Winter RADS 2012 Club...Please come join the fun!

cowpower, when someone says "At least it was caught early and you're not like in stage 3 or anything" it is almost always awkward except when I heard it from one friend who lost her mother to ovarian cancer a couple of years ago - and she was saying it in the nicest, most sincere open-faced way - it was ok because I knew she meant, "What a relief for you and your loved ones." you know?

sonson, I was scheduled for PT even though I only had one node removed. It's apparently common practice at our center for BC patients to get PT consults. (we don't have cookies or fleecy gowns but there are other good practices...) I actually tried to get out of it but got a reschedule. Can you ask for PT if you're not getting it?

LifeOnItsSide, Crap. I hope you get an answer swiftly and that it's a good one. I will keep my fingers crossed.

momtopiglet, I homeschool also but only have one student. You have quite a handful there and I know it's a full-time job. You are holding down a job during treatment. (My husband said to me a couple weeks ago, "At least you haven't had to work." <- yeah, planning out and supervising and teaching isn't any work, honey... but I know he was trying to help me count my blessings.)  I quit some high stress, nearly volunteer activities I had immediately after diagnosis or within a month or so after. Those I don't feel guilty about. Some "mom" things I feel guilty about sometimes and that my homeschooling hasn't been too much other than straight outta the box stuff all fall. If "mom" guilt kicks in, I usually call in a friend or two to help me out by including my son in something that I usually would do but am not up to these days. I really HATED requesting help and then subsequently letting some people know about my diagnosis - I've generally kept it on a need-to-know basis. My homeschooling group here mostly knows even though I'm not close to many of them but I showed up much thinner and with a bandana on my head and no eyebrows.   feel free to message me.

3 down, 27 to go, Rightie is warmer than leftie but so far she's not pink. My nipple's a little tender but it has been since lumpectomy so it's only slightly worse.

Guess I should put my two cents in about the whole gown/cover up issue.  Back when I had my breast rads, I changed into a gown for the sim but after that I just wanted to get in and out of there QUICK, and wanted to just hop on the table topless and get it over with.  The techs gave me some towel to cover up while I walked the five steps from the clothes hooks to the table, o.k. whatever; and they put a washcloth-sized thing on my non-treatment side during the rads.  My rads only took about five minutes, so top or no top, fine with me.

Fast forward to now, my rads are on the other end (colorectal cancer) and, again, no gown.  It is now basically a drop your drawers procedure (which they somehow find a way to screen some of me chastely with a towel, so I do not feel so "exposed."  It is pretty weird, but again I don't want to bother with a gown for what is now a less than ten minute procedure, besides the exams I've had to endure already "exposed" me plenty.  Upon completion of this series of rads, I will be ready to embark on a new career as a pole dancer, as I will have no modesty at all left.

Well, maybe instead of my two cents, I gave a nickel's worth.  Keep the change. 

Has anyone heard about not using any products with parabens in them? I think they are preservatives used in alot of health and beauty products like shampoos, etc.

allyahgirl, I have heard from a very reputable source that parabens are a bad idea and you should try to avoid them.

aliyahgirl, thanks for the tip on the underwires. I may have to do that for the day-use ones too. The sports bras I have for night are not too serious - not that smooshy - so they are so far so good but I very much aprecciate the tip and am also looking at harrietcarter.com.       Which calendula cream or ointment are you using? I started some itching under my right boob last night and so I used some Weleda calendula cream I bought for this experience. It helped, definitely. I'm just curious about other brands in case something about this one doesn't work for the whole rads.        and Yes, I avoid parabens but since they are ubiquitous I think I still have some conditioner around (not that I need it yet) that has some in it. I started avoiding them though because of sensitive skin, it seemed like they contributed to my eczema and dermatitis. The wikipedia article on parabens lists studies that say they're nothing conclusive at this time to think that parabens contribute to breast cancer or "A 2005 safety assessment of parabens concluded that cosmetics containing parabens do not, on the basis of currently available evidence, pose a health risk; because of the low doses involved and the low probability that parabens will penetrate into the tissue, remain intact, and accumulate there."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraben#Breast_cancer

Lifeonitside, prayers and good thoughts for you. Please keep us posted when you're able.

