Summer 2013 Rads

Today is 11 of 33 treatments so I'm 1/3 of the way through.  I feel so yucky today and I did yesterday too.  My body is exhausted and I'm so nauseous.  I’m having more nerve pain which prevents me from sleeping through the night, even with the Ativan I’m taking.  It’s so frustrating feeling this way and it makes me so mad.  I’m supposed to walk with a friend after work who’s really in need of friend time and I just can’t do it.  I hate bailing on her but I have no choice.  I know she understands but it frustrates me.  I really didn’t think rads would be this difficult.  I always thought I was tough when it came to being sick but these SE’s make me feel like such a baby, as did the chemo. I just HATE feeling so weak.  Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Thanks ladies....I rang it loud. Good to know about the froggtogg causing skin reactions in some, my sensitive skin was OK luckily.

I wish you a better day tomorrow beachbound.

Shipsgirl, I noticed you are a left sider too. Please check into prone position radiation to keep the zapping off your heart and lung.

Congratulations LeeLee!!!  There are a few of us finishing up this week.  We CAN do this!

Now that it's been almost a week since my last full breast treatment, the annoying itchiness has subsided almost completely and my breast now just looks like it has a very mild rash across the top.  No skin breakdown and I made it through almost the whole day without even noticing my boob.  (On the other hand I was busy having an endometrial biopsy without any kind of anesthetic so have a good excuse. Not fun!)

Anyway, in the home stretch now.  RO says things should keep getting better from this point on, so feel  happy and blessed to say I'm pretty sure I've made it through rads without any severe skin issues.  

Four more!

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My sister is the absolute best.  She's been down here several times since this started.  Once before chemo started to distract me a bit, once during chemo.  Her daughter has been down twice too.  I just will not be able to thank her enough for helping me get away.

Ok my ladies glad that you guys are finishing and some ate still working your way there .... It's my second week and I'm doing ok... Of course it's just the beginning...... I had couple of girl use the this method ... I been doing it but like your input also..... So right after rads I place miaderm then aloe Vera I wait for a few minutes spray rosewater and seal with lanolin ... And let it dry 3 to 4 times a day ......

Has anyone use aquaphor only????



And do you guys get headaches cause I do and I broke out a rash.... Tiny little red dots every where .. Thanks my ladies have a nice day

Thanks Leelee and congrats!!! 

I slept pretty good last night so I'm hoping for a little more energy today.  I have my treatments around 8 every morning, then I go to work and the fatigue sets in a few hours later.  I'm wondering if having rads in the afternoon would allow more energy in the morning?  Thoughts anyone?

12/33

We are trying a mixture of aquafor and lidocaine. So far so good. Real test will be naptime

I have 2 left.  At this point, I have two sections that cannot be rubbed with lanolin.  I've used it up til today by daubing it heavily on.  I cannot spread it because the skin is so sore and I think would rub off.   Didn't get a nap, but laid down and the combination of two pain pills and the aquafor/lidocaine seems to give me some relief.  

For those of you who's skin broke down, does it feel better once the dark crusty stuff comes off?  Right now it feels like its burning, like i'm being stabbed with needles, then when I move the wrong way, like my skin is going to split.

Congratulations to you, DiZZyMom!!!  Enjoy your well-deserved vacation!!

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DiZZyMom congrats and have a restful, pain free vacation!! Yahoo! Wishing quick healing and lots of swimming.

Hi there! I just joined today because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and thought I'd try and find a group of women who have been and/or are going through treatment. I'm about to begin my radiation treatment (no Chemo) and Tamoxifen.


For those of you going through Radition or are finished with your treatments, what information do you have now that you wish you had before starting? I know everyone is different, so it's hard to say, but I thought I'd ask to kind of settle my nerves a little. 

Thank you all in advance for your help, and congrats to us all for being survivors so that we may honor those who have passed with our continued fight. 

SophiaAnne,

I think I learned all I could from reading this board.  

Some of the things I'm glad I purchased were the v-neck t-shirts from Walmart ($4.84 each in pretty colors).  I wear them every day and to bed at night.  Will toss when done because they ended up with my sharpie markings and stains from all the oils, creams, and lotions I've used.  The Lindi Cooling Pad which feels good when I use it.  I also bought the cooling roll from them but won't open that til I leave on vacation.  

My RO gives me lotions to use.  But I have taken some advice from women here and went in with suggestions to my RO and nurse.  Today I asked about lidocaine and silverdine lotion.  She didn't think the silverdine would help right now, but we mixed up a batch of lidocaine with aquafor lotion and that seems to be helping.  

