Summer Rads 2016

Hi Everyone! Started Rads on May 27th and have 14 of 34 completed. Just now starting to pinkin' up a little. I finished chemo on May 12th and was so very glad!!! Very thankful I handled chemo well (Taxol only - 12 weeks). Rads seems like it's taking more of a toll on me mentally and I'm not sure if that is because it is daily and seems unrelenting. I am still going for Herceptin infusions every three weeks also. The weekends after Herceptin are not real great - increased bathroom visits and flu like symptoms. The joint aches and pains are really bad. When I get up after sitting or lying I look like the Progression of Man. It takes a while before I am upright LOL.

Amie, the fatigue is very real. I take naps when I want and I swim as much as I can because it helps me relax. A woman at the office suggested drinking water with electrolytes and that seems to help. She suggested Propel but there are other drinks out there. The nurse suggested increasing protein but did not state how much. I just added an egg to my breakfast and some nuts throughout the day.

Valstim, when you say you can't get a grip what do you mean? I literally asked my homeschool moms to send me reminders for activities and also to let me know when/if I seem to be a space cadet. They have been great at taking the girls out and about when they are out. Getting the girls out of the house is a great stress reliever. We are normally out quite a bit. I also keep a Google calendar and started making lists of things to do. All my appointments have reminders set.

This will get better with time. I have 20 sessions left and I know it is going to be hard. I hope I bounce back quickly but I did warn everyone it could be a month or two before I feel more normal. I chose the cruise because all the thinking is done for me.

I hope the few suggestions I made help.

Had my first boost today. The skin above my breast is the worst right now. Want to scratch it but it's too sore to anyways. The boosts are going to the tumour bed so my chest won't be affected anymore other than the usual worsening that carries on once finished. 4 more times and I can begin to recoup.

I have Herceptin next week. I tolerate it well now that we do it over 45 minutes instead of half an hour. Might be something to try kymberly ...spreading it out over more time. Last one I had no side effects at all. Amazing what 15 minutes longer will do.

I am surprised you are swimming ejaman44 and valstim, I was told I was not allowed, first due to chlorine, second due to infection.

I am exhausted from all this. Feels like I have not stopped since January. I will have 2-3 months to recover before I go back to work. Sometimes I feel like I could sleep all that time! At least it will give some time for my hair to grow too.

Valstim, I know it's hard but try to keep your spirits up! My cancer is a grade 3 so a very aggressive oneeven though it's stage 1. I just try to remember that they removed the cancer and this is all to stop reoccurence

{{{hugs Valstim}}} we are here for you. Rads is not a waste of time, it's killing all those bad cells! Just keep imagining them dying each time you go in! Go get 'em

Awe Val, I get it. I have been a weepy mess on some days. My kids are both adopted from China and I get all panicky thinking they cannot be orphaned again. Then I sit down and think I am doing everything I can to prevent it coming back and that is all I can do. It doesn't help we have summer showers here in FL on most days so the overcast weather and constant rain doesn't help. Go ahead and cry if you need to. Scream at the world it is not fair. Do whatever it takes to get out the emotions so you can feel a little better. It might take a while but hopefully things will turn a corner.

I swim in my own pool which uses a salt system. My RO did say to stay away from public pools. My water isn't that hard. He also said to rinse off as soon as I'm out of the water so I always hose off before I sit down to dry off.

Today was supposed to be number 15 but the machine broke. They were going to call me back in if it gets fixed but the thunder started up and it is not a covered parking lot so I called them and said I'd see them tomorrow. Bummed it set me back a day. I just want this over.

2 boosts left and I am done other than my Herceptin. Itchy and sore on my chest but that will hopefully settle down soon as my boosts don't hit that area. I am sure looking forward to this coming to an end. One thing I will say is the entire cancer centre where I go has the most compassionate people working there out of any hospital setting I have been in. They really helped make this journey so much easier!

Kechla, I am so sorry this happened to you. I don't have any advice other than maybe get a second and third opinion. Wow! You sure have been through a lot.

Kechia, so sorry and the oncotype results sure don't help. At least you have a little more time to think. Did you take tamoxifen the first go around? If not, that could be the reason why it returned??!

