Is delaying radiation OK?

sciencegal · May 2013

Hi all,

I am one of the "lucky" girls who gets to have a mstectomy AND radiation, because my tumor was so large when my docs fially found it. It was hiding in dense breast tissue, maybe for years.

Anyway, I am through the mastectomy and tissue expander exchange for the permanent implant. Three months out from my last chemo, although I will continue Herceptin infusions for a full year.

I would like to delay starting the radiation therapy until the first of August due to some obligations that I have, which would take me out of town at the end of July.

I had heard that there were some studies showing that one can delay radiation for a few months, with the same outcome, as long as it does get done.

Does anyone know of these publications, or has gone through a similar situation? Thanks for ANY input.

sciencegal · May 2013

bump please

GoWithTheFlow · May 2013

I think every case is different. I asked this of my medical oncologist. She stated that you usually start (for me anyway) about 4 weeks after surgery if i remember correctly. This upset me because that meant I couldn't visit family for 4th of july (like we do every year and I've already had to cancel last christmas with family, and spring break with family and friends). She said I could probably put it off til after the vacation, which would make 7 weeks post surgery.

Like I said, everyone is different. I had chemo before surgery, each type of BC is different, each stage is different, nodes are different. The best recommendation would be from your Radiation oncologist.

sciencegal · May 2013

Thanks gowiththeflow. I will definitely go talk to my rad onc next week, I have just been looking for all the info I can before I go to her office. I had heard these "delay" studies were done but I cant find them in PubMed.

I also had chemo before my surgery. I see you just had yours, how are you feeling?

Anonymous · May 2013

I'm in a little bit of a different situation because I only had a lumpectomy and didn't have chemo, however I'm also in a position where I had to delay rads since I'll be out of town. My surgery was April 15 and I won't be starting until June 10th, so that's 8 weeks post-op rather than 4-6 weeks. I asked my RO about it and he said, yes the effectiveness does go down after 6 weeks post-op BUT it's by a very small amount. He said the downwards slope of reduced effectiveness over time is very gradual/incremental, not steep, so he thought it would be just fine. It might be different in your case, though, I don't know. Anyway, that's what my RO told me. Hope it works out for you.

sciencegal · May 2013

Thank you Nyama! I hope they can show me those slopes when I visit their office again. I can't seem to find the reports that generated them.

Of course, if it will make a difference, I will cancel my plans for July and start the rads in three weeks as my surgeon and RO had suggested I would.

I really want to do everything I can to avoid relapse (does that even need to be said on this post- we are all in the same boat!)

I hope you are doing well, thanks for replying.

dogsandjogs · May 2013

The doc told me it should be done within 4 months.

sciencegal · May 2013

Thank you dogsandjogs!!

What kind of pups do you have? My little shelter dog adoptees (heinz57 "hybrids") have seen me through every step of treatment so far, I love them so much.

GoWithTheFlow · May 2013

sciencegal, the side effects are slowly going away. My fingers and toes are not feeling so much like I slammed them in cabinet doors, not as thirsty all the time, but still drinking lemonade instead of my usual iced coffee.

sciencegal · May 2013

Hi Gowiththeflow, I am glad to hear that you are slowly healing. We just have to take it one day at a time, huh? I am glad your fingers and toes are regaining feeling. I have a couple of toes still numb, but slowly getting better as well.

I keep succumbing to pace addiction and then having to stop myself to go rest and heal. I hope you can do the same.

For all of us, it is our primary job- take care of ourselves right now so that we can be around many, many more years- to then take care of the others in our lives. If they really love us they will wait. I got a BIG lecture about this from my doctor - "put on your own oxygen mask first".

I am wishing for rest and healing to all who read this!

sciencegal · June 2013

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/569103

Well I will start rads in a couple of weeks. No choice because my tumor was so large and I had 2/3s positive nodes before the chemo. We cancelled all July plans. I definitely want to give this my best shot to see if I can avoid relapse.

My RO gave me some links to study and I found the one at the top of this post to contain references about relapse after mastectomy that are really sobering.

I will do it sooner rather than later!

Good luck to all who are also facing this type of decision.

See you on the "summer 2013 radiation" thread.

sciencegal · June 2013

In case anyone else has the same decisions to make that I did- we opted for my exchange to be done prior to starting rads, rather than irradiating the tissue expander.

There was a recent review stating that there is a lower risk of implant failure when radiation was done that way. My docs said as long as I started radiation within four months post-chemo, there would not be a significantly greater risk of relapse.

So we did the exchange first, the scar has healed up pretty well, and I start radiation next week.

Just sharing!

Good luck to all who are facing the same decisions.

Is delaying radiation OK?

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