Radiation only, no chemo

10 down, 23 to go. So far things have gone okay. Tired of the drive (200 miles round trip) but doable so far. I too am working. A coworker takes my last hour class so I can make my 4:00 appointment. I actually don't mind when people say be grateful that radiation is all you have to do. It reminds me that I am grateful. I know the fear, and the pain of two surgeries, and all the testing, but now that it is behind me I'm inclined to make it funny instead of tragic.



I know some of this will never be over, and there will be fear each time I get a mammogram, but I'm ready to get back to my life, precancer. And as screwy as it seems I appreciate everything I've learned about myself, my friends, my husband and those that surround me. I never would have thought I was strong enough to get through this, but so far i am. Certainly not without tons of support, but in the end you have to take those steps alone. We should all be proud of where we are and how we got here.



Hoping the rest of my radiation treatments go well. Wishing the same for all of you.

I have had 4/16 +boost (tbd 3 or 4).  I have used both Aquaphor few two days and since switched to Miaderm.  The Miaderm feels so much better on my skin - with or without clothes touching my skin.  I don't noitce and change is skin color.  I am a bit fatigue but I think that is from rushing out the door at school and making the 25 minute drive to get to my appointment.  I hope all are coping well.

RMlulu, I am terrible at remembering numbers -- on my appt sheet I get it week, it says" Dly Tx  C 6-10 M -- but I can not read anymore of it.  I will try to remember to ask when I see the RO on Tuesday.

I am so lucky week 2 is while I am on spring break - will be much less stressful!

Thanks for you positive words.  Have a great weekend! 

RMlulu, My RO didn't say anything about boost, just that I need 33 treatments. So far skin is okay, they haven't suggested anything yet for my skin. See the doctor again on Monday. So far he hasn't even looked at my breast. But I am starting to pink up a bit. I was brown after my second surgery, and don't mean just discolored, totally brown. Surgeon said it was normal, so at first I thought the brown was fading to pink, I looked today and I'm definitely getting pink. I was told I would pink up after the first ten treatments. The nurse and the doctor have both played down any side effects, and said I'll do fine. I'm a person who strongly reacts to the power of suggestion, so if they say I'll do fine, I probably will. Good thing they didn't say I'd get pregnant, I probably would.



My husband drove me today, and we spent some time shopping, so I'm a bit tired. But that might be due to the fact that it's Friday, and after working all week, and doing five treatments I'm just beat. This week is spring break, so no work. I really think that will help me refuel. Once we get back to school I have only three weeks left. I figure the first week back I can handle, have people driving me two days a week, just breaks up that 200mile trip. The second week will be tough, and by the last week I think I'll be so excited to be done that I can make it though no matter what.

My times the week of spring break are different every day! I hope I get there the right time on the right day!! I am going with  my husband Monday after my treatment to his work and to visit with a friend "Grandma the Clown" from the Big Apple Circus!  We meet him on Semester at Sea last fall!  He will be doing a show at the university where my husband teaches!  We will come back in time for my treatment on Tuesday! That will be lots of fun!  I spent Friday and Saturday doing lots of out door work in the yard and the garden!  Hoping staying busy will keep all the side effects away!! Yea for spring break!!!

Hi JPH- with a shorter protocol I would think you would be seeing pink. Ask your RO tomorrow...they know what is the expected skin reaction for your course of treatment. Be sure to rest, hydrate, moisturize, and laugh!

I'm 13/33 and incisions are getting pink&hard so miaderm gently using to massage the area. Today,RO said looked as expected:)

Praying our skin holds up under the healing laser tag lights!

(((Hugs)))

Cindy

Hi y'all,



Yippee it's Friday & so ready for the weekend....mind & body... especially skin!



Rad center has a beautiful waiting area with large picture window and each day there is a medical transfer van waiting...then a young woman is brought out on a gurney after her infusion and placed in the van and off she goes...it is very humbling. I'm sitting here anxious about rad tx and my skin issues...but then she comes out and my heart aches for her. Yes, I feel relief- no chemo, but rads are a daily challenge of mind body and spirit too!

How are y'all doing?

Pacools

Bookwoman

JPH

MaisyDaisy

Sam

AmyinMI

Katlou's

Fritoz

Kkuziel

Where are you on this journey- treatment countdown, physically, and heart toward all that this journey is....

Drumroll today is 17/33 ... Day 28 is last regular treatment then 5 boosts aimed at tumor area...hopefully part of the breast will, have some relief, but it is the lx incisions that is red crusty angry booby.

