Fall 2013 Rads

Hi lovely Ladies,

I had my last full breast rad tx 8 days ago and thought I was out of the woods until yesterday when my pink turned red and the itch felt like poison oak. I am using cortisone and ice packs and hoping to sleep tonight. Also started my AI Monday and am not looking forward to those SEs either. I'm working full time and keep running to the bathroom to apply the next cool compress, my work is great and I am glad to be there and not focused on cancer. The emperor of all maladies as its known. Well deserved description. Love to you all! Gracers

Hi everyone. Just finished 6 months if chemo last week and I start 28 rads next week. Looking for any and all advice please.

I am 49..diagnosed in April with IDC 2 tumors 3 and 3.5 cm...2 lymphnodes involved..ER+PR+ Her2-.

Having BMX with immediate reconstruction and skin sparing.

"Everytime a bell rings an angel gets her wings"

Thanks for your words of wisdom....I did 4 AC Chemo and 12 Taxol so am already tired. I have 6 sons but only 2 live at home. I am a nicu RN but am off work right now but still run a business with my husband, 3 dogs and 2 acres to garden.

I live 2 hours from the radiation unit so have friends driving me each day. I have had the ct scan..placement of tattoos done and practiced the breath holding. Scared mostly of the skin damage.

This will be a long post I am on my real keyboard I have only been using my I pad for the past two weeks.

SophiaMarie congrats on finishing today. It is a surreal experience. Relax and enjoy your final day you definitely deserve it. So glad you are in pretty good condition. I don't know what it takes to continue working through everything it had to be draining. Ring your chimes or bell or whatever they have. I got to ring a bell on the waiting room wall. I was the next to last appointment and the lady going in after me is finishing Thursday so she made them wait for her to finish then she and her father joined in my ringing. It was so touching. Enjoy your dinner tonight.

MsP thank you so much for the nice post and staying on the board and encouraging everyone still in treatment. Hope you finish healing without any set backs.

Summergal - you will be tough once you get started you get in a fighting mindset to make it through. You can do it with excellent results. It was hard when starting but I got quite comfortable with the procedure (even though I I did not do gated breathing). I will keep your tech team in my prayers that they preform with great precision. They want everything to be as perfect as possible; they have a lot to prove with you being their first live session.

Bounce and Dennilynne I sure hope you are starting to develop a relationship with your rads team. I know that makes the experience so much easier. I had the same 2 techs every treatment until the last two. I got very comfortable with them.

Bluebird - still following your saga, I sure hope the rest of your journey goes smoothly and the joint pain lessens. If it from the table it will end soon. When is your last day it should be getting closer. I also see you posting on the DIEP thread. That will be my next step in a few months. I so want to get through that but I know the long road ahead. I guess I need to relax until next year since I will have to wait for the skin to heal before pursuing that journey.

To all the new ones I missed. I wish you the best for your treatments. I did make it through with just a slight sunburn so far and no itching but since I had a BMX I do not have feelings where the actual breasts were and of course no nipples. I think that may mask some uncomfortable feelings you gals have.

I have not posted much this week. When I was diagnosed last February I was the primary care giver for my mother who was suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer's and she was diagnosed with breast cancer (very slow growing) the same day as I was. I had to make a very hard decision and had to put her in nursing care. I was very limited with being able to visit her because of my chemo. I was not allowed to visit in the nursing home and had to settle for a lunch once a week. She did not receive any cancer treatments since she could not tolerate the treatments. It was thought she would pass of something else due to her immediate health issues so just put her on Arimidex to keep the cancer slow growing. After chemo, I was able to move her to another facility with only 3 ladies so I got to visit her every week but she quickly forgot who I was, stopped talking and 2 weeks ago stopped walking. So hard to see her like this. Sunday morning I got the call that she passed away. She forgot how to breathe and they could not get respiration going again. Since I only had 2 days of treatment left I had to finish first. I now will start planning a memorial service for her. Probably later next week. It felt strange having to wait but she has actually outlived all but 1 of her friends who is hours away and has MS so she cannot attend. Both my brothers and father have preceded her in death. I only have 5 cousins left and only one still lives within 2 hours of us. She has one sister and one brother living but neither one can travel for a service. That leaves me, my husband, 2 daughters and their spouses. One daughter is overseas teaching in an American school. I will plan to have her face time the memorial. Has anyone had to plan a funeral that you know will have very low attendance? I feel bad, but that is all the family and friends she had left. I guess the good thing I can say is she outlived everyone and had a very good life until the last 5 years. I do miss her since I lost the last 8 months due to this cancer battle. Sometimes I felt very guilty about having to put her in nursing care but the last 3 months she was in a great care facility. I really loved the ladies running this home.

