Fall 2013 Rads

rhcp66 and rainyday celebrating with you both. I'm scheduled to start in 2 weeks.

LizzyinMI,rhcp66, and Rainyday,

I also start my 5 boosts tomorrow and finish next Thursday. Happy day ahead for all of us.

HI all

babies and zebras- gotta love this forum. I am one week out from finishing rads and still a bumpy itchy mess. I am frustrated I had no skin issues until rads is over now this infernal itching that is waking me up in the middle of the night- arrrgh. I have to wear a scarf or a high-neck shirt because its really noticeable on my upper chest under the collar bone. Nothing like bluebird had to deal with for sure I just can't control rubbing/scratching in my sleep which does not help matters.

See the MO tomorrow I will let her take a peek and see what she advises. oiled and lotioned within an inch of my life as I have read on this site its pretty common to have this kind of skin reaction

Bluebird, just don't know what to say except stop vacuuming and rest! You just have 3 more treatments to go, so resist the urge to clean, woman!!! I hope that vacuum cleaner wasn't your Christmas present to yourself!! Love the three R's mantra for the weekend.

Wyo, the itching is annoying, but definitely a sign of healing. It was the urge to rub/scratch in public that was concerning to me. By the time we get to radiation, our boobs just don't seem like a private part anymore.

Love MsP

Count me in on celebrating next week! Wednesday, Thursday....heck I'm celebrating everyday!

MsP I have the urge to do my bedroom next, but I will be a good girl and listen to you.

RRR!

I'm glad that you are doing better, Bluebird, and you are able to get out of that bed. Yes, next week quite a few of us are going to celebrate. I can't wait to see 2013 in the rear view mirror. It's been a horrible year for all of us. I have met people at the Cancer Center who are doing chemo and radiation at the same time. Very, very, tough. I count my blessings every day. It was a real eye opener to see how many people are going to the center. You don't know until you are touched by this awful disease. Have a great weekend! On and upward!!!

Hi all. #14 today so officially half done!

Bluebird....good girl! LOL

BikerGirl....you are definitely "amaze-balls" as my daughter would say. I think we are all amazing, but I had no idea you were going to school during treatment. In my mind, going to school would be so much more difficult than working and so much more at stake. Good for you, radiant one!!

RoseCal, your radiation is well witnin the window. There are no guarantees with cancer, but for those of us who have chemo or have surgical complications our radiation is pushed way, way out, way further than 12 weeks oftentimes. I don't think any of us feel normal right now, but we've all been told that time will make things better. That's what I am holding on to. The attitude I try to have is that I am not necessarily going to have any horrible side effects and if I do, that's what my doctor is for. You definitely want to take charge of your health and if you are having anxiety, you may want to ask for some medication to help you with that. Your emotional health is just as important as your physical health. All the best to you.

Rainday....oh my goodness did your post hit a nerve!! I will try to be brief. At my cancer center, it is so damn crowded sometimes, that there aren't enough seats in the waiting room and this is a large facility!! One time, I walked up to the sign in desk, turned round to see that there were no seats and said in a loud voice..."There is just too much cancer in this world!". Everyone in the waiting room clapped. It was amazing....amazingly sad!

Well ladies and ladies' gents, I am off to a holiday party tonight. So glad my boob is healed so that I don't have to side hug my dear friends and colleagues.

Radiate, Rest and Relax..just like our dear Bluebird!

MsP

Rosecal.... I didn't have chemo either and my surgery was on 9/6/12 and my rads started then end of October - so it was only 8 weeks or so after surgery. They won't let you start unless you've healed sufficiently.

I was also nervous about the whole procedure and how my skin was going to do, in addition to fatigue. I can honestly say I've have a handful of days that I've gone to bed an hour earlier than normal, so fatigue hasn't been an issue for me, thank God! And that's with raising a 14 and 5 year old and working a full time job - sometimes 6 days a week.

Everyone is different. Every person's skin is different. Before you know it, you'll be finishing up rads. I can't believe I'm doing my boosts. It has gone fast...faster than I thought it would.

As far as worrying about any stray cancer cells - I would think you'll be doing some sort of hormone treatment. I know I'm counting on Tamoxifen to shut down any little stray buggers floating around.

Hi Rosecal. I am right there with you... afraid of radiation and time is a ticking away. To ease your mind on the time thing, I specifically asked my RO yesterday how long I could wait to do radiation. He said 3 months is the max ...anything over that and he would insist I have a mastectomy. I will be 7 weeks out on Monday, and if I go this route, I will wait until after the holidays which will push me into the 11 week mark. I really don't want to start something that's supposed to be 'continuous' only to have it broken up by the holidays....but then maybe breaking it up would ease any side-effects! Who knows...it's all a crap shoot if you ask me.

