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

KimbytheSea-I have not heard of the product you mentioned.  I am red just below the SNB scar and a bit on breast as well as the underboob.  For an extra soothing touch, Tazzy mentioned a saline compress a few days ago that i tried and feels GREAT!!  I hope she won't mind me resharing...Boil 1 litre water (about 34 oz=about 4 1/4 cups) water and add 1-2 tsps salt..let come to room temp.  I pour this on washcloth and apply to sore area for 15 mins with a men's undershirt to hold in place a few times a day.  Feels cool and refreshing and then I re lube with the radiogel from the RO, or aloe or calendula.  Skin not getting any worse and in fact sort of looks like it is turning to slight tan.  #22/31 today for me.  Hope this helps!!

JPMom..hope you are doing well!

For saline compresses, you can also buy saline in a pressurized can at the pharmacy. It is sold for wound treatments and may be with first aid supplies or behind the counter. This saves you the trouble of boiling, cooling, and possibly storing your own saline. Instant gratification.

I used it on gauze pads as part of wound treatments some years ago and it is a very convenient product.

  Congrats Sissydi!  Celebrate!!  You derserve it! 

Congrats sissydi-

Congrats Sissydi!!!!! Can't wait to join you

#24 of 28 today. Skin definitely red esp axilla, supraclav and upper back area. Ugh!

Using saline soaks as well which I think have helped. Hanging in there.....

xoxo

Congrats Sissydi! And hope those of you having SEs heal quickly.

Congratulations Sissydi!

Hi,

I post on here now and then.  Just finished week 1 of rads (5 sessions), 28 more to go!  I've felt some pain twinges in the area but no burns yet.  The nurses, techs and my RO are all really good.  I have to bring my son Oliver every day and I think they really enjoy that (he is 7.5 months old).  

Congrats to everyone who's reached the finish line!  I had my dry run on 10/15 and first tx on 10/16, so 3 of 25 in the books.  Today's appointment was a bust - got there early for my 6:45 a.m. appointment and the server that runs the entire computer system for the whole radiation therapy department was crashed.  They couldn't tell when it might be fixed and couldn't even call patients because all of the patient info, including phone numbers, is in the computer!  I hung out for an hour and a half because I'd rather not tack an extra day onto the schedule, but finally gave up and left.  Still did the Miaderm anyway and will do it again at bedtime like I have been.  One of my first questions when I had my consult was, do the machines break down often?  There was a computer glitch during my first treatment that caused a 20-minute delay and now this!  But you just roll with it, right? 

Jujubie, welcome!  I think there are some Canadians here, yes (Tazzy for one!). 

Today was #13 of 35 for me. Two of the female nurses were out today, and a young man was filling in for them. When I first saw him, I felt awkward (every one of my doctors and nurses until today have been women), but really it was ok. The two other ladies were doing all the adjustments "up top," idk what he was doing as I couldn't see him. It feels like half the people in this city have seen my breasts, anyway, so what does it matter anyway. Just another day.



More x-rays, of course, I've had x-rays on at least six of the days so far. It's frustrating! I wish I knew why they have to readjust the machine and take x-rays every other day.



Breast is pink. Aereola is dark, larger than normal, and deep pink around the edges. Some swelling and very mild discomfort, but otherwise fine.



I'm glad to have two days off.

kimbythesea- I was just reading your post and realize we are at about the same place and I am feeling a lot like you.  I finally took a day off work after tx #24.  I just couldn't deal with life physically or emotionally.  It helped a lot to spend a whole day alone with myself.  Part of my emotion I know is that I'm coming to the end of this crazy journey and I just don't know how to feel right now.

I am very excited, 15 of 20 done today; the end of the treatment is near.  Red, very itchy on top, little red bumps. 

My boss called me today and commended me for my positive spirit; said I had not skipped a beat at work (no one else at work knows).   This made me feel good; I have a great boss. I think if others knew, they would be looking for me to make a mistake. 

Great RO and nurse; I like the weekly meetings so she can tell me if I need to do anything different.  One more week, then I hope to be done.   I will try the water/salt for the itchiness.

Hi Kimby

I'm having rads at the moment too and understand a little about how you are feeling. Totally relate to your feelings about being exposed and drawn on.

I hate being on the gantry waiting for the radio people to come in and line me up on the machine again and maybe draw on me too again.

It makes me feel very exposed and vulnerable - and forces me to accept what has happened to me in 2012.

I always ask for women radiotherapy people, even when men have been put on my schedule, and so far I have been lucky enough to get my wish. Just feels more comfortable. I don't like the idea of young men staring at my breast and mastectomy either.

Although it may sound strange to some of you, I do not look at myself without a boob in the mirror very often - only when I'm dressed with the prothesis in. The changing room at the hospital I go to has a mirror on the wall and I inadvertently caught sight of myself with only one boob - it was a painful reminder.

When the machine started buzzing and I knew the radiotherapy beams were coming out, I felt very sad. Radio for me means I will have to have a form of breast reconstruction that involves taking flesh from my back and a muscle to form a mound. 

Not keen on this at all...Wished I could have a reconstruction like the ones I've watched on TV for breast implants! 

So to you and the other ladies who have expressed feeling emotional about rads, I get it. Really do. Have felt teary and weepy too.

Trying to focus on the positive - the radiotherapy may kill any cells that have not been killed off by the chemo.

Good luck to us all - and congratulations to Sissy and the other ladies who have finished radiotherapy.

Hoping to join you soon!

Alice

Hey, everyone...I had my simulation and got my tattoos last week and will start treatments Monday.  I have made it through 20 weeks of chemo (separated before and after my mastectomy), but I am really concerned with where I am going to find the strength for radiation.  My biggest obstacle is the 2 1/2 hour drive each way to and from the hospital. It is exhausting and overwhelming to think of 5 hours in the car every weekday for the next 7 weeks.  Anyone else have a long commute?  How do you deal?  I am a single mom, so not coming home each nite is not an option.  I'm tough and have made it through the last eight months, so I know I will make it through some how.

Tazzy, how often do you do the saline soaks?  I may try to add that to my routine.

My PT warned me about it, but in the last two days I've noticed my cording getting a bit worse again.  I was to where I couldn't see the cords at all, and had to really poke around in my arm to feel one, but I can easily see one, and feel two, again.  Luckily the pain still stretches out (goes away if I stretch to the point of pain and hold it for a minute), but it's annoying, nonetheless.  I'm still stretching my arm twice a day (PT insisted I stretch at least once a day through rads, and for a couple weeks after).  I also find myself waking up on my left side, left arm above my head and lying on it, so that helps stretch it out as well.  Hopefully it doesn't get much worse, or else I'll have to ask for a script to go see my PT again.  (Not that I mind going to see her, I always felt so good afterwards, but I'd just rather not have to deal with that, too.)