Summer 2015 Rads

Can you all recommend what brand and dosage of melatonin you are using? I've heard melatonin is not regulated by the FDA so there could be inconsistencies between brands.

And how much melatonin do you start with and take?

PB

Metta - Yes, I know - I was doomed to RT from the start. I had hoped, however, to avoid s/clav tx, which I did end up with. Ironically, that area is doing the best, although where it exits, my back is really, really tan.

I guess lots of us having trouble sleeping when we're away at camp... Melatonin helps but doesn't solve the problem for me. I've had sleep issues for a long time but they've become extreme with RT. Even Ambien doesn't do much for me.

Natrol is one recommended brand of melatonin; they have a liquid form (place under tongue for faster absorption, per RO) as well a time-release formula. Look for the purple label - it's pretty easy to spot.

I realized today that while my skin is doing "great" (per RO and nurses) my body is not; the area aches, the breast is swollen, the scars hurt, my clothes/bras don't fit, I'm gaining weight, and I just don't have any sense of well-being. I've been religious about exercise, water, protein, (trying to) sleep, taking care of my skin, etc., and my body feels out of control, unpredictable and alien. My concentration at work is shot.

I know there are worse things to go through but this is really getting on my nerves. Where are the camp counselors when you need them??

@Pboi, Thank you for your supportive thoughts. I've gone downhill and hubby says I'm burning even though thermometer says 98.6. I radically switch from feeling "like me" (weaker version) to feeling sick/flu. It's so depressing. I'm seeing my GP tomorrow since Oncologist said not Radiation, but Kidneys off.

Is anyone else having strong days and sick days? So far the Radiation is least of my problems..yes tired, lotioning like a mad woman and that's keeping stiff swollen breast somewhat controlled. Wondering if my chemo HUGE CHEST rash will ever get better with Zyclara (very rough treatment)

Good luck this week ladies. X

Thanks for the suggestions on face masks, melatonin and podcasts for the insomnia. I used to use face masks but they seemed to make my face sweat. Maybe I wasn't using the right ones. 

Hopeful--I have really been focusing on taking good care of myself with exercise, healthy food and less wine. I am discouraged that I am gaining weight and can't imagine it is due to the rads. Otherwise, I am doing well with energy levels and lack of skin problems. 

It's official! I'm done! My last rads was uneventful. Today was a bolus day so I took a strong parting shot to the skin, which looks angry red right now. No bells to ring at my RO, just a hug from my favorite tech. I sounded a bell on my phone just for the effect. I have to admit I cried a little. For me it represents the end of months of active treatment and the beginning of the next phase. Sure, I'll be taking Arimidex for the next 10 years, and I still have reconstruction and possible ovarian surgery ahead of me, but the "hurt you to heal you" part of treatment is done. I feel a lot of gratitude for all of the wonderful medical professionals that have taken care of me thus far.

Thank you to everyone on this board for all the great ideas and inspiration during tx!

Congratulations Darurama! Beautifully said, it brought a tear to my eye! Hugs and blessings on the rest of your journey!

~Midgie

Darumama--congratulations!!  What a wonderful attitude you have about your treatment and the medical professionals. I wish you well in your upcoming treatments and surgeries. Keep us posted. 

Hopeful--yes I am indeed doing great and I am grateful for that. I had another night of insomnia, though. I am really going to try to get a handle on that. I ordered new eye masks and will stop at the pharmacy for melatonin today.  

darumama. So glad for you. Pls keep in touch. I'll pm you.

I'm at treatment #16 today. No color changes yet. RO said skin looks great.

Energy still good. Had one nap day last wed. Otherwise still have great energy. Still swimming and doing my outside work

Someone on another board shared this link which I thought was great on diet for bc and those going on hormone prevention pills.

Http://foodforbreastcancer.com

Not sure how to set this so its a hyperlink tho.

I don't normally have insomnia. *Knocks wood* I do, however, have problems sleeping Sunday nights. I think I get apprehensive with the whole week of treatments ahead. (It's almost like starting over when we get a break.) One bit of advice - when you start feeling tired, go to bed. Don't finish surfing the web, etc. I noticed when I delay going to bed after starting to feel sleepy, I get a "second wind" and become wired lol!

Congrats, Darumama! Ring all the bells you can find.

