Winter 2015-16 RADS

Tomorrow is the last day of whole-breast treatments! Then onto 5 boosts.

Mairew, good for finishing WBR tomorrow!

I had my first boost today. It is electron beam rather than photon beam. They told me the electron beam does not penetrate as far, so no need to hold my breath for these. It is aimed completely differently, and only has one position instead of the two for my WBR. It will vary for each person depending on where your tumor was. They took off all my stickers and drew an area on my breast which represents the boost field. It is roughly an oblong around the site of the tumor. Then they made a template so if the marker fades too much they can easily re-draw it. The whole procedure did not take any longer than a WBR treatment, and they say it will be quicker tomorrow. They said the skin can have a reaction similar to the photon radiation, but since it's only 5 days, I should not notice much.

Katja, I did not have any bad reaction to my 30 WBR trreatments, just a little darkening with some pink under the arm and under the breast the last couple of days. But no itching or burning. This is only a guess, but could having chemo prior to rads make some women have a worse reaction?

Is there a special way to do a breast self-exam after you have had radiation? I am changing the way I do mine, because my ob-gyn never detected my lump when she did a traditional breast exam, and it was there for at least 2 years! I am using the "grab and squeeze" method (my own name) where I grab one breast at a time and squeeze it around like putty. I think I'll definitely have a better chance to feel any lumps or thick areas this way, whereas the way I was taught - lie down and rub in small circles on the skin - did not work for my dense and fairly large breasts.

Just a note about self-exams!! Make sure you hold your arm above your head to get muscles out of the way! My recent lump couldn't be felt with my arm down as it was growing up between ribs on my flat chest and yet, with my arm over my head you could SEE it!!!

So I finished day 7 of rads today. So far no very noticeable SEs other than my boob is a bit swollen...but it was like that after my surgery. My RO said I would probably start seeing some skin SEs at the end of this week. I am so excited....not. I am feeling tired but not really too much more than usual. I have always been a napper. I had a wonderful reflexology session today after treatment. It is a complimentary service the hospital offers while having radiation or chemo. I scheduled another session next week! I am 1/3 of the way done....yahoooooooo.

interesting...I don't know what kind of boosts I had, but they were way easier than the wbr.

I hear you, @justmaximom, on the weight thing. I don't need the tough love because I give it to myself every day. I gained so much when I was sick, but it couldn't be helped.

Three weeks out, and my energy continues to improve. Today I rode my bike for 20 minutes, went to tap class, then to the food trucks down the street for dinner and still felt great! My skin is still pink but feels fine. I do seem to have trouble with my shoulders now, though. Feels like tendinitis. Sigh.

So I am almost 2 weeks from rads and the areas that peeled are getting new skin and starting to heal.

My energy is getting better but I still have one area that is real itchy and nothing seems to help. I was wondering if others experienced this and how long it took

As for the boosts I had 5 and they were targeting my scar as I had a mastectomy and they used the bolus each time. It focused on the skin and a good portion of my scar peeled

Glad to see more people are getting close to the end and hopefully with minimal SE

Good luck to those just starting. Happy Hump Da

I missed taking your survey, Sunnyone22

3. After how many treatments did you start feeling tired?
Nearly everyone experienced fatigue. Only 3 did not.

Well, make that 4. After 23 treatments, still no fatigue at all. So, I'm beginning to think I may never get fatigue from this. I also don't have nor expect to get open sores. Only a little color.

I think those of us who experience no side-effects are not on this forum so often, so missed taking the survey.

Kkubsky - Glad you're noticeably SE free for now - hopefully any you get will be mild. My RO said the treated boob usually swells a bit and then actually shrinks once treatment ends. Being a napper, you might be taking care of your fatigue issues. I was never a napper but I am now. Just catnaps but they really help. The fatigue doesn't seem to be day-long for me, just need that nap late afternoon (my treatments are just before noon each day).

Gemma12 - Thanks for extra 'boost' info. Makes sense that each of our rads experiences are a bit different, base on histological type, size, location, etc. of removed tumors. Congrats on minimal SE's!!!

Twnkltoz - Glad to hear your energy is improving. Being in the middle of treatments, I'm encouraged when I hear 'normal' will return after these treatments are finished. Hope your shoulder pain subsides soon.

barbe1958 - So sorry to hear of your continued issues. Bladder infections are so uncomfortable. Please let us know what you learn from your renal US. I smiled when I read that you called off your rad coordinates. I can do that too because they call them off every day! Kind of like pilots calling out pre-flight checklists. Like you, I was told not to breathe any differently. I asked my RO about that and she said the initial measurements they took included the range of normal breathing and she encouraged me not to hold my breath. Can they make an adjustment for you to better avoid the lung tissue or is it unavoidable? As for your total gy's - I wonder if it's more than some of us are getting because yours includes lymph nodes and chest wall whereas some are only whole breast w/o lymph nodes, etc. What did your RO say about total gy's? I'd be interested in hearing.

Duzy - So glad you're healing so well. Gives me (us) something to look forward to!

Katja23 - Lucky you! Glad to hear you have no SE's. You don't really even need naps? Good point that there are probably many SE-free ladies out there who are not on the thread.

Windward - about your moles......I had one pop up on my breast around day 7 and I asked RO about it. She said it was probably a flesh colored mole that was already there but just darkened as a result of the rads. I'll be interested to hear what your RO says about your new spots and skin tags. Please let us know.

barbe1958 I have tried Benadryl, hydrocortisone cream and the Silvadeen cream they gave me And so far no relief

Windward I had a few mole do the same thing. My RO said pretty normal but always a good idea to see a dermatologist once treatment is don

Thanks edwsmom I'll call later today to see if I can get an update. This is crazy.

Duzy, for itching, I think it was said earlier that calamine lotion helps a lot. I see that Amazon has something called caladryl lotion. Must be a combo of calamine and benadryl.

Windward, I have numerous skin spots spots under my breast that got a lot darker, and one new mole on my side. My RO said I should have a yearly head-to-toe check by a dermatologist, not because of rads, but just because.

Barbe, sorry about the bladder infection! It may be that they can't miss your lung totally no matter what, but they are probably just hitting a very small area of it. Chances are you will have no side effects from it. My RO did the gated breathing for me because I told him I backpack at high altitude and climb mountains, so I need every bit of lung capacity I have.

The marker they used is once again coming off on my bra. Good thing I have several old bras I can wear this week.

My shoulder is still achy and painful if I'm not careful, but only three more treatments left!

My shoulder is starting to ache #7 out of 25 today. They do shoot up through my back into lymph nodes so that is probably what's causing the muscle ache. Doesn't anyone else get zapped from the back? I get it twice - once for my chest wall and once for the lymph system in my axilla. The the front. I don't find the raised arm too uncomfortable but it's awkward.

Moondust, I get the marker transferring onto my camis so I've just started to wear "wife beater" men's undershirts so I don't ruin my camis with lotion and markers!

Musosgirl I have only had 13 of 21.

@peabrain, I had to have both hands over my head for treatment, and both shoulders are affected.