still wearing my regular bras but I think I may need to move to my sport bras soon.  The regular bras are starting to get uncomfortable.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow.  Talk to ya soon!

HUGS!

Ralston.

The salt water idea was given to me by my chemo  nurse who also works in radiation

Yes, I got to feeling bad and started coughing really bad.  I found out yesterday I had a broken rib!  But the RO said it was from the coughing and it was not uncommon for someone to break a rib.  He gave me some pain meds and with all the inhalers prescribed by my primary care I am starting to feel better.  Of course he didnt mention the radiation being a cause but I have read it can weaken your bones somewhat. 

I had number 25 today.  I am really sunburned and under the crease it is almost blood red.  But it's not as sore as I expected.  I can stand anything for 8 more days .... I hope.

See you ladies in February RADS.

Take care,

Helen

Gosh I think it is really easy to wonder if every little thing in our bodies is related to the rads or the cancer. I have decided not to go down that path; winter is always a hard time of year for me, I am still beset with menopausal systems and was before cancer; and have been under a lot of stress on the job, all these things can contribute to physical sensations and not feeling well, so I am going to assume it is not the radiation therapy unless a professional tells me otherwise.

#6 down

NWArtLady - I  quickly jog into the public bath room and apply calendula cream after each treatment.

Chef - That was the sweetest thing! I also want my nurse to give me a cert to a restaurant :d

I stopped wearning a bra after the first rad, am super careful when I am at home(read monitor the breast like a hawk). I try to walk around the house without a t-shirt as much as possible, getting  bit cold in my little homestead when it is -16 degrees outside I don't have any neighbors around  which is helpful and the horses wont mind. I believe the yoga, walks and honey are helping me keep any swelling down.

Ossa - I think salt water definately is worth a try. I am looking at anything used on burns. So much crap is going into my body through the radiation that I don't want to add any more meds if I don't have to.

Getting a strange kind of tired. It almost feels like being on drugs. 

I'm off to #20 today.  The fatigue is so heavy.  With chemo, I only had a day or two of fatigue, but with rads it is everyday and night.  I finally took at nap yesterday for about 2 hours and my body was happy.  I don't know about anyone else, but I've also been waking up early with night sweats and hot flashes.  Seems that chemopause has really started the menopause train.

I remember back in June talking with my doctor and saying that I didn't want the cure to be worse then the disease.  Well, I have to say I'm starting to wonder.  I know I did the right thing by all the treatment choices I made, but before BC I was never physically sick.  Now I feel beaten down.  Sorry to be a drag and downer.  I should be happy that I only have a dash over 2 weeks left, but I'm nervous about the Tamoxifen coming up too.

Momine, no dressing room?!? That sucks! I'd say something to them about that - you have to be there every day for weeks and you at least deserve the dignity of a changing room.  Banba, do you also not have a changing room? At least you can get the cream on soon after treatment.

Rockym, I, too, am feeling more fatigued. I just hold on to the fact that things will slowly get back to normal after we are all done with treatments (right?!?). And I know what you mean about chemopause!  I am waking up in the middle of the night sweating, I even found myself tempted to take off my hat when I was talking to a group of students at work due to a hot flash! I didn't, though, because I dd not want to distract them from what I was saying.

I'm going to get some aloe to supplement my calendula - y'all are always a fount of good information!!

Interesting to see the different experiences.  I have a changing room and there is coffee and other drinks available if you want anything.  The techs seem to change a lot,  there is only a couple of consistent people, but they are all very nice.

I just had #15 out of 33 and I am holding up well.  I have a little bit of a "tan" but am not feeling anything different.  I use aloe right after the treatment, and still using emu oil and aquaphor.  I also got some Miaderm and have used a couple of times. 

Fatigue is wierd.  Some days I feel totally wiped out, and then others I am totally normal.  I lost another pound this week.  Not that I am complaining!  It is just kind of weird.

Chef, are you still losing also?

hello ladies,

Another uneventful tx. #15.

anafoefana, Lost 2 #'s at last weigh in. Gained the 2#'s back this week. I guess the meno is normalizing. or is it the rads?? My skin is also a pinkish tan and not sore at all. I must be leather like. I hope it continues to be so easy but the worst is yet to come.

I'm not really moisturizing as much as I should. Will I regret this lazyness? I'm the same way with the fatigue, some days it hits me and somedays not.

I just finished #20 of 33 today. Five more whole breast treatments and I start the boosts. The boosts will be a higher dosage and they are pretty sure I'm going to burn. Not looking forward to those.

I'm very fair skinned and sunburn very easily. I'm also large breasted and they said that combination was going to mean trouble for me. So far (and I still have a ways to go) I'm only dark pink on my upper chest and under my arm. I'm light pink on my breast. However I have quite a rash on my chest and it's been there for a while. I'm using aloe on the rash and miaderm on my breast. Some days I just spread both everywhere. Who knows which one is really working best? I'm just pleased that I don't have blisters... yet.

I agree with Banba that the fatigue feels like you're on drugs. I get really light headed and my brain feels like it's in a fog. It comes on suddenly for me and usually in the afternoons (I get morning treatments). I try to either just power through it or I go out to my car and take a short nap. The real blessing for me has been that I take every Wed. afternoon off now. I sleep about two hours on those afternoons and it really helps. It also helps me psychologically to break up the monotony of the week with the treatments. I think it's what is going to help me get through.

My breast also continues to swell. It is quite a bit bigger than the other one now making the bra begin to be too tight on that side. If I go without a bra any bouncing around causes me pain. My breast is so sore I even have to be careful putting on the cream. 

Thanks ladies for being here. No one else really gets what I'm going through and talking to my family just distresses them that there is nothing they can do to "solve" it. Venting the other day just made my mom cry so no more talking about it to her.

There are no changing rooms anywhere, no gowns either. Why gowns? You wear it while on the table?