I saw mine for the last time Weds last week. And am finishing my treatments tomorrow!!!! Woooohoooo!!!

My RO said I'll have a follow up in one month.

I am getting boosts right now but my clavicle is already healing. It was peeling and stuff at the end. I think I got off really easy though with the skin irritation cause that was really the only red place

Oh, I'm sure I'll have follow ups. It's just he sees active patients every Monday. This coming Monday will be my last standing appt with him. That following Wed., I go to see my MO, who I think will put me on hormone suppression drugs. The RO will probably want at least one follow up to make sure the radiation related skin irritation goes away or I haven't gotten any radiation related pneumonia or some other thing after treatment is over, but the wind is still open for certain side effects. My MO and RO are both part of my Cancer Group. There's no interruption in care and they all work with each other.

22 treatments down. 3 more to go.

I can do 3 of anything.

I am done with radiation. My follow up with my RO barring any complications post-rads is the end of June. I see my MO on Wed. I'm pretty sure he's going to stick me on tamoxifen.

Arm pit is peeling. Not bad though. RO said it looked like the skin rubbed together and off. He said the skin is really fragile and comes off easily and to baby it. He said I would know when it turned the corner. I will. I'm pretty in tune with my body.

Now, I'm taking the summer off. Then I will go get a nipple and some scar revisions in Sept/Oct. Then tattooing if need be. AND THEN I will be done. Damn.

Thank you one and all for your unwavering support as my chest wall and superclavicle area got fried!

On a side note: I had immediate reconstruction with DIEP in NOLA. My surgeons were well aware the I might need Rads. I'm not sure what the did, but my flap looks beautiful. It held up GREAT. In fact, it softened during rads. I will say once again that NOLA are master artist. I found two pub med studies indicating no worse wear on flaps with or without rads after. I wasn't sure if I would be the odd man out. I wasn't. My flap looks red and like it's badly sunburned, but the skin maintained great integrity and the fat stayed nice. I noticed the softening in at the end of week 4/beginning of week 5.

Saw my RO today for the last time during the treatment series (finish Thursday). He said follow-up in 3 months, then yearly thereafter.

Area turned a little more red over the weekend, with a little more of that it could become quite lobster colored but it doesn't hurt so who cares I guess.

Congratulations javamama and others who are finishing up or have the end in sight.

last boost tomorrow! Sending encouragement and positivity to all

Congrsts to all on finishing your rads!!

Congratulations to everyone finishing up your treatments! I'm counting down right along with everyone! Yes, let your count downs begin! 🙏

I would think so, but call your team to ask to be sure?

Hi ladies. I finished chemo in February and they would like me to do Radiation. I am having such a hard time deciding to go forward with it. I'm not sure if the possible side affects and the percentage is worth it. A big part of me does not want to do this. My RO wants to do the whole right breast, or breast wall, under arm and clavicle. (I think I am saying this right). I am feeling more like myself and would like to stay that way. I've read so many things and seen so many pictures that it really worries me. If anyone has had doubts or some helpful advise, please share. I'm not trying to sound like a downer, I am just confused and scared.

Thank you,

CindyABH

Cindy, welcome. Radiation is a pretty scary thing to think about and it's a huge decision to make and we do it for many different reasons. What type of BC do you have? Grade? Stage? Have you had surgery already? If you go to your profile page you can add all of your BC statistics so we can help you through every step of your treatments during this horrible journey we are all on. I was very scared and anxious before starting rads too and that's totally natural. We are all different and our bodies and skin react differently to radiation. The decision I made to go ahead with radiation was that I wanted to throw everything they have at my BC so there wasn't much arguing in my head to go ahead or not do it at all. Once I learned that my cancer had spread to my lymph nodes it was a no brainer for me, I also had a DBMX to lower the chance of a recurrence. Like you, I felt really good after I finished chemo and I didn't want to go back to feeling that way again. But now that I'm 5 weeks out I'm feeling pretty good almost back to my old self. I still need to take a nap now and then but I can handle that better than possibly going through all of this again. If I do have a recurrence at least I know I did everything I could to fight back. Whatever you decide to do is going to be a hard decision to reach but in the end you have to do what's best for you.

I didn't have any skin changes until about the 5th week. My skin ended up turning black and peeling under my arm and the out side part of my foob. Within 2 weeks of finishing radiation my skin was back to normal. You'll have some itching and redness on the radiated side but most of the gals here had very minor side effects. The one thing I'd recommend you not do is use a petroleum based cream during radiation. My RO recommended it and I regretted using it as it's very thick and is painful to wash off before going in for my next treatment. I also feel that the heavy petroleum based cream fried my skin even more as I wasn't able to get all the residue off before my treatments. Feel free to PM me with any other questions you may have.

Lori