Keep us in your prayers as I handle the funeral planning. What a way to end treatment. I know she wants me to have a good life after cancer even though she could never voice this to me. I don't know for sure if she ever got the concept that we both had cancer. She was already having severe memory issues at the time of our diagnosis. Every time my husband told her I had cancer she would say really? Such a devastating disease.

I will be out of town with very limited no internet for the next few days. I will catch up when I can. In the mean time you take of yourselves and get through the rest of your treatments with minimum issues.

I will miss reading all your adventures but I promise I will read as often as I can get connected but may not be able to respond for awhile.

Much love "radiant ones".

Jbdayton, so sorry for your loss. Do not feel guilty, as you said she had very good care where she was.

Question : What shampoo/conditioner are you ladies using to get your hair back? Are you having good luck with nioxin?

I'm on herceptin until may and am slightly Er positive so they want me to take tamox. Also but I'm not going to yet I'm already having horrible hotflshes and tamox breaks your DNA chain (takes out estrogen). I've been through enough chemo surgery radiation if that isn't enough then we will see.

Dear JBDayton, I am so sorry about your mom.

JB Dayton, I also have to tell you that I am trying to change my attitude towards radiation. This week (3rd) has been much better.

I am so glad and grateful that I found this forum. This is my main support group. Thanks so much Radiants! Without you, I probably would have been placed in the nut house. :-)

70Charger, I am using Paul Mitchell Awapuhi....the shampoo I used before chemo. No special shampoo, sorry! But I am taking Biotin with the approval of my MO. At the end of the day, I'm not sure how we will know what works. I guess it works if you like your hair and the progress you are making. Since my hair is so god-awful ugly (I call it skunk colored), I have been reluctant to put anything on it that will make it grow. HA!!

JBDayton - So sorry to hear about your mother. I miss mine everyday but feel she is always nearby.

WOO HOO!! I finished today

4sewwhat - congrats!

JBDayton - I am sorry about your mom.  Thanks for sharing.

I will be done with rads on Friday.  I am so looking forward to it. 

Summergal, good luck tomorrow. You are going to do great and let us know how it went.

Love, MsP

hello all - as you see, I post infrequently, but read daily and draw great strength from all of you! I read for humor and joy and strength and info, and the occasional need to just rant! I have been spared what many of you have endured, but wanted to post today - nearing end of hypofractionated treatments (started boosts today ) - off the "snorkel" breathing, but skin is breaking down, etc. figured a few of you might support my pity party, and then I am reading all of today's courageous posts plus jpdayton's loss and I am embarrassed to even be posting.

Here we have a bond of courage, endurance and hope. Shine on, ya'all - you don't even know who all you are touching and encouraging. JP so sorry for your loss.

Best to all. Btw - apparently now off snorkel breathing I can pick my music for treatment .....rock and roll, ladies! Shine on!

JBDayton: My condolences about your mom. How difficult to handle all that you've gone through at once. My mom died in June last year; I was diagnosed almost a year later. My mom had vascular dementia and was also in a nursing home; it was very difficult. Her memorial was small, mostly my friends and a few family members. It was very nice and I was able to have it be very personal. All my best to you in this difficult time and don't worry; I'm sure you were a very caring daughter and she knew it.

All the 12-day club members: I am getting to be an old hand, even walked in to the treatment room bald for the first time. The techs didn't recognize me at first, which amused me. I noticed some slight redness on my chest, lumpectomy scar and more so under my arm, but no pain or itching.

Feeling better today than I have in a long time, nasty chemo stuff is going away now! Ha!