Starting Radiation in May 2017

Mexicoheather - you are beautiful ♡. I started chemo just a few weeks before you, so mine is just a bit longer. Miss my long hair.

I am having a little freak out moment. Felt a lump right under my incision today when I put the gel on after radiation. Honestly, i haven't felt around much since LX because it was swolllen and tender. I have a biozorb prosthesis and was told I would feel that, so hopefully that is what it is. I see my LEOT on Monday and she can get NP if she thinks it is somethimg.

So back from Vegas with my kids, so nice to not have to set alarm to get up for treatments. The Lymphedema place called and I have an appoinment on Thursday to see what they say about me flying.

LLS1993 I actually just got back from Cozumel. It was a trip that was planned and paid for before my diagnosis and my RO said it was fine for me to go. I had completed my 27th treatment out of 33 when I left. I left on a Saturday and came back Wednesday evening and went to radiation the following day. She said she wouldn't encourage me to book a vacation in the middle of treatment but since this was already planned and it was at the end of treatment it would be okay. It worked out pretty well since my 27th treatment was my last whole breast radiation and my last 6 are my boost rads.

I'm back from my trip. It was good to step away from being a patient for a while. Tomorrow will be my first week home without an 8 a.m radiation. appointment.

Still dealing with how to live without estrogen, but on a stranger note, I have developed...

Pillow phobia! 33 trips in the radiation tunnel have made me have suffocation phobia. Breast cancer had multiplied the number of pillows in bed, but now, if I have my head falls between pillows during, ahem, play, I am thinking about radiation, suffocation and basically losing control! I am basically telling you this because there's not a pillow phobia thread and it's because of the emotional impact of the treatment.

Tapper Mom Yes, that's what I have now, a big long body pillow at the top of the bed. 😀 And a little travel pillow. All is well.

Hello everyone,

I'm in the July Rads group but I thought I'd ask here too since y'all are ahead of us and have been through it. If I shower at night and apply any of the suggested lotions, gels or what have you, should I shower again the next day before treatment to wash them off? I've read here to not apply anything four hours before treatment so maybe that means it just needs time to absorb. My RO office gave me a sheet with care tips and what I can use but it didn't say anything about time frames of use. TIA

Twillis, my rads were late afternoon. I work from home, put cream on at 8AM took shower about 12 and applied cream. Took cream with me to rads and applied right after and then again before bed. Good luck with your treatment!

MJ: I had those shooting pains post rads too and the rad nurse said that is normal and it's the nerves that were irritated during radiation coming back to life and repairing.

However, I've got a different issue with pain. I'm 6 weeks post radiation and I've been having pain the last couple days under my incision and in my armpit. It's not a sharp pain, but more of a persistent ache and kind of a stretching feeling. If I lay on my back, just the gravity pulling down on my breast makes it hurt. I can also feel a very hard area underneath the incision running the length of it, but sort of rounded. When I stretch my arm over my head, it also hurts, as does the area under my armpit. I'm thinking I should be totally recovered from radiation effects by now.

I see my MO next Tuesday and I still have to make an appointment with my RO in September. I don't see my surgeon until November. I'm hoping I get some answers from the MO or at least a direction of where to go, because the pain is making me cranky.

The good news is that the Arimidex is giving me fewer SEs than the Letrozole did. I'm still having massive hot flashes, but they are lessening in number. I've also been sleeping better. I guess I just have to accept that I can only sleep 6 hours a night...which is tons better than the 4-5 of very interrupted sleep I was getting. My hips are hurting, but I don't think much more than usual. I have been taking Ibuprofen at night, which I know shouldn't be done long-term, but if I don't, I don't sleep either. Other than that, everything seems to be ok.

It was good to catch up with everyone...will try to read more often. Summer is busy!

Connie: What does your RO say about the clinical trial? IWho thinks you have lymphedema? Do you feel comfortable going ahread with it if they aren't finding any evidence of it?

Nancy618, my RO just said that if there was any, it had to be extremely minimal as she could see no evidence of it. Ok, so there's a young 20something girl who's collecting the data for this trial. I know I just don't WANT to believe I have this but I do think I have very valid reasons for believing this. The way they're measuring is pretty basic and certainly not error proof. They have what basically looks like a long white acrylic cutting board with black magic marker lines on it. They lay my arm on it and make marks on my arm and then use the equivalent of a tape measure like I have for sewing to measure my arms. However, when they lay my arm on the board, They didn't seem to have a foolproof method to assure each arm was positioned the same distance from the end of the board. That's the first issue i have. She just kind of placed it with no measuring from fingertips, wrist, or anything.....just laid it on there. Then from all the reading I've been doing, it appears that specialists in this field don't consider this tape measure reading to be accurate because pulling it a hair tighter or looser makes a huge difference and readings cannot be duplicated accurately. We've been doing the same thing at home and cannot find a noticeable difference between arms. When I read symptoms online, I don't even have a hint of any of them.

She's supposed to be calling me this week. I intend to voice all of my issues. I really don't want to blow this off if there's any chance I do have this. However, wearing the sleeve is brutal for me as I have brachioradial pruritus in my arms which is an itching condition that doesn't have a cure. The only way I could ever wear it 12 hrs a day would be sedated. I can make it a max of 2 before it has to come off and I have to ice my arm and after 2 hrs, I'm ready to lose my mind. Generally I make it one hr. I've done 5 hrs total out of the 12 she wants. She's going to have to convince me that there's valid reasons to continue.

I really wish I had kept my cool when she told me this. I was in such shock that every brain left my head. My husband is convinced that this is total BS and I have to admit that I really think so too. But I really don't want to be stupid about this as I know it can be a serious condition.

I expected to be done and only worrying about this BC returning which is a real possibility with triple negative.....not lymphedema and neuropathy. I really try to keep my spirits up but this just really bites.

sleeves! I complained heavily about the lymphedema sleeve choices! I don't have lymphedema this is just for prevention and pain. Finally my pt suggested REI bike sleeves. I love this option! I bought it really tight and had to carefully snip into the top band in a little zig zag pattern to loosen it. This because I wanted the sleeve tighter everywhere else.

This one was...Ten bucks on sale. Make sure it's tight. I bought a co-op brand one and it's way too loos

Connie1230 - I have a lymphedema sleeve, just in case. I wear it for exercise and for traveling a long time in car and eventually a plane.

But I had my arms measured before surgery. Here is how you can keep up with knowing if your arms are changing. I finally asked Lymphedema specialist how she determined where to measure. She said (taking a metric measuring tape). Start at the wrist where the bone sticks up. Put a mark every 10 cm all the way up the arm. Then measure at those places. Compare 1) other arm 2) past measurements of the involved arm.

I asked the an appointment with the Lymphedema specialist on my own, I just wanted to be ahead of the game. I don't think I have lymphedema either, but I want to prevent it.

Elastogelgirl - so you mean you cut it toward the armpit?