June 2017 Starting Rads

I am finished 17 of 24. Yippee! Getting pinker and have the rash. Starting to itch. My RO said to use hydrocortisone cream. Can prescribe lotion with lidocaine if it gets too intense.

Shuttld - The swelling you are experiencing *could* be lymph related. Can show up in breast and/or trunk as easily as arm. Any swelling will probably be exacerbated by the rads. I would ask your RO really soon.

I was wearing a compression bra until rads started. Like you, I am large enough that going without a bra is generally noticable. I have been going without. Instead, I have been wearing a snug fitting, stretchy camisole under my shirts. Also wearing busy patterns so that makes it less noticable. However, I am not working during treatment, so not as conscious of it.

Hi Shuttld - I wanted to share something. I'm on rad tx 10 down as of today - 6 more to go. I will finish next Thursday. I posted this the other day under another topic but thought I'd share here when I saw you were just getting started. I am "bathing" my breast/chest/armpit area in green tea 3x a day. I know it sounds nuts but I can't begin to tell you how well this is working for me. Here's what I do:

I boil water and add it to one green tea bag in coffee mug. I only use about 4 to 5 ounces of water - keep it strong. Steep it a good 15 minutes - squeeze out the bag and put the tea in a jar in the refrigerator. On Sunday night I take 5 small zip locks and put 2 to 3 cotton squares/pad into each baggie. I use those instead of cotton balls because they are larger and swab the area easier. Then each day just before I leave for treatment I take one zip lock and pour some of the tea into the baggie - enough to thoroughly wet the cotton and take it with me to treatment. As soon as I finish treatment and get to dressing room I rub the entire breast with the cotton, the arm pit area and chest up to collar bone - be sure to get under the breast too. I repeat this w/ the 2nd cotton square. I bend at the waist and fan myself dry then dress and leave. I repeat this at home 2 more times during the day.

My Rad Onc got to see me do this Monday and she was blown away. The cotton squares are truly hot to the touch when you finish from pulling out the heat from your skin. Also she was shocked to watch the redness from the skin disappear in front of her eyes. I certainly knew the cotton was hot but I had not noticed the redness leave - just knew I wasn't getting red. So today I watched myself in the mirror in the dressing room and I couldn't believe it when I saw it. My skin changed back to its original color right in front of my eyes as I bathed in with the tea soaked cotton.

To date I have no changes in my skin at all. No redness, no irritation, no itching - nothing yet. I make a fresh cup of the tea to use every other day so that it stays fresh and strong. Just thought I'd pass this on in case you or anyone else was interested in giving it a try. I asked my Rad Onc about it before starting treatment and she said she didn't know if it would help but it couldn't hurt. She now is a believer in green tea! It will be interesting to see how I am by the end of next week. Good luck!

@Summerrain - I've been trying ot stay out of the direct sunlight, heat and humidity as much as possible. As you know it cannot be avoided all togehter in this area. So far I'm starting to noticed some tanning of my treated areas, but I think that's mostly due to me being 2/3rds of the way into my treatments. I haven't noticed any burning or rash yet and I'm hoping to bypass that unpleasantness. I have smaller boobs so it's easy for me to not wear bras although I wear cotton camisoles w/wo padding about 80% of the time.

Treatment 16/25 today.

Seems like time is flying yet dragging on at the same time.

~Dee

llamalady ~ Thanks so much for the green tea hint. Just received my 4th treatment and can begin to feel a tiny bit of that "sunburn" feeling. I will definitely try this as I do not want to wait until there is a problem.

Rwrighty - I'm impressed - 10K steps a day. I do about 8K if I don't have a busy "desk day". I'm trying very hard to stay hydrated and get plenty of rest so that I can continue to work. Since my breasts are large, I know that if the time comes when I cannot wear a bra I will def not be able to go to work.

During treatment I have both arms above my head and my face turned to the left. I started to get a muscle cramp under my left shoulder blade during the treatment and it was really a challenge not to move. I guess if that's the worst thing that happens, I can handle it. I just try to keep my eyes closed, take deep breaths and exhale slowly while counting how long the radiation is entering my body. So far, that has kept me calm and still.

I am 20% done. Closer to the end than I was one week ago.

Has anyone had any issues driving long distance a week or two after treatment ended? I have a vacation planned and I have a long drive to get there (~6 hours). Hoping that I will be fine to make the drive and get to the beach (covered in sunscreen of course).

