Spring 2014 Rads

congrats mz_mes! 

Anne

Congrats to all who have finished or will finish this week  WOOOHOOOO YOU MADE IT!

It has been 1 week today since I finished---saw Nurse today, then saw MO, who is putting me on Arimidex, but not to start till my poor skin heals (2 weeks longer he suggested). Then came home and the RO wanted to see my skin, so I went back, and she decided to get me a compounded crème from a pharmacy about 70 miles away, but they will deliver it.  And Nurse will check me again on Thurs afternoon.  In a week, my entire underarm area has opened, along with the boob undercrease which we been treating for a few weeks.  But, Ro showed me some white patches and said it was new skin cells being formed, so that was encouraging.   She did tell me that it is hard to predict who will have SE after Rads and who will get them during, and that is why she says no vacations/travel for 3 weeks post rads....

All I know is this---if it comes back in this breast, or the other breast, they are both coming off and I am getting a smaller, perkier pair....I don't know why I listened to four doctors.......AGHHHHHHHHHHH  I'll be willing to cash in 40D's for A.  On a good note, my diet changes sinceDX which included oatmeal EVERY morning, caused my Total Cholesterol to go from 212 to 171.  So, SILVER LINING found.

Last treatment today as well-Congrats mz-mes and Lonnie! Brought rad techs lunch and even shed a little tear saying goodbye. Have to say they were wonderful! No bell but I was thrilled never the less. Was going to have celebratory dinner last night but delayed due to wonderful circumstances. Memorial day memorable as I became a grandma for first time and you are so right Anne really so much more than I imagined! Beautiful healthy not so little girl at 8lb 3oz and 20 inch and unbelievable easy labor and delivery for my daughter-could not ask for more than that. My three year old insists on being called Aunt Maddi which is so cute.

I have much to be grateful for! While many were surprised by their diagnosis, with two sisters with breast cancer I kind of expected I would find myself here at some point. Three out of five sisters now and no BRCA but clearly something. I know there is some controversy over how we classify and treat DCIS versus invasive cancers but I was diagnosed 1-2 years younger than my sisters on my first MRI and am so happy non-invasive but a lot of the breast involved so ladies please encourage your families or those with family history to keep up with appointments.

For those in process-boost site sore but remainder of skin healing incredibly fast. Hang in there. Also have to add I stayed motivated as I looked to right during treatments and saw masks head and neck cancer patients have to wear. Ladies-they are literally attached to table during treatment. I have had the opportunity to meet several survivors of head and neck cancer volunteering at cancer screenings and fundraising walks with best friend who is speech path with this population. As a group-they do not receive the same types of funding breast cancer does. Imagine radiation and treatment taking away speech or ability to eat or drink! They are truly warriors like many of you here. This has been a humbling experience and I am oddly thankful to have had the chance to slow down and really refocus on the things that are most important to me-my family and friends. Thank you all for your encouragement! On to Tamoxifen and back to busy but wonderfully full life!

Hi everyone I am supposed to start radiation soon but encountered a problem I didn't anticipate.  I went to get the simulation done today, but my arm is STILL very stiff after surgery and I couldn't get/keep it in the position they wanted without a lot of pain (both arms way above my head). They say I need to do physio before I can do radiation to get my arm in this position and to be able to hold it there. Did anyone have a delay in treatment due to this? Also the techs told me to put NOTHING on my skin (no aloe, or lotions whatsoever) as it may make side effects worse. I was very surprised at this, as from everything I've read, most people do put something on their skin after treatments.

Deblc, My RO told me no creams or lotions other than 100% Aloe Vera when needed (not the normal of what everyone else was being told). I only used it a few times during treatment and had only a slight tan under my arm, and slight redness under my breast (barely noticeable) when finished. The RO was very surprised about how good my skin looked.

Finished rads today!

Yaaaaaay!

It's done!

It's over!

El final!

La fine!

Basta!

Ende!

La fin!

Koniec!

No more!

I am thrilled that I am not going to hear that lazy whine of the radiation machine any more!

Overall I am happy, but exhausted and slightly numb.

I guess the recovery process has to take place now.

I said good bye to the RT staff at my rads unit with a thank you card and box of pastries. (Even got a hug from one of the therapists!)

Now I am resting at home. I caught a nasty cold from my son, so I have to take care of it too.

I imediatelly started to take supplements and vitamins to boost my recovery as my RO said it was OK.

Here is a pic of the skin after 25 rads of 50 Gy's to the chest, axilla and supraclavicular areas, 4 angles and bolus each time.

Used emu oil and calendula cream. Yesterday I even introduced onion and cabbage juice compresses.

I was taking 6g of Curcumin C3 complex with Bioperine and 30g of L- glutamine daily plus a one multivitamin. I will continue with this regime for another 2 weeks or until healed.

Thanks for your responses. Phebe, the tech said I had to hold that position for 20 minutes. Couldn't even get it in the right position to their satisfaction, much less hold for 20 minutes. I am hoping I will not need a lot of physio before I can. I wish someone had impressed on me the importance of physio beforehand. I have had no follow up with the surgeon since I started chemo, and my MO does not check things like range of motion. 

Debic, my radiologist ask me to do those exercises but was not consistent so I paid for it during radiation. That's why I ask to see physio so he/she can show me how to exercise my arms. 

Wow Amazon you look good!!! Congrats on finishing rads & congrats on such a nice chest LOL No puckers, no fatty tissue, where's your scar? You look awesome!!!!

Tomorrow is rad #28, my LAST ONE!!!!!!

vintage: Yeah, the scar is there in all its glory. It's just that the pic didn't show it all. ;-)

Redheaded: I took the curcumin pills in 2g x 3 per day and L- glutamin: 10g x 3 per day

It boosts/ protects your healthy cells and weakens cancer cells so they are more susceptible to radiation treatment. 

I joined Amazon in being finished TODAY!! My appt was at 8:00am and by 9:45 on was on the way to the airport. I am back in my home in Fl. Reunited with 11year old grandson, and will be leaving in a few minutes to surprise the other two.

We went to Chilis for dinner last night to celebrate the end of radiation and had the same waiter we had when we went to celebrate the pathology report after BMX. He remembered us and we told him why we were there again. He came back to the table with some kind of microphone and told the whole restaurant why we were there. Everyone applauded. I hate being the center of attention, but it was pretty cool. 

Anne

Amazon & Anneb - CONGRATS!!!  Will definitely check out the Curcumin Tumeric pills with my RO before I begin rads.  Thank you ladies for your experiences, photos, and words of encouragement!!  You have a lot to celebrate.  Enjoy!!

I'm using the calendula ointment and gel  -- and also aloe vera gel.  I just finished two weeks ! A little  tan/red, but otherwise ok.

I also bought some curcumin and will start taking it as a supplement.

Rosie

 I was borderline each time with whatever # they use to require a blood infusion. I would have preferred an infusion but dr felt it wasn't absolutely necessary. I did go in for fluids & that helped. I also took Blood Builder for a short time. I had bad constipation issues. Actually got blocked up awful because I have a rectocele & ended up in the ER. So did not take iron.

congratulations to all finishing rads! I'm on my second week and so far so good. Still exhausted from the chemo though. So I missed what the curcumin is for?