Is my timing of treatment of concern?

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited May 2016 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi everyone,

I had my lumpectomy on March 22. I was supposed to start radiation on May 9 but I have 2 spots on my breast that have been slow to heal.. I am scheduled to start on May 23 but that is likely to be postponed yet again perhaps for another week until that stubborn spot heals more.

I started on Femara 3 weeks ago and so far so good. Was originally on Arimidex but got a terrible allergic reaction ( rash and hives) within 2 hours of taking it..

Here is my question/concern: From what I am reading most women go on the AI after radiation..... Is it bad that I have already started them without having started the radiation?

Any insights into timing would be appreciated Thanks in advance

Diane

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited May 2016

    Nachout--I can't help you but this has been a recent topic over on the "Spring 2016 Rads" thread. Some women have been told it's fine to take the AI before treatment, some have been told to wait, I think one is secretly taking it without telling her RO. :-) Go have a look or re-post over there. Best of luck.

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  • edwards750
    edwards750 Member Posts: 3,761
    edited May 2016

    Diane - we have the same name - I started after my Rads because my ONC told me that's when I needed to start them. She was adamant about that. Not sure exactly why but it was her call. I can't imagine a DR advising you not to if it wasn't okay. No one's situation is exactly the same.

    There are ladies on this forum who were advised to stop taking them for awhile because of the SEs. One of the ladies in my group at church routinely forgets to take hers. I have even forgotten on occasion.

    Since it worries you ask your doctor.

    Diane

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  • muska
    muska Member Posts: 1,195
    edited May 2016
    Hi Diane, this is not a concern if you have no major side effects from femara. I started arimidex before radiation for the same exact reason - it was taking me a bit longer to schedule rads (I had implant exchange surgery after chemo and needed to heal.) My MO handed me the prescription at the last chemo appointment andd left it up to me when to start. I had no issues that could be attributable to arimidex during the rads.
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  • Annette47
    Annette47 Member Posts: 957
    edited May 2016

    I was told to wait a month after radiation before starting Tamoxifen, but the rationale I was given was that was so they would be able to distinguish the cause of any side effects, not that one would interfere with the other, so you should be fine doing it the other way around.

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  • ksusan
    ksusan Member Posts: 4,505
    edited May 2016

    I was started on Tamoxifen one week after radiation finished.

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited May 2016

    I started Arimidex before rads but got such bad SE's that they had me stop to make sure it wasn't the radiation. I started up again during rads. They just need to know where the SE is coming from. My surgical site wasn't 100% healed and it sort of opened a bit during rads as I was bleeding in areas and had pus come out of the site. I was prescribed antibiotics and it helped. Now, a couple of weeks after healing from rads my surgical site is not even visible! And yet it was for the 3 months before starting rads. Go figure.

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