I hear you about the fear. I have cancelled my simulation 2 times now. I went for my 6 month checkup with my gyn/onc this week (I had endo cancer 3 years ago). I really trust him. When I told him my fear of long-term side effects he replied "I tell my patients that we have to treat what you have today and if something occurs later, then we treat that later... if you keep going with the what if's, you will be frozen and unable to make a decision". That was so perfect, because that is exactly how I am feeling...frozen.

As we all know...there isn't a right answer. Will I regret choosing radiation if it comes back in a few years? Absolutely! Will I regret having a mastectomy only to have it return on my chestwall? Absolutely! Each has it's own set of possible problems and neither one of them appeals to me. I told my RO that I didn't want to do either one...and he said.. no, what you want is to not have cancer! He seemed fairly confident that I wasn't going to die from this particular cancer if I had treatment....... that if anything was going to kill me it was probably going to be stress!! I think he's right.

Good luck on moving forward. A couple of things that is helping me inch towards my treatment plan is a shortened amount of sessions (18 instead of 33) and I'm having it done in the prone position. The prone position assures that very little radiation goes to other structures and the fewer treatment protocol has been shown to cause less skin issues.

One last comment from my RO that I liked.. he said "18 days isn't much out of your life for a cure" Yes, he used the word cure. A cure? Really? Well I don't think so, but it sure sounded good when he said it.

Hi Radiant ladies -- I am finishing up chemo (dance of joy!) in the next two weeks, and rads are slated to begin late January. Can I join here, or should I start up a Spring 2014 Rads thread? I will read up on all of the wisdom I know you have stored here.

But I have a question off the bat: did any of you have chemo and have skin reactions to chemo (rash/hives)? And did those skin reactions return when you did rads? I am apparently allergic to Taxotere, which was only discovered after my 3rd chemo. So I have been battling rashes, and most lately hives, and am worried that the rads will produce a shadow recurrence of this SE.

Hi Team Kim, I had rashes with chemo, but not hives. No related issue with rads. Just itching about a week after my last tx that lasted a few days. Good luck! Gracers

Hello all radiant ones!

I am almost done, and like so many here am done on Thursday. Only four boosts left, how amazing! I am on 'cone down' and getting those intense zaps.

Friday the 13th is not an unlucky day at all this year; I'll be doing my victory dance! Hooray for all of us done this week!

I appreciate everyone responding, Jen, Jo, so many I can't keep track, to my question on reconstruction. When I spoke to my PS prior to rads, he told me to come in right after rads to assess then he will see me later. Surgery would not be done until one year out because it would take that long for potential skin changes to take place, if they do.

Due to my small breast size (A) and small frame overall, he suggested implants. I am concerned as some surgeons do not even want to do implants on radiation pts due to a high rate of complications (problems with wound healing, infection, capsular contraction). Unfortunately I'm uneven now but I may be so done with too many procedures. Agh! If only choices were simple, right? Probably a good time for a second opinion.

For anyone just beginning, for what it's worth, my experience with rads has been very easy. Fatigue has been minor.

I have slight redness and soreness, for which the 100% aloe I use works very well. I also use Miaderm (very soothing) and emu oil. The aloe is Fruit of the Earth brand (available at Walmart), emu oil and Miaderm are available at Amazon.

Happy weekend to all!

LisaSp and others - just a thought!

My right breast has always been a bit bigger than the left but when I stopped breastfeeding (about 18 years ago) - there was a big difference between the two.

Lefty has stayed small medium and perky - while righty is at least 2 sizes bigger and droopy.

In all those 18 years of very unevenness I never thought of having surgery to correct the problem because I don't like people cutting me even if I am unconscious at the time.

I don't think the lack of symmetry changed my life one little bit.

Now righty is bigger, droopier, scarred and burnt and my nipple skin is MIA. After the lumpectomy my shape is a little off too, though I can't quite say how just yet. Its hard to look at that boobie and remember what I looked like when I was 18 but I won't let a surgeon near me again unless it is for health reasons.

Everyone's circumstances are different and everyone has to decide what is right for them at the time they make the decision. I am not against reconstruction of any kind for anybody who chooses it.

I just don't think the physical shape of my boob changed how happy or contented or how unhappy and discontented I have been during the past 18 years.

But I admit that I am a dull old bird who never wears anything other than T-shirts with high necklines anyway! It is going to be interesting to see how I cope emotionally with returning my battered boob to active service after rads and some time to recover.

Bounce - didn't they do pictures once a week throughout your treatment to make sure they were getting the field right? I know they made a couple tiny adjustments throughout my treatment.

If I were you, I would ask your RO, but I am guessing that they'll assure you that you're fine.