9 treatments left for me but I am getting so run down and very nauseous, hard to know what to eat. I am going to see if maybe I should take a couple of days off from rads to recover. I wonder if they will do that? Only got in 2 hours of work today before I had to leave, came home took a Dramamine and slept the afternoon away. Now back in bed! Plus side, skin is holding up. Very red especially under the arm but really isn't bothering me!

Hugs to everyone else in the middle of treatment!

had my first treatment today... went well...19 to go!

Kechla, there other tests besides the ocnotype. My BS and MO do not use ocnotype anymore and my BS said he considers it outdated. Ask if you can do some of the other tests to see what they say? I was told they are expensive and my tumor was so small they felt I did not need them so I opted to skip that. My BS does a lot of research and is very involved in new methods so I trust he knows what is most accurate at this time.

Thanks EJ. I have a list of questions for my doctor. Other testing available is one of them. Pretty sure my higher onco score is due to my zero % of Progesterone receptors.

Carlsoda - I did not have Tamoxifen after BMX. It was not standard protocol for BMX for DCIS and also with clear margins, it was not recommended. I hope you are able to get some rest. I have seen where some do get a couple days break to bounce back.

I found this lovely article... Estrogen Receptor–Positive, Progesterone Receptor–Negative Breast Cancer: Association With Growth Factor Receptor Expression and Tamoxifen Resistance. "Clinical data have confirmed in both the metastatic and adjuvant treatment settings that tamoxifen is less efficacious in ER⁺/PR⁻ tumors than in ER⁺/PR⁺ tumors" http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/97/17/1254.full

Still feeling nauseous and have lower left back pain today just under my ribs. Nowhere near my radiation, so hoping I just slept on it wrong. Also, just tired all the time. Skin is still looking pretty good. Just a little pink for about 12 hours after treatment. The coconut oil seems to be doing good so far for my skin. Starting to feel a little bit of a sunburn type sting though, especially under my arm. Scar tissue is tightening up on the underside (contracture??). Trying to massage it a bit to keep everything loose.

Hello All

Great weekend thoughts, but lord are we roasting away here in NC.

Skin is angry red, but with the silvadine cream mixture, I'm not uncomfortable. Very tired though.

Hi everybody, I have been doing a lot of reading since I finished rads last Friday on the issues many have asked about - acid reflux, struggling to eat, etc. I have found a wonderful book that may help. It's called "The Essential cancer Treatment Nutrition Guide & Cookbook" by Jean LaMantia. I have just discovered this book and wish I had found it sooner. Not only does she explain many of the symptoms we're describing, she also provides recipes that are easy to prepare with ingredients we usually have in our homes, but even better, beside each recipe is a box called "Recommended For:" and in that box she indicates low appetite, or hydration or constipation or mouth sores. The recipes are simple to prepare too. How much easier could it get than that?

My skin feels like it's had the worst sunburn ever. I keep putting on aloe from my aloe plant along with the flamazine. Yes, there are some blisters, but they dry out fairly quickly. It's my armpit where I"m struggling more - because it's quite hot here, I'm sweating. My armpit is also still swollen from treatment so the inside of my arm is rubbing against the side of my trunk, there's very little 'breathing' space unless I sit with my arms up in the air. So now I'm going to try and sit in my recliner chair with my arms up to let my armpit dry out. Yes, the fatigue is still here and I'm going to have to make sure I do more resting.

Hang in there everyone, you can do this!!

Ok, it was sad today, 2 of my "Sisterhood of the Bad Boob" girls at radiation were done today. One had 16 treatments, the other 20. I had my 23rd today, and I am beet purple/red. It's hard. BUT....the silver cream helps, and none of us want to look back and think what if?

That is interesting about the oncotype - I again, look back and wonder if this is being over treated, but I have to finish it. 2 Weeks from tomorrow I should be done.

I live in Las Vegas- we haven't been below 110 (ok, 105 some days) since the beginning of May. I use to worry about the growing armpit hair, the lack of good deoderant, now I just chuckle at those small things. We all found tube socks (don't laugh) work perfectly under the boob area- it helps!

Hang in there everyone.

Valstim52, dearly sorry for your loss.