Fall 2012 Rads girls......come on in!

JPMom--thanks for telling us how it went.  I think I'll be emotional about the first day so I was glad to hear that it was okay for you.  I hate the emotional toll all this takes--like a rollercoaster!  I agree that the 17% of your lung sounds like a lot.  I think I still have about 2 weeks before the first session.  Good luck!

Hey Tazzy. I'm glad you are here. Your smiling face is so reassuring! Does it hurt to moisturize where you had your mastectomy? I'm scared to touch mine too much. Also I am not sure what to call it. It's not really a breast anymore I guess  but what do you call it?

I think it's neat some of you get educational sessions. My cancer center doesn't do chemo class or things like that. I wish they did, I think it would have been nice.

ellendou, good luck on the move. It must be so hard to have to do this away from home. And you only finished chemo on the 24th! I finished in late May. I feel pretty good now except for some joint stiffness when I first stand up, but it did take a while to not feel short of breath taking even short walks. I remember how happy it made me, the first time I was able to walk to the mailbox without getting short of breath. I gained weight during chemo too, about 5lbs. At least rads won't make us gain weight or lose our hair, right?

floridatworeds - I can't believe you are starting rads so soon after finishing chemo! I know I'm a little behind schedule but wow, that just seems really fast! but if you are up to it, you'll be done that much faster I suppose.

Patti - thanks for the tip about the aloe. I cannot imagine how it must feel to go through this a second time. I'm sure we will benefit from your shared experiences.

Laurie - good luck on your move as well.

Rosey - nice to "see" you, it was sweet of you to check in and share your story. I hope your recovery is going well.

jpmomf3 - I'd be nervous about 17% of my lung, that sounds like a lot to me too! But I guess they know what tehy are doing right? I'm glad your first day went smoothly.

cottontail - I'm also looking forward to not having any more major treatments after this year. Can't wait until 2013!

Pleasant surprise today.  Saw my Rad Onc today and ended up getting my mapping and tats!  I was only expecting to have a short consult with him to go over things and get the schedule for my treatments.   Didn't understand WHY I had to go in for a consult since I saw him before chemo and we pretty much covered everything then, but what do I know? 
After reading some ladies live so far from their rad center, I am grateful that almost all of my appointments have been scheduleed in the morning before I go to work.  The few that couldn't are all after work except the 1st one.  
Sometimes it's the small things

PAeagles, glad you got things moved along. That much less time to stew about it coming up. It's good to just get it done.



My attitude is much better today. Yesterday was a dark day. I still hate this but am not letting it bother me today. I had my second of 33 zaps today. I keep imagining a little redness already around the nipple where the skin got thinned out by surgery but it is probably just irritation from my clothes. I am putting on the ALRA cream and toms deodorant that my RO recommended. I have stopped wearing bras. I am tiny breasted especially on the lumpectomy side so it hardly matters. I am just wearing soft tanks under my shirts.



They are amazingly effecient at the rad onc center. I just use a card to check in with and go straight to the locker room and get in a gown. Then they come get me within minutes to go to the zappy machine. It took 20 minutes total door to door and they said that yesterday and today were longer than usual because they had to check my position numbers. I work three minutes from the center too so it won't take too much time from my job.



2 down 31 to go. Just counting this shit down. I just hope I don't have any major issues that delay this treatment because I want October 25 th to be the end of this marathon.

Just had another 2 ct scans, this time using breathing apparatus to help push heart out of way. This will set me up for final trial next week and then start to the rads with the breathing device. Really the worst part is the inconvenience of driving to main hospital each day downtown 35 mins vs the branch 5mins away from office. Just want to get this going already

Hi all

I will be starting rads tomorrow. Definitely nervous about the unknown and the skin side effects. I have some thin skin on my breast after expanders put in. I keep getting the stats of 30 percent chance of losing this expander with radiation and needing a lat dorsi flap surgery. Keeping my fingers crossed. Also worried about lymphedema as I have 15 nodes out on my left side. Will have to have the axilla radiated, even though nodes are out as the cells were foundto have leaked out of the nodes in the axillary tissue   Will also be getting rads to supraclavicular nodes.

