Winter 2013-2014 Rads
Comments
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Starting next week. Do not yet know for sure if it will be 16 or 33 sessions. Somewhat worried about skin reactions underneath breast. Will be watching for tips.
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Peaches - "prone position" is when the patient is lying on their stomach for radiation.
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I still make that mistake sometimes also, Pam, although I know the correct term is supine. The further along you get in distance from your school years, it seems the more you forget the finer points.
I had x-rays many times during rads, and some CT scans as well.
Carol
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Thanks for the feedback, junipergirl especially about the chamomile tea at bedtime. I'm going to give that a try. And...congrats on your finishing rads!!!
Stephanie - I totally understand about the rads being a continuation of the "same ole, same ole!" At times I feel like my body became one big toxic waste dump! I'm so looking forward to the day when I look back on all this and can confidently say, "Whew, I made it through!"
Congratulations to everyone who finished up this week! Looking forward to joining the ranks!
Beth
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Congrats on finishing Junipergirl! I know the feeling. I just finished yesterday. Celebrate!
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Decided I better introduce myself instead of such a brief comment. I'm happy to have found this group. I had sworn off boards because they were so discouraging. But this is awesome. I have read through page 8. I had a very small tumor removed in December after routine mammogram, only 4mm. Tumor was actually totally removed during biopsy, but surgery was required to know that for sure. Had the consultation and simulation. Waiting on official word whether there will be 16 or 33 sessions. Will know that Monday and start rads Tuesday or Wednesday. Worried about side effects just like all of you, but want to get the show on the road. I trained to be a clown after retirement and widowhood at the same time. Clowning is great fun and mental therapy. Right now I cannot try to get bookings because it would be awful to cancel on a four year olds birthday party. So there isn't much incentive to practice magic, balloons or Facepaint right now. I made myself do a little yesterday. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'll be following along. I'll bet in the next pages I read there will be more gals who have actually done treatments with more to share. I'm kinda the tail end of the winter group.
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Moving forward--congrats on finishing and thanks for the info about massaging the breast. Mine has shrunk throughout rads. I am truly, ridiculously lopsided.
Team kin--I asked the RO about the hot/cold etc. She said it couldn't be a side effect, but maybe I should have my regular doctor check my thyroid. I will, but since I also had these after surgery, I think it might be part of the damage/healing process.
When I saw my RO this week, I mentioned that I now had two red patched under my arm and they burned, especially at night. She said put a wet, cool washcloth on it. Won't work at night--not in my bed at minus -4 degrees outside. (I live in the snowy, frigid Midwest). Today the techs noticed the area, asked if I had told the doctor. I told them the response. They called the nurse who gave me gell packs. Work much better.
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I will be starting rads soon although I am waiting on results of Oncotype to see if I will need chemo first. It seems like all I've done is wait for test results this past month. I had lumpectomy Dec. 17 and sentinol node biopsy that showed microscopic cancer cells. I feel like my life is on hold and have no motivation, although I am back to work.
How many of you ladies were able to work everyday while doing rads? Did anyone have hair thinning or loss? I am 62 years old and healthy except for BC.
I am weary of waiting. Sorry to sound so down. I just want to get this show on the road, do what I need to do, and get it overwith!
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Junipergirl congratulations! Great way to start a week end. Stay in touch.
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Junipergirl -- Congratulations!!!!! Woot woot, indeed!!!!! You did it! Here's to speedy healing and good times this Spring,
Peaches -- the "prone" position is on your stomach, face down. You and I are on our backs, so we are not prone. I get "pictures" (X-rays, I think) everyday -- two of them, which the tech says they use to make sure they line up with the original CT scan images. Once those are done, then I get two "treatments," one from each side.
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Congrats to all who finished this week! How exciting. I am counting down the days. I have had 10/28 today. My entire breast and neck are a light pink with one dark pink/red patch under my arm where my lymph nodes were removed. I am having issues with pain from my TEs on both sides but I think some of it is from pulled muscles from having my arms above my head. I am concerned about my TE on non rad side...it feels like it is moving toward my armpit and down although the RO looked at it and said he thought it was ok. I am wondering if it is starting to sag a bit since I haven't worn a bra in 2 weeks. I don't want to wear a bra though for fear of irritating the skin.