The other thing was deodorant.  Tom's brand tends to be what is recommended.  You need to get the one that is aluminum free.  My doctor also said to use dove soap because it's not as drying or harsh as other soaps.

Oh, and the biggest one for me.  Be prepared when you are scheduled for a long appointment.  If you have cording like I did, it can be very very uncomfortable.  My first simulation was 2 hours long.  Since they now prepare me better, I know to have my husband drive me to those appointments and take two vicodin before getting there.  They go much better when I do that.

SophiaAnne-Marie -- Welcome to the community. :-)    As you'll see as you read the threads, there are all kinds of different experiences that we each have with treatments.  Some women have an awful time with radiation and have pain and severe skin breakdown, and some women have barely any effects at all....and there's everything in-between, too.  Unfortunately, there is no way to predict, really, and you don't know till you get there, but wherever "there" is, someone here has probably experienced something similar so there's lots of info and support for you.

I've used aloe more than anything else (99% aloe gelly but some use 100%) and that's all I'm using now as I finish up.  Sometimes you just have to try different things to see what works when you need it and change it for something else when it no longer seems useful.  I switched to different things (sweet almond oil, aquaphor+hydrocortisone) as my treatment wore on, but always kept the aloe to use right after treatment and to cool and soothe.

One of the things my RO told me is that with rads the skin (and the other cells) are affected from the inside out, so your nutrition really matters in terms of healing and helping your healthy cells regenerate.  I've been really conscientious about eating 70-80 gms of protein a day, lots and lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains, no junk food or sugar, no alcohol, etc.  I have also been supplementing with curcumin (turmeric), omega-3 (fish oil), resveretrol, a multivitamin, and my calcium + D3 (you'd need to ask your RO about supplements, though--mine is OK with all that but yours might not be and some, like turmeric, might interact with the tamoxifen in ways you don't want).  Anyway, while I can't be sure how much my diet helped me through this, I know it didn't hurt me at all and I do feel pretty good, all things considered.

That's very convenient that you will be getting a close-by apartment for the duration of rads!   It will be over before you know it and hopefully soon you can hop back on that  motorcycle and head home to Equador!

31/34

Thank you so much ladies! Yeah, I know it's hard to judge, but I wanted to hear from actual women as opposed to the countless laundry lists of SEs. I'm practically Vegan, I only buy organic, I rarely, if ever, eat processed food and I don't use any harsh chemicals in my home or on my body, and I don't drink. I'm sure those things will come into play, but now I have a better idea of what to expect. My doctors have told me "everyone is different," but I wanted to hear that from different women.

My reaction will be my reaction, but now I know I can help it lean more towards a better reaction, possibly. My Partner's mother is an herbalist (in England, where my Partner and his family are from they're like medical doctors), so now she knows what tinctures and ointments to prepare for my skin. Like I said, they don't tell you about Lindi pads and aloe gel, they tell you how they're going to save your life and honestly, I prefer they focus on that. But just as important in the healing process is a sense of community and knowing that you're not the only person on the planet with the same questions, concerns or even the same desire to simply get on with your life. 

Thank you so much, and I hope my questions are received by someone who needed them, just as much as your answers have helped me, tremendously 

Beachbound- Maybe moving your appts to the afternoon will help. I always had mine at 3pm, and that really worked. I set up my work schedule so that I came in early and rads was the last stop of the day. I also had serious fatigue a little while after rads so it was nice that I could just go home.

GWTF- So sorry you are having such skin issues. To be perfectly honest...so sorry....after the dark crusty stuff came off the pain was worse for me. All those nerve endings were now exposed. But the worst areas of breakdown I had did not start off as dark crusty areas. The dark areas turned into pretty shallow breakdowns that healed relatively quickly. The areas that got shiny though were bad. Once an area of skin turned shiny the next day it was gone, and it was a much deeper breakdown that bled and seeped.

DizzyMom- Congrats!!!!

Sophia-Anne- Welcome! I think everyone already said everything I would of said except about the tumeric. I noticed someone told you they were taking tumeric. I have researched the tumeric pretty extensively at this point. I was hoping to use it to help with my asthma. I take tamoxifen, and it seems like most asthma meds have bad drug interactions with tamoxifen. There appears to be two schools of thought about the tumeric. One is that it helps the tamoxifen do its job, and kind of punches it up a little which would be great. The other is that the tumeric blocks one of tamoxifen's binding locations and thus makes it less effective. Not so great. It's a personal choice, but for me I didn't wanted to take the chance of the tamoxifen not doing its job. Unfortunately, with regards to my asthma, this has left me with a very complicated drug regimen where I have 3 different drugs that I take at different times on different days to try to keep the toxic effects and the interactions down.