I have bought Miaderm cream after extensive research on these boards...hope it helps.

Rose- we seem to have the same diagnoses. My tumor was 1.2 cm.

Wishing us all smooth treatments and no side effects    xoxo

3 down 30 to go.  No side effects yet but didnt expect any.  I am getting the supraclav and inframammary nodes done too.  All this stuff sound intimidating and horrible but so far there isnt much to it yet.  the appointments take 10 minutes.  It doesnt hurt (yet) it doesnt make me feel sick, just seems so strange that anything is actually happening.  I know it will but it is almost anticlimactic so far.  Not that i want to have my skin blister or feel like crap again but just weird.

I had a PT appointment today at the lymphedema clinic.  She also popped a whole bunch of my cords and my arm feels so much better.  I can move it almost pain free and through the whole range of motion now. I will go get a lymphedema sleeve to wear if I fly or if i start to develop symptoms.  I had none today but she said that it commonly first comes up around the inner part of the upper arm right near the elbow.  I had some mild swelling there after I cleaned out my basement this weekend so I am very worried that it will get worse with radiation helping things along.  goodness I hate this.

Tomorrow I see my surgeon and hopefully get clearance to get started with rads. I just want to get it over with and move on. Very tired of cancer treatments!

Thank you Christina for the welcome.  I go for mapping 9/21 and assumed I started the rads the next working day, but they need time to plan, so I start Oct 1.  It's helpful to hear that at day 3, no side effects.

One clear theme from all of you , "I just want to get it over with".   Me, too!  I can't wait to start just so I can finish.  I have the Canadian protocal of 20 treatments, so I start 10/1 and finish 10/26.   I am renting a room close to the facility since it's about 120 miles from my home

Laurie, I think the Canadian protocol is the 3 weeks with "boosts" included each day.  A bit higher dose for a shorter time.  If so, this is the clinical trial I am in to compare, but I was randomly placed in the traditional arm of 6-7 weeks usually done in USA.  My RO thinks that eventually if proven, the shift may be toward the shorter time.  Less time, less money and less anguish if results prove similar.   I know side effects on the smaller comparison studies were similar but this study taking it on a much bigger scale. 

JPmom..glad you can get this going and so far so good...I can't wait to jump in so I too can jump out!

Well just got a call from RO office. My clinical trial status means they had only so long to start treatments since surgery and mine was back on july 20. So now a rush. They going to do all final mapping, tattoos i would assume i need and first treatment on Weds. I will see RO then too i hope cos i dont even know how many tx am having. Am using that breathing device to protect heart. Ready to roll ...

Rn4babies and xtina, thank you for info!!! How you two doing? Xoxo

Hi Aruba, I have no doubt there are different Canadian protocols out there; in fact I was just reading about 3 wk and 4 wk protocols.  Mine is a shorter course, like it's done in Canada (and Europe) and will be 4 weeks; it's not part of a study, just a Eurpoean or Canadian type protocol.  Maybe your study is looking at improving the 4 weeks to 3 weeks.   In any case, I'm thrilled to do this for only four weeks once I  ever get started. 

 Thank you for your update Jeni; I am so sorry to hear you've shown redness after three days.  Let us know what they tell you on Monday

 JPMom, thanks for the update; good for you with no SE after 4 days.  I like hearing the daily update

Hi Nkb,

I have to say if I'm feeling it already after 2 visits I can't imagine after 20. I guess...we'll just have to keep up the lotion! Good Luck!

Jeni, sorry to hear that you are getting redness so soon, hopefully a rest this weekend will all recovery. I am not red yet after 4 but the skin does seem more sensitive. But just around the surgery site where it was already sensitive so I don't know how much is just from previously. I am glad to have a couple days break from the linear accelerator...