Lifeonittsside, you must be going nuts waiting!  Yes, sending good thoughts your way and please let us know when you find out.

Re the parabens, I figure, better to avoid them.  There are lots of great products now that don't have them, aveda, the body shop, st. ives- -which is an excellent drugstore brand.  I'm not as worried about it for hair products -- right now I need stuff that REALLY helps detangle and one of the products I have for that does have parabens (I did the cold caps so I have hair but I have to be really gentle with it, but it's still curly and prone to tangling so ....)

Loneskier, best of luck tomorrow. I found the first few times q bit more intimidatingthan I expected. Now I listen to music and nap! It will go by fast, cant believe Tomorrow is 22/33 for me already.





Loveofcritters, are you out there? How are you doing?

Lifeonitsside - So sorry you have to wait for answers.  This stuff is really a test of patience isn't it?  Sending hugs your way!

Momtopiglet - It was definitely weird to tell everyone at my work about my BC.  I work in construction and I really didn't feel like broadcasting it.  I only told my boss and a few close co-workers at first.  Then I had to tell everyone in my department to explain why I'm gone so much.  I didn't want them mad at me for dumping so much of my workload on them.  The weird thing is that the guys have been much more supportive than the few ladies that work for us.

I'm on 9/35 tomorrow.  The SE's I'm having are pinkness, soreness, swelling, and heaviness.  No fatigue yet.  I started using the aloe juice from one of my aloe plants last Tuesday, and it seems to be taking away the pinkness.  However, the nipple soreness has been getting worse.  I see my MO on Mondays so I will ask her about it tomorrow.

On the gown issue, ours aren't too bad.  They tie in the back and go down to our upper thighs.  I feel really bad for the man that goes in right after me.  He has to completely undress and he's stuck trying to cover up his backside and pulling it down as much as possible. 

LifeOnItsSide - Good luck today! My fingers are crossed and thoughts are with you too. I'm voting for sonson's hypothesis about the RO's "hmmm"s.

Sonson-you're welcome.  I think I found it on the lymphedema thread.  Good luck tomorrow.  I just did #3.  It's definitely not as bad a chemo.  Just lay there and think happy thoughts. Then go home and lube the boob.

PK- I asked my MO for a recommendation.  She gave me 3 ROs and told me which one she thought I would like and  she was right.  You can google the recommendations and a lot of times people have reviewed them.  Good luck.

Sonson - Neither my MO or my RO recommended PT at first.  However, I started getting cording in my armpit and couldn't raise my arm up into the radiation cuff.  I had two sessions of PT and the cording is completely gone.  The PT office told me I needed to come in twice a week for 4-6 weeks.  I think that is way-way overkill.  All they did in my sessions was massage my arm and armpit for about 25 minutes and then send me to the gym to do arm stretches.  It definitely worked, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't do on my own so I stopped going after the second treatment.  If you aren't seeing improvement in your range of motion, then I would definitely make it clear you want PT.  In my experience, it didn't take long to see improvement and it was well worth it just to see what exercises you should be doing at home.

sonson, I forgot to add good luck tomorrow with first "zap."  I found out today that what I thought was 11 more treatments and 1 "boost" to the mx scar area, is actually 6 more treatments and 6"boosts."  My axila rejoices! I hope you and others do as well with the rads as I have so far.  My skin is so sensitive that I thought I would be in big trouble by now and it's just red and hot. The RO on my team was even joking that I am much less "high Maintenance" on his watch than back with the MO.

New to the forum but have been lurking since dx of stage 1 grade2 lobular. Lumpectomy 6 weeks ago nodes negative but a few isolated cells. Oncotype came back today low risk so rads. No chemo. I'm more concerned abokut the Femara than rads. Has anyone just decided against the meds?