January 2012 rads

Helen, that sounds weird. My onc also wanted to put me on tamox, but everyone else was straight onto the AIs. There may be a good reason in your case, but I really don't think it is standard.

Chef - I am so sorry for my mistake.  I'll bet the news that your son was okay was the happiest day or your life.  I just cannot imagine the fear and the joy that you felt in such a short period of time.  Again, sorry for my mistake.  Hope that you are feeling better all around.

 I used the new cream with the Lidocane last night after treatment and for the first time in weeks forgot that I actually have a breast.  LOL  Felt so good.  Guess this was feeling like the new norm so did not realize how irritated my skin really is.  So tired of all this crap.  Last night while laying in bed reading I found another small lump on the other side.  I'm sure it's nothing as I just had a clear MRI in November after diagnosis, but it scared the hell out of me and all I could think is "not again".  I could not find it this morning, so thinking it was the position I was in or something, but now yet another thing to watch.  And who do I call if I find it again - BS, MO, RO?  I am so down about it today.  Just a little freaked out.  I don't want to do this again. 

 I am so glad that each time I get on here and read another post of "today wa my last day".  That makes me happy, happy for all of y'all.  You are paving the way for the rest of us and giving us something to look forward to. 

The GOOD news is that it is Friday and for me at least a 3 day break from Rads since my facility is closed on Monday for the holiday.  An extra day of healing that I am very thankful for.  

 I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend. 

Hello ladies,

Been off of my TX for 4  days now and there is no change in the redness. It is starting to itch and some of the skin in the clav area is peeling. Nipple is hard as a rock. it seems to be getting worse. I'm supposed to resume on monday(if their open) and start all over again w/ the burning. 

My DD got me a bottle of the Emu Gold Ultra active oil, whatever that means. and it feels sooo smooth and nice. Also got a cream called "How Now Brown Cacao" smells delicious.It has organic coconut butter, raw cacao butter, organic aloe leaf, avacado oil and MSM which is sulfur for burns and borax which is sodium. It sounds like the perfect ointment for rads???? I'll try it in between the Emu oil.

Enjoy your weekend free from rads.

newksmom100: If it were me, I would call my MO if I found another lump. He handled the majority of my treatment, through months of chemo, still saw me through radiation and bmx as well.

bgirl, thats that they told me; that they attach a cone type thing on it. I'll see next Friday. Did you ask how much radiation they give? If you get the whole breast amount to the boost area? I am good under the arm; the mid strength steroid is really knocking back the inflammation. Glad to hear you are doing well!

Debbie

#20 of 25 done. I am pretty cooked, red but not sore. On my underarm I have a tiny tiny little "pimple" that has hurt for 3 weeks, I am thinking that it is possible an in growth hair but I keep forgetting to tell the nurse. It's painful, but I don't want the rest of my life to jump and worry for every little thing thinking   the worse... By the way, my skin has a lot of black spots like "freckles" now and my arm hurts a little because I think I have been protecting my "foob"... and.... Well, ALL of these too shall pass. Have a wonderful weekend!

Ralston and Chef,

I have little black spots also and developed a huge pimple right at my bra line... so no bra for me!  I also have a lot of moles I did not have before and the spot on my clavicle is very red and sore.  I guess I didn't treat as well as I did my breast! 

I have 5 more boosters and I am done!  Time has really gone quickly for me and it has not been too bad. I am almost in the home stretch!  I just have to get through Herceptin until the end of June and I can take a breath.  I know I will never be able to breath easy because this will always be hanging over my head. 

I saw my MO this week and she told me to be very careful if I start having headaches.  She said that is the only place Herceptin does not work.  

Chef27, how are you feeling?  When do you resume your treatment or have you already?

Anafoefana - wow, you have me scared with your MO's advice to watch for headaches. I also will finish Herceptin in late June, and didn't know (or forgot if I read it) that it doesn't work for the brain. Have you had any scans during treatment or will you have any after rads? I have had none since before treatment, and don't think I will get any, although I'd like to, to know all is clear as far as they can determine. My MO had said they watch for symptoms.

#23 done yesterday, 10 more to go (last 5 are boosts). I am not getting the little back spots mentioned, just redness and a new freckle on my neck in treatment area. I have occasional pains that I wonder about being in a rib.

Anafoefana - I found a page that supports what your MO says:

http://her2support.org/metastasis/brain-cns/brain-metastasis 

I may have read it before. We'll have to keep praying for the best -- that all these treatments will have killed all available cancer cells -- and then further treat any that got through. I was already concerned about my delayed start of rads, 3.5 months after BMX, due to TE infections. I hope these rads are still effective; my RO said this is on the outside timeframe he would prefer patients to wait, but that it would still be effective. How would they even know its effectiveness?

AnnAlive,

Thank you for the link.  It is scary to think about, but I am trying to think positively.  It is good to know in case you develop those symptoms.  Being HER2+ is not good, but I think we are better off today than we would have been years ago.  One day at a time is my motto.  I have learned to not be upset over the things I have no control over.  We will be okay!

Helen, you are so right.  If all this we are going through makes us cancer free, then it is worth going through! 

Did my last treatment today! I look like an overcooked piece of bacon with all the multi-colored peeling and oozing areas. The exit burn on my back is larger as well. They told me that this is the intention of the treatment to get into those layers on the skin and burn them, get them peeling, etc. They wanted to make sure that I didn't feel like this was a mistake. They said that some people just have a more dramatic reacation with their skin than others, no matter what they do for skin care.

So I have been in a lot of pain this last two weeks. They gave me cooling gel sheets, which kept unpeeling and the edges would irritate my skin. They did some saltwater compresses. Those were wonderful until I had very open oozing areas, then it started to sting. Mostly through the beginning I used the Natural Care Gel with a huge thick layer of Aquaphor over it, like I was icing a cake. As it got extremely painful, they gave me silvadene cream. I put that on, let it dry for an hour or so, then put on the Aquaphor. Then they also gave me Oxycodone. There has been so much pain, that even that can't keep me sleeping, but it helps a lot.

I found that it helped me to NOT count down the days too much. I didn't start counting until I had 6 left. In chemo it made sense to me to count because there were not as many. When I had rads, there were 28, so it seemed a little like getting to work at 8:00, looking at the clock at 8:15 and saying, "Great! Only 7 hours and 45 minutes to go!" So I tried to spend that same energy focused on a job search and getting household chores done that I had put aside while I was busy working.

Best wishes to all of you who are still in the race!

Ralston: I had blisters. I thought they looked so small and delicate that they would pop soon. But they stayed for about a week through all the Silvadene and Aquaphor and saltwater compresses. 

What do you apply on your open wounds?

Yay J-bug.. woohoo happy dance... My skin is surprisingly still holding up.. got a rash and some redness, but no sores yet.. Thought for sure I would be raw by now.. I am a very fair skinned redhead so expected the worst.. Guess saline and glaxal base as well as my trusted aloe plant are doing their job.. 18 done, 5 more whole breast then 3 boosts then healing and back to life exchange surgery sometime after skin has healed

All I can say is DONE!  Oh ya... I also want a normal life back too, but of course I know that's too much to ask for.