Sending calming R&R thoughts for a wonderful spring weekend (((hugs)))

Cindy

I know the feeling rmlulu. I always feel bad complaining about being so tired and the blistered/painful breast, when I know others out there are suffering much more with chemo. I almost feel guilty that I am not going through more. But you are right rad is still challenging and traumatic. It is an individual struggle and we should try not to compare, just be supportive to each other and to those who are going through more as well as less. We are all in this together, chemo/no chemo, rad/no rad.

I am on 20/28, fatigue hit hard this past week as did the skin damage. I have some gnarly blisters, so my RO prescribed the silvadine cream and I have commenced free-boobing. I am so thankful for the little breaks that the weekends provide. I have waves of depression, mainly because I am still coming to terms with the fact that I will be taking Tamoxifen and therefore won't be able to get pregnant for the next 5 years. I am 30 and before all this hit, my husband and I were planning to start trying earlier this year I also worry that after the rad and tamoxifen I will be 35 I won't be able to get pregnant... But it will be worth the wait I guess. 

Trying to keep my chin up and keep a positive attitude. Hope you all are doing well... Sending happy and healing thoughts your way on this lovely spring weekend.

xoxox,

Fritoz

I get that humbled feeling too when I see some of the older people at my rad center who just look very sad and defeated because I realize how much more of a daily struggle they have just to get there every day and get changed and everything. Then I leave the hospital and feel like the sickly one out here in real life. That's the oddest thing for me so far - spending part of each day in real life, where people get twisted about losing out on a parking space, and the other part of each day in a hospital, where people are suffering through major difficulties. Some days that switch feels really jarring.



I'm just 8/33, so a long road to go. So far my skin is doing fine, but the fatigue is setting in, which has caught me by surprise. I don't remember yawning this much at any other time in my life!

It is GREAT to be done! As for all my free time, I will be going to work on time instead of two hours late.  On Wednesday I have an appointment with the MO to figure the next step--either tamoxifen or femara. Hopefully I will continue to be lucky and not get a lot of SEs.

Congratulations Bookwoman!!! Huzzah!! Wishing you happy healing thoughts as well.



Thank you RMlulu for your positive attitude I really try to have a positive attitude like you, but some days it's so hard. 21/28 the end is in sight!

Stay strong and keep kicking BC butt!

Fritoz, what an incredibly brave and persistant woman you are to stay current with your program through all of that. Radiation fatigue can last for a while. I am not sure that a week would make that much difference in how you feel for studying and taking the test. Does your professor know what you have been dealing with? I would suggest leveling with him immediately and asking your RO to back you up. Are there any legal rights to postponing the exam for illness or temporary disablity? Maybe someone else can answer that for you. I know that there are many teachers in the groups. All the best to you as you try to work this out.

Wow, Fritoz,



What a load you are carrying. I agree with MMSS.

Talk to your RO tomorrow explain the circumstances and find out your options

Then talk with your professor to determine what is acceptable, if need go to the head of the department.

But I would not drop out! It's a tough program son is np and friend is na...I admire you! You have worked too hard. Together with RO and professor there will be a way!

You rock it girl!

(((Hugs)))

Cindy

Fritoz, you have coped exceedingly well with a totally inhuman physical and emotional load, but Wonder Woman you ain't.  We all have limits and I think you have recognized yours.  With or without those last few rads, you really, really do need to postpone the exam. Your prof will need paperwork from your RO, so your first step is to ask the RO for whatever you need to document your disability.  Yes, disability.  My RO gave me four weeks of DI after rads. I basically laughed.  I am now on week three post-rad and every day I feel another little bit less exhausted, but not nearly ready to handle my high stress work.  Yesterday I drove two hours for a non-work, low stress meeting.  On the way home, I had to stop and nap.  When I got home, I immediately fell asleep on the couch.  It is easy for us to discount the fatigue that results from radiation therapy, because we can't exactly put our finger on where, what, or when it is, but it is real. Similarly to any skin or tissue issues you may be having, fatigue is not a treatment-by-treatment side effect, but a cumulative response to the damage to your tissues and a demonstration of your body's excellent healing mechanism. 

Do remember that all the effects of radiation therapy peak about two weeks after your last treatment. Your exhaustion, which is just one of these effects, has yet to peak.   

If you can put off the exam for a month or so, you will be doing your body (and your academics) a huge favor.  Yes, you will have to rethink your timeline, and I know that has consequences, but it sounds as though you body really needs just a little bit of time, and it needs it now.

I am a high school teacher and my husband is a college professor.  Tell your professor what is going on!  I am sure he/she will be understanding.  I would hope it would be allowed for you to take the final exam when a retake is being offer!