I get X-rays every day for setup. They have a hard time lining me up and one dy I had 4 or 5 X-rays to get me set up. They are doing better now and usually get it in 2 . Today I was in and out in 25 minutes which I think was the fastest they have ever done.
Sbp1952 I am currently working through rads but work has kept my load low. I also worked through chemo but took off days I was sick or tired. Took a long recovery from BMX and was out 8 weeks.
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sbp1952 - I am teaching (kindergarten) three days a week while I go through radiation. I probably could have gone back to work full time, but I'm still recovering from chemo so I wanted to have an easier load. I am worried about going back full time though, because I've heard that the fatigue is actually worse right after radiation stops. But working full time is definitely doable with rads.
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Hello all
I'm starting in two weeks. Last time I burned badly. I was told my large breast and dark skin made this happen. Now I have no breast but am told that getting the internal mammary nodes can also cause bad burns. Do help. If you had a really bad skin reaction what helped, prevented it , etc. thanks! V -
Checkers - I, too, asked about prone position since my rad will be on left and large breast. RO didn't recommend it saying trouble is the heart falls forward as well as breast. Hmmm..I remarked I had never heard of heart moving around like that. Potential heart risk does scare me as father died early of heart trouble. But I have never had medical cause for heart concern.
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Hi, I am new here, started treatments On Dec 9th and will finish on Jan 30th I am in countdown mode..It has not gone too bad until this last week when i got a mild case of the shingles. PC doc tried to get me to get the vaccine before I started.. and this week I have some horrible burns.. but wilth some Silvadene cream I will graduate If it kills me...
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Mimi, HVV, sbp - It looks like we will be the "late bloomers" in this group. I won't start until February but I'm reading every word and noting tips. All of these ladies have been so generous with their experiences and time.
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MinusTwo -- Add me to the list. I have my simulation on Monday 1/27 and start 21 rads on 2/3. -- Ellen
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Miminiemi...my left breast is being radiaed too. I am on my back and do gated breathing. The machine only radiates my breast when I am holding my breath. Yes your heart does move position and I was told when you hold your breath your heart moves down. At the initial simulation they set up a target for my breath hold based on two trial breath holds. I was concerned later that I wasn't holding a full volume of breath and mentioned this to the RO....asking how he knew my heart was out of the way. He said when they do the simulation they can see your heart on the CT scan. They can see everything they want to radiate and everything they don't want to radiate. The doctor runs the computer simulation which tells them which angles to come in at to avoid areas like the heart. He said it is a very complicated program and that's why it takes a week to get the setup.
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Hi, I've got a question. I managed to do some reading on rads and scared myself. I read that large breasts are hard to radiate, that they end up getting more organs in the field, and they have to give you more rads because there is more tissue, and the girl end up more deformed. I wasn't nervous about rads until I read that, snd I read it AFTER my appointment Thursday with the RO for the simulation or whatever they did in the cat scan. No one said anything about big boobs being difficult, so now I'm wondering why the surgeon didn't suggest a reduction to make rads easier. Anybody know anything about this?
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Well, this is great, I have been reading all of your threads and it has to do with having big boobs and holding your breath while getting rads etc...Now I am really confused...The only qustion I can answer is that they told me NOT to hold my breath, just to breath normally...Now I wonder about that...I want nothing radiated that should not be, as I'm sure all of you do...I see my RO on Monday and will have quite a number of questions for him...Thank you all for making the rest of us awear with your questions...Have a great day
Stephanie
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gubbyann, I'm also told to breathe normally. Some places do the gated breathing and some don't. My RO said it wasn't necessary in my case.
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Bondsy, Gubbyann It is my understanding that it depends on the machine at your facility as to whether or not you breathe normal or gated.