Be well everyone.....Happy weekend.

Sorry you are having such a bad day. I got a rash in my armpit when I was on my last three boosts. The nurse gave me Difinsa which helped quite a bit. It's made for skin exposure to radiation. Hope things calm down for you over the weekend break.

First treatment tomorrow! Feeling a little nervous. Thankful for all of your advice and tips. I was told they would give me deodarant and cream - so guess I will wait and not spend $, but worried I won't have what I need when I need it. Hate to waste money on things I won't use, but part of me wants to go ahead and have one of everything , The told me that they could fix any issues that come up and to speak up with any concerns.

Have any of you tried the Plexxus body cream?

Rwrighty -would you please share rhe specifics on the green tea. I bought some as I had heard that this was helping several. Thank you so much.

I started radiation on 6/5/17. I have 12 more treatments to go and I am so burned. I am working through this just like I did chemo, but I have to go flat now. Too painful to wear anything else, my shirt even hurts at times. I had a double mastectomy November, 2016. I am thankful for the little things though, hair is growing like a weed, and more than halfway done with rads. Ready for this all to be over with. Good news is I saw my onco last Friday and I am NED! Still contemplating reconstruction but not for a while, my body needs a break.

Are everyone here having the same kind of radiation? I am very frustrated now. My insurance keeps denying the the kind of radiation I am going to have. I will have left breast radiated so I am concerned about my heart and lung will be damaged just using the regular radiation. Doctor is appealing for me now.

Hi Ladies, I have not checked in in awhile. I saw my RO and she said no bra until December. I've been wearing some zip up Amoena camisoles, which are post surgery and really thick. I found some mastectomy camisoles online for $54 and they are not even cotton. So I had already bought $6.00 Hanes camisoles earlier and now I want to add pockets to these camisoles which have a shelf bra. I just completed 20/35 rads today, so I need a comfortable solution. Having 1 boob, makes it difficult to go out without a foob, so I need to use my (cheap foam) foob. When I just put the foob in the shelf bra, it starts sliding toward the middle because my existing boob is not very big. I want to keep the foob in place.

Is there anyone out there who sews or could offer advice on how to make these camisoles into mastectomy camisoles.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hanes-Women-s-Stretch-C... I got these before they went out of stock. The ones that feel better are bigger than my normal size.

Or what are others wearing. I don't have expanders, just no boob that I need to pretend I do have for my child's (and my own) sake.

Luwusa,

My insurance pays for bras, not camisoles. I have the 2 zip up cami's from post surgery, they are soooo thick. I need something lighter to wear under clothes. I'm meeting with a friend today who does a little sewing to brainstorm. I don't like the ones I've found online, they are made of polyester and I want cotton. It is too hot for both a polyester camisole and a cotton t-shirt on top. Heat index today is over 100. I don't have to wear prothesis at home, my son has seen when I don't wear a prothesis under my shirt or nightgown. I just can't leave the house foobless. I don't feel comfortable.

I have swelling under my arm since surgery, which has only started to hurt more during the last part of radiation. I saw lymphedema specialist and she can't tell if it is lymphedema, swelling from surgery or from radiation. She said to come back in December if I still have swelling and she will work on it.

In the mean time, no bra. Even some size large camisoles I bought a couple of months ago (largest size) have gotten to feel too uncomfortable from the radiation, so I also have some XL which are much looser and are the ones I want to try to convert. MO doesn't want me being fitted for a mastectomy bra with this swelling as it will probably resolve itself. I would have the wrong size bras.

Thanks for the encouragement. In my mom's and grandmom's generations all women sewed, not so much anymore. I don't have either my mom's or grandmother's skill. It has gone down each generation. My grandmother was a seamstress and sewed her 8 children's clothes. My mom could do pretty well, but she was no seamstress. I can get by with a lot of instructions and help from other people who have much more experience. My big claim to fame is I made my son (then 8) a Daniel Boone costume. (from a pattern and with a little help)

ML1209 - I am using Radiaplex 3 times a day. Doc and technicians all think my skin is holding up really well. I have some redness and some rash, but tolerable. Itching is controlled by hydrocortisone.

I think the Radiaplex is what's helping.

Not so far. My RO has offered a lotion with lidocaine, but I don't think I will need it. Monday is my last session. Although my RO did warn me that the effects could still build for up to two weeks.