Spring 2016 Rads

Yay bjsmiller! Welcome to the club!!

(I'm trying to take note of my SEs as I move past this. I can't say a lot of progress on my skin but also not getting worse. Not sure if anybody else felt that the itching got worse toward the end and after treatment was over? FWIW, I try not to think about it, and sometimes take some ibuprofen. I'm still napping most days but feeling really good.)

Congratulations bjsmiller!!

I have been walking, every day, since diagnoses last November and I agree, exercise certainly does help, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Thanks for the encouragement to continue walking, much easier to do since the weather here is so much nicer now.

I've completed 4 of 25 treatments and am just a tad red at the end of each day, so I keep putting on the Lubriderm. I am lovingly caring for my aloe plants, ready to use them as soon as needed.

Hope everyone is well and has a good day today.

Jacklin you're right there with us too! Congrats! We'll do this together.

paxton29 I never mosturizedi anything other than legs, feet and face...until now! I don't even get a gown. I undress right there in front of them and have a small washcloth to cover left breast (noncancer breast). No privacy with my bunch but that's ok. At this point more people have seen me naked or topless in the last month than all my 45 years! Oh well. Congrats on almost being done!!!

Paxton29 - I never put lotion on my breasts until chemo. I had dry skin everywhere after my first treatment.

Congratulations bjsmiller! A milestone!

I have 2 to go!

Grazy and Ingerp I agree with the fatigue increasing towards the end! I have been sleeping 12/13 hours! I never sleep that much! I am also an itchy mess. The soaks seem to be helping and my nipple area is no longer a black/brown color. I hope that I have more energy soon. Almost there!

Paxton I never put lotion on my chest before either. Might have to continue if it still looks fried!

Tomorrow is TGIF

After my DIEP in 2012 my plastic surgeon said to massage moisturizer all over my chest and breasts everyday to make the tissue soft.  It just became part of my routine out of the shower until rads when I started using cleansing oil in the shower to help moisturize my very angry skin.  I am on 20/33 and I am an itchy pain mess.  My shoulder is hurting and my back is all broken out.  Techs said I still look good though and I will see the doctor for my regular weekly appointment tomorrow.  Happy tomorrow is Friday but kinda dreading what next week will do to my already very unhappy skin.

Bjsmiller - Congratulations! It must feel wonderful to be done!

Autumn121 & PlanB58 - You're in the home stretch! Woo hoo!

Cathytoo - Welcome! I'm really uncomfortable as well. I'm hoping that it lessens as my treatment progresses. Hang in there! We will get through this together!

Paxton29 - Reading all the replies, I feel like I'm the odd one out. I used to moisturize everywhere! I've spent a small fortune on Bath & Body Works scented body washes and lotions. I have baskets full of them in my bathroom. However, since being diagnosed I have been using fragrance free lotions.

cbowle and tbalding - We have made it through 4! Yay! I don't notice any changes with my skin or any itching. I am starting to feel sore under my arm, but I'm not sure if it is from rads or from the awkward position I am in during my treatment. I'm still using the Eucerin and aloe vera. I wear a sports bra during the day, but once I get home after treatment, I go braless. I have tissue expanders, so I don't really need the support. They are like boulders cemented to my chest! Lol!

Congratulations to everyone finishing up and good luck to everyone still in progress! I hope we can end the week with minimal side effects!

Grazy, ma soeur--I agree with things being a little worse after stopping tx (although it's only been three days--feels like ages!!), and I had heard this was coming. My RO said she thought I'd probably turn the corner this weekend.

I was just out running a few errands and there was one of those carts with lots of deeply discounted leftover stuff at the grocery store (which I always have to at least take a quick peek at). I bought a half-price tube of A + D ointment--for the Canucks, it's a diaper rash cream that's been around since the 19th century. One of the creams I've been using (the Miaderm? can't remember right now) mentioned diaper rash as a use, so I looked at the ingredients on the A + D and it's mostly lanolin and petrolatum. Sounds perfect to me. I'll be the guinea pig and let you guys know how it works. :-)

RE: body lotion, I always did face/arms/butt/legs/chest before, but never breasts. However, when I first started showing some skin effects, my RO said to the RN, "Look at her chest--you can see exactly where she's been getting sun." Like everywhere above where a scoop-necked shirt would be is much worse than the rest of the breast. Sun damage is a real thing. :-(

Interesting note about all the stuff I have coming up (for those who are newer or have forgotten, one of my kids is getting married at my house a week from today; the next day we're hosting a pig roast for ~125 people). I've been sleeping pretty well throughout the process--some nights even a little better than normal just from the fatigue, I think--but I really haven't slept well at all since Tuesday--my last day of rads. I think all the bc stuff really left my head and the wedding/pig roast stuff has totally taken over my brain space. People have been saying maybe it's just as well I was dealing the the bc during my crazy busy spring because everything would take my mind off it, and it really did a lot of the time, but in some weird way the bc was a nice distraction from the wedding stuff. How weird is that??

Happy Friday to all. More yardwork and housecleaning for me this weekend, but the GREAT news is the first of my kids arrives home tonight. #happymom

5/21 done. Still doing ok, no noticeable se from rads. Have some irritation from tape covering marks. They gave me tats but still have some marks & tape. Techs made new marks & moved tape. Suppose this will be weekly deal. Glad to have weekend off, but won't be home much.

Ingerp, good luck getting everything ready. Hope you can get some sleep.

Happy Friday all, hope you have a relaxing weekend

Has anyone had radiation post mastectomy? My medical team is on the fence about me having radiation on my left breast. I had 11 cm of DCIS with one close margin. I had 6 mm IDC on the right with clear margins. They think the radiation could help on the left but I am worried because it is over my heart and lung and I had an immediate reconstruction, over the muscle implant placed at the time of surgery. The decision is up to me but I am confused!

Carlsoda, sounds like we are on the same schedule. I'm ready to have it done.

My last boost is tomorrow. I'm pretty well burnt on my breast. This morning a blister has popped up on my incision scar. I'll check in with the nurse before I go back to see what I can use. I didn't really burn until then last week of regular rads. I feel pretty fortunate that I'm nearly done. I'm pretty uncomfortable and it's starting to hurt.

Deaconlady and newgirl, yal can do it. The side effects can sometimes seem to be too much, but it will get better. Just use your creams as much as possible and hydrocortisone was my saving grace! You can do it!!!!!!

New-girl and Deaconlady - hang in there, you can do it - one day at a time. Will be thinking of you and cheering you on. The finish line is in sight.