Starting Rads in January 2017

did anyone use an antioxidant serum on their skin before or after xrt? my derm recommends ce ferrucil by skinceuticals, but its crazy expensive. he recommended an antioxidant in the am and aquaphor in pm - thoughts??

annoying....I used all kinds of creams a lot to keep comfortable & not burn or itch. I bought Miaderm L to use after a few weeks in because of the lidocaine which I needed. I think I've bought every lotion and potion just in case. The utter smooth body cream & calendula cream are two I got at Walmart cheap just to have. The radiation techs gave me Eucerin to use right after radiation, my RO and breast surgeon gave me Jeans cream which I used morning and night till I got more toasted and itchy so now the Miaderm L is my favorite. My RO said I could lotions up to an hour before radiation. Good luck to you

brigid_TO - Thank you for the information.  I read up on the use of "bolus" so I really appreciate you providing the word. It seems to be another one of those weird things that is very inconsistent across the radiation treatment community. I saw one statistic that said almost half of RO's never use bolus.  I'll have to quiz my RO about it when I see him next week.

Some of my skin was still sticky this morning from the Aquaphor, over 14 hours after I applied it. I'm thinking that I need to use less next time, and will probably try to schedule my showers between my last application and my next zap.

kellychameleon - woohoo! Not that anyone actually wants radiation therapy but I'm glad you were finally able to get started.

Zap #2 complete today for me. I'm having IMRT and they are scanning me EVERY time to be sure I'm in the exact position. They first use the marks/tape on my skin to line me up manually with the laser lights, then they leave the room to scan me before starting the radiation. Since I'm having both sides radiated, they actually scan me TWICE each time, once for each side, even if I swear that I haven't moved in the 3 minutes since they scanned me the first time.

Is this typical? Maybe just for IMRT? Is my treatment center bonkers?

I got my appointment time moved to the first AM slot. That should work out better for me to have treatment before heading in to work. I've needed to leave work 2 hours early to get to a late afternoon appointment yesterday and today. I should only be about 30 minutes late to work in the mornings.

question about timing of your rads - I work in the afternoons, starting at 3pm. would you recommend early morning rads, then midday nap? or sleep in and have midday rads, then work?

ill be going partime, so just 5 hour shifts. curious what your expert advice is. im not much of a morning person, so im leaning towards midday...ty!!

Work is tricky. I kept working but have questioned my decision at times. Bottom line the distraction was good for me and I think I moved around a lot more than I would have staying home. I also wonder if that bone tired feeling is any better from staying home or working as it is not really related to exertion but to the radiation.

I have never heard of ce ferrucil before. I see there is some science behind it but I bet you would run through a bottle pretty quickly-$$$. And of course as many here know RO's are often resistant to anything but the 2-3 things that they know. You can bring reams of reports , double blinds studies etc and the answer is still "no". Now many of us do things off label but that is a different thing entirely.

I received imrt and the techs were out of the room for about 2 minutes total each time. The machine moved around me and each zap was about 30 sec. For the boosts the machine moved around a lot more, the table moved and I think photos were taken each time- but still about 3 or so minutes total. They were very efficient there and I rarely had to wait more than 5-10 minutes and they would often take me if I arrived early. it is frustrating when appts are consistently late- my MO and SO both run an hour or more late with appts. It is built into their schedule to double/triple book each time slot.

Welcome (you know what I mean) to the new women posting today.

annoying....I am working and have found I don't need a nap weather I work or am off. Of course if I get in the recliner and turn on the TV I will doze off and on

hi everybody,

Approximately when did you start noticing side effect from your radiation treatment? How many sessions in?

Also, as anyone else with left sided disease been told to "breathe shallowly" for some of the fields? This seems easier said than done.

During the mapping, I was told I was a "big breather"--I admit it, I do like breathing--but they don't want me to actually hold my breath. I think the beam stays on too long for that to work well for me...but I hope my breathing is shallow enough...whatever that may be. My RO does not seem concerned so I am trying to just let it go and not think too much about my poor, clueless heart.

well done Elizabeth I bet your delighted

Hooray Elizabeth! 💐

YOU are amazing, Elizabeth! Well done.

Elizabeth, Woo Hoo

best wishes as you continue to recover from Rads...

Congrats, Elizabeth! Celebrate!

Naps, like you I am curious about when to expect side effects. Today will be 7/30. I haven't noticed any changes on my skin, but I did have a big wave of fatigue hit me late yesterday afternoon after work & rads. Problem is, I don't know if it's the rads or one of my other meds (that typically causes fatigue). I will say that this felt different than my normal medicine-induced fatigue. It will be interesting to see if I feel that way when I get home today. Of course, part of me thinks that I'm making myself crazy, just "waiting" for the side effects to start. I'll keep you posted.

Annoyingboob, I get my rads after work. I'm still very early in this process, but I thought I might do better getting rads at the end of the day and then heading home. This has worked for me so far. My goal is to continue to work full-time, but I am definitely prepared to go on leave, if I need to. I'm just taking it one day at a time!

Welcome to the new members! Good luck to you.

Congrats Elizabeth! And looking in goid spirits 👍

today would have been my last day too but the machine broke down one day last week. Tomorrow is the day. 👩

Fatigue hit bad this morning. I dragged myself into work late and then went to treatment. On the way back,I knew I wasn't going to make it through the afternoon.I collected my things and came home early.

I'm on the 16 days\stronger treatment. Skin hasn't blistered but is very red/brown, tender. At times the nerves tingle. The nipple is extremely tender. I had to take off my sports bra Tuesday and have become a very creative dresser. I have been sleeping soundly which comes a bit unexpected. I also feel my appetite has increased. Not sure what that is about either.

Best of luck to everyone. Hang in there. Rest when you must and recoup your energies.

I will still have four weeks of side effects. Not showing up for radiation should help get through it. Although I must say the staff at my facility are excellent. I too am in and out without delays.

Somewhere I read that it is important to stay active. I have been going after treatment to a supermarket or store and walked the asisles up and down pretending to need something prior to going back to work. Perhaps that helped? Just thought I would mention it in case it helps someone.

kellychameleon .... You will do just fine with rads if you worked through chemo. I was miserable with chemo and had SE that kept me sick or in pain or both at times. But with radiation I've been able to work and do rads after and I've kept up with life in general. Careful on the slopes tho!!

Orangey....good luck tomorrow

JShannon... I have the Miaderm L that I put on but when the itching gets bad I use the Lindi skin roll which is just cooling strips. I heard cold wash clothes help too to help cool the skin down. One person used cool clothes soaked in green tea. Good luck keeping that skin cool, calm & moist.