Peruna - hang in there. I hope you're having a better day. I'm not going through what you're dealing with, but yes, some days are a bit better, some days I can barely drag myself out of bed.

Midgie- they make bra extenders? Who knew?

I finally picked up some of those $1.68 camis yesterday at Walmart to wear under my bra. A Huge thank you and shout out to everyone who recommended these things. I thought I'd go mad from feeling a bra on my breast, and the cami cushions just enoug to make a world of difference. The bra stretches enough to accommodate both breasts, but I'll search for an extender if I need that.

After a weekend of mostly sleeping, I had 15/21 today. One more and I start 5 boosts. Made it to art class after treatment today, and after some extra espressos, and only left 1/2 hour early this time. I know I'll pay a price for this over the next couple of days, but it was worth it. Painting gets me outside of myself in such a healthy way. It also decreases my crankiness factor by a lot, always much appreciated.

Darumama, Congratulations that is awesome!!

Congrats to those who have finished RT and who are close to finishing! It's a big milestone. It will no longer be so much of your time being taken up by treatment, which is so much better and more back to "normal." I can hardly wait!

I had chemo before surgery and RT and one of the good things about that is that surgery and RT seem a lot more bearable in comparison! This doesn't negate the scariness and discomfort and non-normal-ness of surgery and RT. I just have more tolerance for what's going on since it doesn't impact me as badly as chemo did! Basically, I feel much more normal even going in every day for treatments and having a red, tight breast and irritated, darker skin under my armpit, etc. At least I can eat fairly normally and do some things without feeling like sitting down every two seconds! (Chemo really sucked for me, and I didn't even get nausea or bone pain or low white cell counts! Months later, I'm still recovering from its effects...)

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OK... so I had my first BOOST! And although I thought they mentioned a BOLUS, that's not what I had!

My techs told me that the regular treatments were protons and protons are small particles that shoot all the way through the body. I had 28 of those. Now I will have 8 of these boosts. They will be electrons and those are bigger and will stick more to the surface. This means more red skin and it will definitely peel. But I should just continue to use lots of Aloe Vera, Calendula and maybe Aquafor. (I haven't been using much of Aquafor because it's so goopy! but probably will start now.) The actual pulses or whatever are very brief and don't make a sound at all.

They use a copper block (around 4" square and 1" thick) that has been laser-cut specifically to a sort of cloud-like shape cut out through the center that covers the area of my tumor and incision. I guess it's like a stencil of a sort, so the electrons only go through and hit that area.

It took a while to set up and a RO came in to check it all out, and they took pictures. They removed my one remaining sticker and used little marker dots to mark the area of that little cloud-shape that is being treated...

Anyone else get boosts like that?

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btw... I think my margins were pretty narrow, though the docs didn't say anything about that... they definitely were something like 1 or 2 mm in areas... I have no idea if this matters to my RT. I guess I should ask!

I'm not looking forward to the extra redness and peeling, but I'm happy that I haven't blistered so far, so that's one thing at least.

I've switched to more of a sports-bra type (like the genie bras). Before this--non-underwire bras last week, regular size, and before that, my regular underwire bras.

Oh, and I have a slight dry cough and tickly throat these days. Is that from the RT?

Hi, April - Thanks for the detailed info on your boost plan. I kind of knew about the protons vs. the electrons (cue the heavy music here) but didn't know about the size difference, etc.

My tumor was way deep - all but on the chest wall with only a 1mm margin on that side, so I think the target will be somewhat different in my case than yours. My boost sim. will be next week and it will be interesting to see how it compares to yours. I may ask my RO this week about what to expect...

The tickly throat and cough may be due to radiation if your s/clav nodes are being treated but don't assume that. SweetHope had radiation pneumonitis almost immediately after her RT ended and I know she had a dreadful cough with it, so you should probably mention that to your nurse or RO tomorrow. Maybe check your temperature today and tonight; if it's elevated, speak up!

Take care of yourself, April. Good luck with the boosts!

they re did some things after my sim and after my first nuking. Remember how they had to tape down my left boob so it wasn't in the way. Thank goodness they got it recalculated because I don't think I could handle it or be patient enough to be taped down every day. So I know its a pain and frustrating for the delay but overall be glad they are picky and want it to be perfect