Winter 2015-16 RADS

Thanks Barbe, Disneygirl and Moondust - yet it IS nice to have that extra couple hours back! Well, it is so far - today was my first 'free' day.

Disneygirl, it seemed like the treatments were going by fast, but the last 5 kind of dragged for me. I'm the impatient type and things weren't moving fast enough for me!! I didn't have to drive far and everything was incredibly efficient at the rad center - in and out in a few minutes. But as I said in a previous post, being reminded every day of BC is not my favorite thing.

Moondust - good luck on your AI. Which one are you taking? I just started week 4 of Letrozole (Femara) and so far so good. No SE's. I know SE's can start later though so I'm staying vigilant. I read your explanation for wanting to pursue chemo treatment in recent and previous posts because I, too, was interested in your logic. I'll be interested in hearing what the San Fran. onco recommends for you. My tumor was 100% ER positive but very weak PR positive (only 5%). Low PR is a concern and is likely a factor in why my OncoDX is intermediate (20) and not lower. I was advised against chemo because the relative benefit was minimal and neither my MO nor the second opinion MO supported it. Also, my BC was ILC which tends to be less responsive to chemo. It was tough to decline chemo because I wanted to throw the kitchen sink at this BC. Instead I'll focus on healthy eating and exercise (AND the AI, of course.) Whatever you end up deciding, I know it'll be the right thing for you.

Barbe - I hate to hear that you fell through the cracks with your first diagnosis. You deserve so much better. It's nice to know you've got the Arimidex working for you now.

congrats, @sunnyone!

I was relieved on the last day of treatment and did not do the "now what?" dance. I already had the "note what" all lined up! However, the past few days I've struggled with feelings of bitterness and sadness. It's finally sunk in how unfair this disease is and how much it took from me. I lost nine months of my life, and it'll take at least that long to get back to where I was, physically.

I'm horribly achy in my joints, and my shoulder muscles are just awful. It's so depressing.

I have a question or 2 for you all about boosts. I had 5 weeks of whole breast and 1 week of boosts to my surgery site (about 12-1 o'clock). I never had any skin color changes around the area of the suture site BUT my axillary area got tan during whole breast and bright red and lymphedema after boosts. I never had any swelling after surgery (2 sentinel nodes removed) and this was not a treatment area. I also have rib soreness.

Soooo my question is when you got your boosts did you have skin redness over the surgery site? Did anyone have a similar treatment of whole breast and surgery site BUT have a lot of tan/redness in axillary as a "spillover radiation? Lymph issues?

I know everyone is different in all ways but I can't make sense of these "symptoms". I was very happy to have no lymph issues after surgery (and I should not have had with only the 2 nodes taken out) and since you can't feel radiation all I have is skin changes in strange areas that confuse me. Makes me wonder where the radiation went. Thank you for your time.

DONE!!! I banged that gong so loud they heard it up in reception!!! No techs stood around except one who was passing. I had different techs every time so never really bonded with anyone.

I will stick around here for a while as I speedily heal. I have areas that are raw and some black areas too. The head guy this morning said I wasn't doing too badly "considering what we put into you!"

Duzy - Thanks!! Yes, I was happy to chew up that last pink gumball and down my 4th and final glass of champagne! I'm very lucky to have no real skin SE's from rads - Today is only day 5 after finishing and my 'tan' is substantially faded. No open skin or sores during entire time. But the post-rad fatigue is pretty significant. I started getting fatigued about week 4 but it really hit me about 2-3 days after treatment ended. Bad today too but I'm honoring it by hanging out on the couch in my fuzzy bathrobe.

Twnkltoz - So sorry you're feeling so sad and bitter. Are you seeing a counselor or have you considered it? If there's ever a time in life when you deserve profession help to regain a positive outlook, it's after BC. You're right, of course about losing 9 months of your life but you did what you had to do with strength and grace. I hope you can find it in yourself to look forward again.

Moondust - good luck with Arimidex. MO said that if SE's develop from AI's, they often go away after about 6 months so if you get any SE's, hope you can hang in there. I'm close to 4 weeks on Letrozole (Femara) and so far so good. Just some tiny, short, hot flashes. .

Findaway - Good questions. I can't speak to the boosts (I had mine during surgery) but as to the whole breast rads and tanning in the axillary area, I got that too. In fact, its the only part of the entire radiation field where the skin turned a little leathery. My RO said it was like that because of the friction from arm rubbing skin of that area. She advises her patients to "walk with attitude" - in other words, with that hand on the hip to avoid underarm friction (and look a little bad-ass!) And I agree with Moondust about lymphedema not being caused by rads.

Barbe1958 - CONGRATS!! I heard that gong all the way down here in southern California!!! Well done!

Barbe, congrats on being done!!! I'm so happy to hear that you are through!

Congratulations Barbe, I bet it felt great to hit that gong.

I am just starting to feel not as tired and I have been done with rads for 2 weeks. Skin looks better. I never had open sores but I had rough itchy skin. I noticed my nipple had gotten bigger on the rad side. Looks really weird. I sure hope it doesn't stay that way.

Congrats Barbe!

I'm right behind you. I have 4 treatments left.

There's no gong at my hospital but I sure can't wait to be finished!

I start Tamoxifen tomorrow - nervous!

Yay Barbe1958! I didn't have a gong but I would have whacked that sucker hard too!!!!

congrats, barbe!

I'm doing better emotionally. I am not seeing a counselor, but after talking it out with a couple awesome and insightful people who validated me and let me vent, I got past it. I'm sure I'll have more bad spells, but for now I'm good. Two more sleeps until vacation!

Hey ladies! I haven't been able to keep up with the thread as much as I want to but I do read as much as I can!

I'm about 3 months out of radiation. Does anyone else thats a few months out still have a tender radiated boob? Most of the time it's ok but once in awhile it's tender. And if I'm poking around and pushing harder (feeling for any weird lumps etc), it definitely HURTS when I hit some spots. I see my MO in two weeks so I'll let her know but wanted to see if anyone else had this too?

I have black skin. My surgical wound is festering with pus. I have huge raw areas that weep. Am I doing okay????

Barbe, you may want to put a call in to your RO & make an appointment right away to check your skin.

good! Good idea Barbe!

X

Shiny ( sorry ladies for piping in!)

Be good to you all.

Bestestest wishes,

Shiny

Sunnyone, I am happy to share anything I know! The second opinion paperwork, which has been transmitted to UCSF on the 20th, got "lost in the mail", which I didn't discover until I finally reached a live person at UCSF on Thursday the 28th. Leaving messages didn't work. My MO's office faxed everything to them again Friday morning. I think everything is back on track now. I had a voicemail from UCSF to call them on Monday. I hope they will see me soon, but I don't know until I call tomorrow. I am very curious about what UCSF will say about my case, and I will let you know!

I started the AI just in case the second opinion agrees with my MO about not having chemo. I specifically asked her if I could start and then stop if I was going to have chemo, and she said yes. She said it would take about 2 weeks for the effects to wear off so that the benefit of chemo was not impacted by the AI. I am feeling pretty good so far, but I've only been on the AI for a week.