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

#14 today, getting a little red, some random red spots and mild itching.

Glad to have a few days off

Hello, I am new to this forum.  I've had my chemo followed by surgery...chemo sure did a number on me but the good news is they got all my cancer!  yayyyy!!  

I complained of shoulder and arm pain the day after my surgery so my surgeon checked to see if i had blood clots in my arm.  there were none.  i was still in so much pain though that they kept me in the hospital for 4 days and put me on the pain pump.  i have very limited ROM and they really had to improvise when planning my radiation.  an MRI was finally ordered and guess what??  My rotator cuff was torn during surgery.  The Dr thinks my arm must have fallen off the table after surgery causing the tear.  So now I'm looking at more surgery in the beginning of the year.  

I'm the 5th female to get cancer in my famiy so they ordered the BRCA testing.  It was denied 4 times!  I'm retired military with excellent insurance, i checked on the codes myself and they were all covered benefits with NAR.  Apparently Tricare stopped paying for the testing as of Jan 01, 2012; it's a covered benefit, they just wont cover any testing with Myriad.  

My cousin had bil mastectomy the week before i started chemo.  Long story short...it's now in her spinal fluid.  She's still in the hospital and will be going home tomorrow with hospice.  My prayers are with her and her family!  

I was supposed to start radiation this past Tuesday but my RO told me since i had such excellent results with chemo that we could put it off for a few weeks until i consulted with an orthopedic surgeon.  I saw ortho Tuesday afternoon and he gave me a cortisone injection on wednesday.  I called my RO to see if i could get in on Thurs or Friday to start radiation.  I was told no and i could start on Monday.  Today is when i found out about my cousin and now i just need a break from everything and want to start in a few weeks.  My RO calls me at 5:20 tonight and all of a sudden it's imperitive i start treatment on Monday.  pfffft   Whatever.... I'm just so sick of this roller coaster!  I wanted to keep my start date on Tuesday, she said no.  I wanted to start this week and I get a call after hours on a Friday.  If I didn't know the Ortho Surgeon, I wouldn't have even been seen until sometime next week.  

I accept what comes my way and i deal with it....because i have to!  I've kept a positive attitude from day one because i know attitude is everything.

If i wait a few weeks that will put me @ almost 3 months post op.  Have any of you waited that long to start radiation?

Thanks for letting me vent.  I'm wishing nothing but the best for each of you and your families.  

Welcome Tammy and hugs to you!  What ups and downs you have to endure...know that you can always come in here to vent and rant.  So sorry to hear about your cousin.  We all have to fight so hard just praying for positive outcomes.  With the added pain of your rotator cuff...  I started rads about 9 weeks after surgery.  I had read I think on the Johns Hopkins sight that they like to get them going before 10 weeks although sooner is preferable.  The actual rads are not bad except they place treated side arm above your head as you lie down and that may be an issue for you that I am sure they would work through.  Going everyday is a chore..but not a pain...   Hang in there and know we are here for you!

O and I just noticed the hair follicles in my axilla are a bit red. I gave the hairs a tug (I let them get kinda long in fear of irritating the skin shaving, ick! TMI) and they come right out. Guess there are some benefits...

Indigo... The machine is very different from an MRI. Pretty quiet IMHO and not nearly as intimidating. Hope your treatments go well. Have had my first 2 and they were fine. At this point I'm just glad to finally have an end in sight.

Thank you all so much for the welcomes!  

Indigo, i know what you mean about being dicey with the shaving.  I can't lift my arm to shave but I can't feel anything either.  My Dr told me the numbness would stay with me.  

I finished my chemo in June and took my son shopping for school clothes in August.  He went in the dressing room to try on some outfits.  I sat down, crossed my legs and happened to look down.....OMG, i looked like i just came off the mountain!  My legs were so hairy; talk about embarrassing!  I was in a sundress and could only imagine what my pitts looked like.  lol   I was so used to not shaving that it didn't even cross my mind.  oops.  

I never had a problem with my nails lifting.  I kept my acrylics on throughout my treatments too.  I was advised against it but i figured if i was going to feel like crap at least my nails would look good.  

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and staying cool in the warm weather we've been having....in sunny California that is.    

Just finished #8 of 35 and am getting little fluid-filled pustules here and there on my poor red boob. I have a feeling that if they break, I'll have the peeling everybody talks about.

Is this a laugh riot or what?

 I loved the post about not turning green and muscular when she gets mad...Hi-larious. 

Tomorrow I start my 3rd week and so far I'm OK except for my nipple is sore when anything touches it.  I see a little pinkness but no soreness where it is pink.  I see a lot posting about headaches and I've been getting them.  I had gone for months with no headaches.  Does anyone know why they come with rads? 

 I also have been counting during the zaps as well as trying to figure out the pitch of the beeps (I'm a music teacher!!!!).  I'm not sure I have it yet.  I don't have perfect pictch but I have relative pitch.  I thought the techs might find it odd if I started humming during my treatments.  I also pray for a friend who will be having a bone marrow transplant on Tuesday.  I promised her that every day while I'm getting zapped I would pray for her. 

On a good note, I spent the day in NYC on Saturday and although I got pretty tired I felt OK and it was nice to do something fun and adventurous!  I hope everyone has a good weeks of tx.  Each tx is one step closer to total healing!  Hugs to all.

PAeagles Fan - they do that to me also, I have more dots and X's on me - makes a person wonder why they do the tattoos in the first place - seems the only one they use is the one between the boobs -- of course with having both sides done I have many many marks.

Hello everyone. I am new here. I was diagnosed Sept 4 and underwent Mammosite radiation. Am I in the right place or is there another forum specifically addressing that type of procedure? Thanks in advance for helping this newbie.

Tina - I see my RO today and I'm going to ask about the headaches - I'll let you know what he says.

Brooklyn-  I'm sorry your sad and are having a tough time.  HUGS!  It might sound cheesy, but like JPmom's hubby, I suggest a walk!  Esp if it's sunny.  I think your weather there is alot like ours in MI - and right now in the middle of the day at lunch it's about 55-65, so I go out on a walk with my Ipod and it makes a huge difference in my day.  It gives me energy so I can get through the day easier.  And I put on some favorite good music like Florence and the Machine or Black Keys or well anything you love, and it's really good for the soul. 

Indigo - thanks for the compliment!  I am a fan of many styles - I do love pinup style but only wear it once in a while.  I like to experiment with clothes, hair, makeup, etc, and like to switch my look up a lot.  I just get bored easily when it comes to looks.  I currently have a pixie cut, but have had it a while and I think I'm going to grow it into a Louise Brooks style bob.

i have tats however every few days i get new "sharpie" markings! i don't understand but i don't complain anymore- i actually joke about it!

Rosie I do not know what mammasite radiation is but I think there are women here who are doing it. They just might not be in today. You are welcome to hang out here, or if you want to specifically talk about mammosite, you could try starting a thread on it and seeing if anyone responds, maybe you can start a group for it if there is not one already.

I started rads today. I was dreading and and was very tempted to just not do it. But I did it. I was happy because at the end, the tech was going to tattoo me, and then I thought to ask, could we just use the stickers and marker throughout treatment? And she said sure, no problem. I am not a tattoo person so this made me very happy!

It's going to be a long 6 weeks... honestly I am more worried about my co-workers getting frustrated with me being 90 minutes late to work every day than anything else. They were great during chemo but seriously this is ridiculous.

Mine remark the tattoos with a blue marker each day. They told me it's so they can still see the spots when they turn out the lights. The blue marker glows it the dark.



Rose