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

I'm done 33/33!!! I even received a diploma !!! 

On earlier postings, someone asked about giving gifts to your radiation techs, nurses, etc. when you finish. I thought it was a great idea  so  I gave them a pretty basket and I filled it with oranges, apples and Hershey kisses. They were thrilled.

I was diagnosed March 2012 and after 2 surgeries, chemo and radiation, I am so happy to be done with treatment.  I'm getting my port out on Valentine's Day.

fgm, Congratulations!!!! Yay!!!! woohoo!!!

Fgm, CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to the "a little more free time now" club.  Rest up and heal- you will feel like you a;re finally getting your self back. A great feeling!

Elimar, good luck with everything! You have been a lot of help here and will be missed.

Patin, you are very welcome. Hang in there, the second half does seem to go by much faster!

Fgm, yay!!! I get so excited when one of us finishes!!!!!!

Bookworm, I am not sure if that is normal or not? I would definitely call your doc to make sure it isn't an infection, though.

Congratulations Sonson, Loneskier, and Fgm!!! Enjoy your free time and hope you all have speedy healing of your roasted parts! 

Good luck elimar!! I'll miss you!

Hope you're feeling better Lifeonitside!

I finished 8/31 today.  Feeling a bit more tired than usual, but that could just be winter for me, too. I even started taking a B Vitamin complex.  So much for those!

Has anyone seen the commercial for the 3-day Komen walk this year in big cities around the country? I looked up the Chicago date and the Twin Cities date and they're both in August!! Really??  We lived in Chicago for 6 months after we got married and it was about 110 degrees in August. Maybe I'll have to start smaller and work my way up.....

Happy February everyone! (At least it's a short month, ha!:))

Anyone else have any "pimples" under the boob- kind of like a sweat rash.?? My Rads MD saw it & noted. I think it's cuz I can't really scrub there and the Aquaphor traps sweat. No topless sunbathing for me soon....lol. Starting to get red & peel a little. Got clonidsone or something like that from dr today. Still gotta get aloe this weekend. Passed my 1/2 way mark! Whoo hoo!!

Shachar I been so busy thinking about cancer I forgot about groundhog day so thanks for that :-)

Shachar, I did not realize those electron beams are boosts. I get two of those daily targeting the internal mammary nodes part of my regular treatment. Two lead plates, one for upper chest and one for lower. I am supposed to get boosts to mastectomy scar for my last 5 treatments.

Congratulations to those who have crossed the finish line!

Waitingforthenextstep, I think people usually get some recovery time between surgery and rads, like three weeks or so. And usually there are three or four weeks between chemo and mastectomy if you are doing neoadjuvant chemo. So that ends up being about six weeks from date of last chemo to first day of rads. I took a little more time off, so started rads three months after last chemo. But usually they want you in sooner than that.

Bookworm, did you talk to your doc about the discharge?

Thank you everyone for the congrats! It did feel good not going to the hospital this morning.

Susancats- I have that rash right now.  I got it around my 30th treatment.  I've been putting an anti-fungal/steroid cream on it.

Waiting-I waited 6 weeks between chemo and rads.  I remember feeling almost normal when I started rads.

My boost experience was a little different from Shachar's.  I was in the same room using the same machines.  The first day was long because the doctor kept wanting more films so they could set it up. The lead bars made it so only a small amount of rads were used.   My scar was under my breast.  After it was set up, my boosts consisted of 4 zaps about 10-15 seconds each, if that much.  Very fast. I was in and out.

Have a comfortable weekend everyone.   Stay warm Midwest people.

Ridergirl, I was referencing the monotony of daily rads and only saw later on facebook that today is the real groundhog day, lol. I am just good like that!

Woke up this morning on the third day of no regular rads and behold! My basted turkey skin is turning back to my normal olive already! I can see the sore spots because they now look like red patches. I had lots of stabs and zings yesterday with breast chills so that must be a sign of healing. Since I have no open or raw skin I have been using Aveeno with shea butter and it feels good. My skin also feels just as soft as the other side, which is awesome! I was afraid it would feel tough and leathery with all of the burning and peeling I had.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Groundhog's Day, radiation ladies! Phil did not see his shadow, so must be we' re going to have an early spring!

It doesn't seem fair that we have all this radiation and don't get to turn into super heroes. Why did that work for Spider-Man and not for us? Then again, who wants to turn into a spider? My husband suggested I turn into something really good, like Lottery-Winning Girl. What would yor superpower be?

I had CT scan and bone scan prior to surgery and chemo.  No scans scheduled.  Having a bone density close to the end of rads for my onc to decide on hormone therapy.  I have osteopenia from parathyroid problems from 5 years ago and he wants to decide what my bones are like before making a decision.  Anyway, that will be mid March when I finished rads. I think my tatoos are ok.  The girls at my center are really sweet and I am in and out in about 20 min.  and then off to work.

Hello ladies, having #1 of 33 this Monday. Had surgery 4 weeks ago and feel good, just a little sad to have to start treatments again.

Welcome aboard, jojo2373 and toots! Some of the early starters on this thread finish rads and I think are not checking in as often. I see you both have done chemo, so you will probably appreciate that radiation is a much faster process. I have finished 13 of 33. Fatigue hit me very hard starting about the third day in, but I think that is unusual. I have had no skin problems yet . I moisturize 3x a day with an ordinary, inexpensive lotion--Keri. So far it has been fine.

Welcome Rads newbies! After my initial Ct scan they decided my heart was tilted in such a way that they put me in a Tomotherapy machine which takes a CT scan everytime I go in before they radiate me. It takes about 20 min for the whole process, but this way they make sure they don't hit my heart.  I've had 9/31 so far.  I'm just seeing a reddish spotted coloring to my rads area.  No fatigue yet.  My nurse suggested I take a B-vitamin complex to help with energy. (Just no added anti-oxidents which can interfere with radiation.)  I'll meet with her again this next week to check on skin SE's.  I guess week #3 is when they could show.  I have an aloe plant at home which I'm using for now.

Stride, I vote for the Lottery-Winning girl!!!  Or Keeping-A-Sense-of-Humor-Through-All-This-Shit-Girl.