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I can tell everyone is getting nervous about the differences, organs exposed, size of breasts, etc. I had concerns about my heart as well, and had read about some of these different things when browsing the fall rads discussion board. I asked some questions, and maybe the answers will be helpful to all of you.
The tech who did my CT scan didn't know how they protect the heart, but he did know that they don't do rads in the prone position at my facility. So at my first treatment, I asked the rads tech. He got out the pictures from my CT scan and treatment plan which show the field of radiation from various angles. He showed me that my heart is blocked by the machine, and that a sliver of my lung would be exposed to radiation. A couple days late, I also asked my RO the same question and he showed me the same photos and explained it the same way. I asked if there would be scarring in the lung in that spot, and RO said yes, but it is a very small area and will not affect lung function or health going forward.
My MO told me that this radiation facility recently got this machine that blocks your heart so that you don't have to hold your breath. So there are different types of machines, which accounts for the differences in having the gated breathing or not. My MO said the physics that generates the computer program and treatment plan is very complex.
I am guessing that the location of your cancer tumor bed makes a difference to all this as well. My IDC area was close to the chest wall, and the margins in my surgery -- though they were clear -- were the smallest at the chest wall. That is the reason my field of radiation goes through a sliver of my lung, so that the chest wall is radiated in that spot.
Don't be shy about asking to see the treatment plan and the pictures -- in fact, I am thinking of asking for a copy of mine. As the patient, you have a right to see anything in your chart and have it explained to you.
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Thanks for the great explanation, TeamKim. I also saw pictures of my field of radiation, and saw that the heart is out of the way. Made me feel a lot more confident in the whole situation. I think my radiation facility and equipment are all fairly new.
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HVV, sbp, Ellen and minus two. Glad to have a little cadre in the late radiant bloomers group. I'm starting next week, but still don't know how many sessions. I've already put my MO I will advocate for myself. She wants a blood draw at every visit. It took four tries before success because they had such large needles. Nurses complained they used to have choices available. Receptionist said hospital policy, drink water, etc... So I called my primary care family doctor at the same facility to see if he could have some sent upstairs from his lab where they typically use pediatric needles for me and never have trouble. That was at 4 pm. At 9 the next morning the receptionist called to say she had ordered some and they will be in by Monday. The family doc asked what in the world are the using on children! We will stay in touch. Praying for great luck for the late bloomers.
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Hi everyone...it's been awhile since I posted but just wanted to let you know that I just finished my 14th treatment (out of 20) and with all my anxiety and worry over everything, I am doing just great. I literally made myself sick worrying about every medical procedure. I am getting the 3d conformal radiation to my entire breast and a little to the lymph nodes. I was worried about my lungs getting radiation, but RO said it's very minimal. I haven't had any side effects so I feel so fortunate. The place I go is usually on time and I am in and out of there in 15 min. and everyone is pretty nice. I haven't had any of the boosts yet, so I hope they go smoothly too. Thank you for all of your support.
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My dr gave me some Mia Derm its cream for radiation treatments you can only get it online. I didn't because of the expense. I have been using Aquaphore. Its good. I lube the boob!! everyday two times a day, before I go to work and after the treatment when I get home. I also have some silverdine the dr. gave me for my severe blister I have to deal with. Everyone is different. Just keep putting the aquaphore on I just bought the big jar in Walmart today it about 15 dollars. Good luck, stay positive!!! I wear sports bras that helps too. NO NYLON!!! Mr Toms organic deodorant.
Ms. Maples.
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sbpap52: I worked every day during my rads treatments. At times I had some moderate fatigue, but kept working through it. I did have hair loss during the treatments -- after shampooing noticed more hair in the comb and in the sink. I am post-menopausal, healthy other than BC and 59 years old. Hope everything works out for you.
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Beth,
LOL, Toxic Waste Dump, that made me
. I have my first consult Monday for Radiation therapy. Trying to muster up some ??? for my RO. I think it will be a couple weeks before I actually get on track.
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Hello gals,
What stores carry Calundula? Should I start using the creams a week prior to my 1st Rad or wait until after?
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