Has anyone had Brachytherapy?

I had brachytherapy (using the SAVI method). My surgeon thought I would probably be a good candidate for it, but nobody can say for sure that you will be able to do it until the final pathology report comes back after the lumpectomy. If there is any cancer or micromets in the lymph nodes, then brachytherapy is not option I was told.

If you do end up having brachytherapy, a CT scan will be done to measure the internal space and then plans are made to insert a device - typically a balloon called the Mammosite. I was too small so had to have a different device. Then there will be two sessions per day of radiation for a total of five days. Then the device is removed. That's the short overview. I think there are some good threads covering more of the specifics if you do a search.

And I didn't find the wires being place before surgery to be a big deal. By that time you've already been given a sedative and are pretty mellow.

Good luck to you and let us know what happens.

I had my Savi implanted on Friday 2/27 and started my radiation treatment today 3/4. The gap between implantation and tx was due to the surgeon's schedule and the radiation schedule.

I'm having an unusual amount of pain. Just started taking percocet so that I can sleep. I also realized that I need to take it for each treatment session because of the pain with handling of the catheter tubes when they are hooking it up to the rad machine. My rad onc thinks the pain is due to the angle that the Savi had to be placed. Most people don't have this much pain.

After my first day of treatment (2x/day, 6 hours apart), my breast is red, swollen and warm to the touch. Has anyone else experienced this? I guess I was surprised how quickly this occurred.

Any input is appreciated. I'm pretty anxious about my level of pain.

Thanks

Mary

(This is my first post and I haven't figured out how to put information in my signature)

Rainbowpearl, I hope your lumpectomy went well.  It will probably be a couple of weeks before you will have the device implanted for brachytherapy.  I had a Savi device placed in January and it went well, but I was surprised that it was inserted across the breast--my lumpectomy was at 2 o'clock and the device was inserted at 10 o'clock through my breast to the open, fluid-filled space of the lumpectomy--I think mainly to stabilize the device.  I wore a breast binder to hold it in place and it was also cleaned and bandaged/padded after each treatment time.  The device was removed minutes after the last radiation treatment.  The wound was left open and has taken a few weeks to close.  It was minimally painful and I had been on an antibiotic from the day it was implanted until 2 days after it was removed.  My Savi device had seven tubes linked together and was probably only about 1/4 inch around.  Make sure they tell you how to clean it yourself if you have to wait over a weekend and don't be surprised if the tube caps fall out--that's not a problem. Each treatment was preceded by a CT scan to show that the device hadn't moved and I had 2 radiation treatments per day for a week.  I was glad to be done after 5 days and grateful I didn't have to go in daily for 6 weeks for external radiation.  Other than some black and blue spots from bruising from device (which quickly cleared up), I had no burning or skin problems other than the additional wound.

Ladyhop, I hope they check out the redness.  Sounds like an infection.  As I noted, I was on an antibiotic from the day my device was implanted until 2 days after it was removed 10 days later.  My gap of days between insertion and starting radiation was explained to me as  the two days it took to calculate how each of the 7 tubes are placed in the lumpectomy wound and how long and how strong the radiation they will use and then the weekend days before I started treatments on a Monday.  It was interesting during the treatments to hear the tiny radiation pellets "click" into place in the tube and make 7-10 stops in the tube and then exit back into the machine delivering the treatment.  Total radiation treatment time was less than 10 minutes each time, but the scan, setup and unhooking me from the machine took additional time.

Sorry to hear you ended up in the ER but glad they prescribed antibiotics.  I hope that will clear it up fast so you can get back to treatments.  Stick with the Brachy if you can--you already have the device in and only a few more treatments to go.  Personally, I'd rather take my chances with internal radiation than tamoxifen!