Summer 2015 Rads

CAMom..I'm right behind you. 6 of 28. So far I have no side effects(knock on wood). I come home after rads, apply Cetaphil lotion, cornstarch, a soft TShirt, then chill on the couch with my Polar Pad draped over me and watch the news or something. It gives me a guiltlessexcuse to come home and do nothing. 😃 I'm glad your RO is being proactive. My ROs on vacation this week. I guess the techs are keeping an eye on things.

ksusan: I am peeling too. Tomorrow is "doctor day" - I will ask what to do. (I'll post what he tells me.) In the meantime, I am sticking to my regular moisturizing regime. 3 more days for me - hoping my skin holds up. (The doctor did give me silvadene last week for a nasty burn on my arm pit - but told me only to apply there.)

CAMommy - I hope it helps! Just be sure (as you know) not to put it directly on your skin. Good luck.

Fast walker - congrats on hitting the home stretch. I hope your skin does well afterwards, too. They told me it would be a couple of weeks before it stopped getting worse - that was NOT the case for me. The pink started fading right away and by the time the boosts were over I could see a lot of improvement. That was a hugely pleasant surprise and I hope you'll be lucky that way, too.

tasha, welcome and congrats on your finish date. I didn't have any spots like you describe, have you discussed them with your RO or the techs? I saw my RO for a skin check once a week and then once again two weeks after completion, he seemed mostly interested in how my skin was holding up so I would think your RO should be able to assess your skin at your request. I'd make sure your techs are aware as well, they can probably pull in the doc if you don't have an appt to meet with him this week.

Pat- I did have some loose stools/diarrhea while on rads. It wasn't a major issue - wasn't running to the bathroom or anything like that. I suppose it could have been caused by something else, but I attributed to the rads. Kept up with my probiotics for whatever that was worth. No problem after rads ended.

little blue, I am 2 days behind you. My dry run is tomorrow then 1st zap is Thursday. I am nervous too..... Not nervous for the zap, but more nervous for what's to come in a few weeks

hey ladies. Most of us are nervous when starting rads. Just remember all the good things this is doing to rid the cancer and that the red, itchy, irritation is short term in the bigger scheme of things. In a couple weeks it will be your normal routine and it goes by quickly. Remember to hydrate more than you want, eat lots of protein, exercise, keep skin conditioned, and no rubbing from bras, purses, etc. It was much easier than I thought it would be.

Well, I didn't wind up on planet Hoth- so I got that going for me. Again, this treatment took forever---more x rays, and another tatoo. Guess the techs have never done the breath holding technique before, even though the RO and the physicist have. I was on the table for an hour. Also the program that reads xrays was down when I got there, and the RO was late because he had to drop his kids off at school (first day). Yrrrrf. At long last, I did get bolused and fried. It was fine. I put some prescription steroid creme on right after. They said to way a little while to apply lotion, because that will hold the heat in. (I'm pretty sure that the kindergarten level explanation, even I know there is no heat). My Derm recommended cetaphil in a jar for moisturizing.

I would feel way less stressed about this if I had had time to join a gym this weekend. I figure I can keep my armpits open if I hold on to the handrails on a stairmaster. So...that's my plan for this week. Find a stairmaster. Thanks for the good thoughts, you guys. Sending them right back atcha, especially you, Kbee, as you get started.

Congrats on surviving it, LB. I DID, religiously, use a frozen cloth on my skin immediately after treatment (liquid aloe first, then the cold cloth). It felt good and my skin did do well - I can't claim cause and effect. You can join your gym this week and continue running this week probably - just keep that axilla dry. PS - Sorry you missed out on the trip to Hoth. Maybe next time...

Sailorbev - Unfortunately, there are plenty of potential long-term side effects from RT. Be sure to talk with your dermatologist and see what s/he has to say about that particular concern. I seem to recall that an increased risk of melanoma was one possible risk. Congrats on coming up on your last treatment!!

Susan - are you done?? Congrats and celebrations!

Hells YEAH Ksusan!!!!

The little pimple-ish spots are normal.

CAmommy, I got those bumps too. I started off using over the counter hydrocortisone and when that wasn't enough we switched to prescription which cleared the up immediately. I highly recommend that you ask for prescription strength and don't suffer through!

littleblueflowers, I felt sooooooo much better during radiation than chemo and started walking on my treadmill everyday (Still couldn't run). About half way through rads the sweat started to really irritate my skin and the RO told me to stop sweating because the salts were irritating my skin. That's hard to do when it is 100 degrees or over in Tucson! I had to do short bouts of walking and then shower immediately after.

Hang in there everybody! You're going to make it through!

Yup. Indian food tonight.

And yup, I've exercised all the way through, missing only around 14 days in 2015 (most of which were biopsy pain-related).

Yes, now is not the time to stint on cool air.