Winter 2015-16 RADS

I'm very fortunate that my RO is the guy he is... My first meeting he gave me his card with his cellphone # and told me to call anytime if I had any questions whatsoever.... He meets with me on Fridays in an exam room, but checks on my during my Friday rads, too. I've only used the cellphone call once, and that was because I was freaked out about something that I wasn't told about. He took the call and answered everything... If you feel you need to get answers, see the doc, definitely speak up.

I do agree with Kate, I've learned more on these boards, than from the docs office, though...

Warrior On!

Vicki, I had a similar class before chemo but not radiation. Maybe I'll make that suggestion to them. Thanks!

i guess I'm lucky, because I've loved all my docs, nurses, and techs. My medical center is awesome.

How many of you had chemo and surgery before rads? I didn't completely recovered from one step before the next one started, so maybe that's why I felt fatigue from the first rad treatment. I can't see myself feeling completely normal for a few months after I'm done, but for me completely normal includes working out, running, and dancing several days per week. I'm frustrated at losing all that fitness I worked so hard to get, not to mention the weight gain.

El Tigre - it's great that you feel so good!

Sloan is so right...we have developed a real sisterhood over at the Lump Lounge...come join us!

Hi All,

I'm just checking in. I can't tell you how much is means to me to have all of you on my healing team. I had the first of four boost radiation today. My skin is holding up well but the itching is intense. I have put baking soda and water on a washcloth and just held it on my breast. That seemed to help. I also have taken benadryl at bedtime. It seems worse through the night. Also the benadryl helps me sleep.

Congratulations to those who have recently finished rads. I will join you on Tuesday!!

Blessings to all.

Had my last boost today, so now it's back to whole breast rads for 5 days. Then I'm done!! Not sure my skin is going to endure 5 more days tho. It's getting ugly! Tried miaderm, but it burned, so I'll stick with aquaphor and triple B. I love my RO, btw. He takes his time, calls my breasts "Thelma and BooBoo", and gently scratches my back, where it's really itchy, the whole time he's chatting with me. Nurse says fatigue will peak at 2 weeks past rads and then start to improve. Dang, I'm exhausted now, can't imagine it getting worse. Had labs today, before Herceptin, and I'm anemic which is probably not helping. Any one else dealing with low red blood counts?

Tam-iam- I would've been upset too. We have to be our own advocates and I think that empowerment helps give us the strength to get thru this crap.

I've always been pretty strong when it comes to advocating for my kids or my rescue furkids, but now I am simply "unfuckwithable" and proud of it😄

Modoc- thanks for the article on anti-oxidants. Kinda of a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. I've heard that theory before so I've avoided them as much as possible. It's just so hard to know what's good and what isn't😒

HappyHammer and Sloan--that thread moves FAST!! Whew! Hard to keep up, but I enjoy reading it!

Congrats to those who are finishing this week and if you're just starting, it goes quickly!!

Linda....someone complained about you working from home??!!! Wow. Just wow.

I really wish I felt better about rads.

Chemo wasn't really presented as a choice. It was kind of like, "do this." Rads has been "well, do you want to do this?" And no, I don't want to do it. . . . But I can't tell if that's intuition or fear, so I'm going to do it. I really, really hope my lung doesn't get all wacky.

I got an email today from my RO, who just wanted to let me know that he and the physicist met and planned my treatment. We're definitely going to avoid my heart.

I sound like a broken record, don't I? Oh, anxiety. . . .

Linda, co-workers can be so jealous sometimes and what they don't realize is they make it bad for themselves if they are ever in a similar situation. That being said, as someone who works in HR/Benefits, don't forget that you can always ASK for an ADA accommodation to allow you to work at home. If it's something that they've allowed in the past without issue, they would have a really hard time trying to defend the fact that it's not a reasonable request.

I had my port flushed this morning and a check-up with my MO after my rads. I think that's when it hit me that I'm really almost done with all this and hopefully forever! I'll get my port out as soon as rads are finished.

Hello to everyone!  i finished radiation 2 days ago on Wednesday, January 27th.  The worst part by far was the itch.  However, after receiving the 25 whole breast treatments, I saw a vast improvement to the breast within about 5 days.  The redness started to go away as did the itch.  I was amazed and impressed and happy!  The area where the cone down was focused is like a huge RED circle, however, it does not bother me at all.  I started Tamoxifen today.  Breast cancer is alot of work. 

Starting to get a burn, mostly under my arm. I guess I forgot to put the cream all the way over there, because they weren't radiating my nodes. But apparently breast tissue is under the arm as well. D'oh. It's tight and leathery and looks like a bad sunburn. RO just said to keep putting Miaderm on 2x a day. I'm also putting on the Trader Joe's aloe gel and coconut oil. Other than that the rest of the breast looks ok. I hope it doesn't get a whole lot worse, I have 1 more week of whole breast rads and then a week of boosts.

Hi everyone!

I finished my 28 whole breast treatments today, and next week have my 5 boosts. I had been so nervous about my skin, since I am very pale. So I wanted to post another good story for the newcomers--my skin has really held up. There is a redness/pinkness to it, but the skin doesn't hurt AT ALL. So my understanding is that now most of that skin can start returning to normal, and just the smaller area that receives the boost will continue to worsen. The skin texture is normal (not leathery or tight).

I had another sim for the boost yesterday. They drew on me with sharpie, where the boost will go. I'd say it's about 20% of the total area that received the whole breast treatments.

The only pain I have is brand-new: a sort of nagging feeling in my breast (deeper; not a skin issue). I don't like it, but I wouldn't really call it painful. Maybe just a 1 or 2 on a 1-10 pain scale. But I'll be glad to be done. For me, the worst part is the inconvenience...it's about a 25 minute drive each way, so with the time there, it's about an hour and a half daily. Otherwise, it's not a big deal, and it's really nothing compared to chemo. Obviously, I know that some people have much worse reactions (sorry!!), but I just wanted to post this for anyone who hasn't started yet and is nervous.

Good luck everyone!

Tulips

Tulips....I have to agree.
I'm VERY fair and always burn so easily in the sun. (One summer, I got a second degree burn just from being out on the beach for an hour and yes, I had sunscreen on! It was horrible and had to take Vicodin for the pain. I'll never forget that!)
That being said, I am at the end of my second week. My skin is truly holding up VERY well. (Knock on wood! LOL!) It's pink and a bit swollen....but the skin does not hurt at all. I've noticed that my breast is very sore and sensitive, (like how it feels right before your period is about to start.), but it's not horrible and wearing a bra helps greatly.
So....if you are fair and worried about how your skin will react, take some comfort in knowing that other fair ladies out there are doing just fine!