Thanks LoJo100, that’s encouraging!

Hi FelineMum. I was diagnosed in Feb. I started on a clinical trial for 12 weeks then AC then Taxol & Carboplatin. It’s been a long journey. My last mri has the tumor reducing from 8.6cm to 8mm. My MO & BS think it could go either way on PCR. My surgery is in 2 weeks. If I don’t get PCR we plan to go forward with treatment but I’m not sure if we would do radiation or drugs first. Thanks for the input on Xeloda. Good luck to you too!

Thanks Gigilala.

25/33 treatments down! I have three more whole breast treatments and then five boosts. I'm a little itchy, have a very little bit of pain and discomfort. I look pretty bad though. My skin is very discolored and I have two dime-sized spots of "skin breakdown" along the breast fold where my surgical incisions were (from lumpectomy/reduction/lift) I hadn't even noticed them, but my RO pointed them out yesterday. He switched me to Aquaphor from the Eucerin cream and said there is a chance I'll need a medical break from treatment to allow some healing. He would do that before the boosts, which would coincide with the Thanksgiving break (and add a day or so). He'll make that decision on Tuesday after my last whole breast treatment.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! And Happy Next Thursday to all who don't!!

Hello to all,

Sorry for not checking the forum more often. The rads just make me tired and very slow.

I’m 25/30 done on rads on right breast and lymph nodes. I’m 4/5 done with the boosts. Last one is tomorrow!! Yay! Can’t wait! My skin was doing pretty well with Miaderm, some aloe vers and aquaphor, until 3 days ago. It constantly burns and sometimes it’s very itchy. Miaderm works best on me I️ found out. Like the coolness effect aloe vera has when I️ apply it.

After surgery I️ was PCR, but RO and MO strongly suggested I️ go through rads. So it’s been a long 6 weeks period. I️ should undergo reconstruction, DIEP flap, when skin has healed. BS said in 6 months, more or less. Does anyone knowhow the recovery is after a diep flap?

I’ll start on Tamoxifen next week for 5 years. MO said to expect menopause like side effects. :

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! Drive safe!

Best!

Congratulations Teach70 in reaching the finish line! Best wishes with Tamoxifen.

Congratulations Teach70!

May I ask why you'll be taking Tamoxifen? If I understand your profile correctly, you're TNBC so you don't have estrogen receptors. But there's so much I don't know. I start rads tomorrow and am also on Xeloda for three more months. I'm really hoping once I finish both of those, I'll be done with treatment.

Again, congrats! I hope your SE are tiny, if not non-existent.

Teach70, I'll be taking Tamoxifen also when my rads are done. Haven't started yet, Nov 29-Dec 27..20 sessions

Teach70, yeah...have to get these rads starting and over and yes on to the Tamox posts. Everything has a SE..but you know what, it rids cancer from my body so I continually pray for continued healing and that whatever God provides for my path that it's only to restore my body whole!

@catlady: yes I am done!!! I really felt like dancing last Friday after the last boost treatment. My skin is inflamed on my collar bone, under my breast and worst under my armpit where skin is raw. RO said to take some Advil fo the pain caused by inflammation. She said to keep putting ointments for the Next 2 weeks. I still have some fatigue now and then. I sure hope it goes away quick. Good luck on your last boost treatments. You’re almost done ✅!! Yay

Dodgergirl--Thanks for adding that last part about the bolus! Even though I am not just starting rads(I am 22/34) I haven't experienced much with SE until today. I am pinker, rashier and itchier than I have been. Your post and Catlady's... yes, they have freaked me out, that is for sure! But you have let me know what could still happen. No, my treatment plan does not include a bolus, but that doesn't mean that I won't burn, blister, ooze or itch. But we get through it and there is light at the end of this dark journey. And at least 2/3 of my rads has been (relatively) easy. So, thanks for sharing the good with the bad. Knowing what could happen is a good thing!Hugs and blessings... the end is in sight!

Gosh ladies my heart goes out to those of you experiencing those awful side effects. I finished my 16 out of 20 this morning. Looking forward to sleeping in next week and spending that extra time doing things for myself. In some respects I'm sure I'll feel a loss because surgery, treatments and appointments have been my way of life for the past six months. Now it's time to continue with healing.

The only side effect I have is some itching and a few tiny blisters. But I expect by next week that will all change. The tech today said the itching is very similar to how a sunburn would feel like. I've cut my nails down so I don't cause any irritation. Trying not to scratch because the more I scratch the itchier it gets.

THANKS ladies... my RO did say that their patients use Miaderm, but other than that i didn't hear any others. I'll ask more when I go to my first session. I know everyone has different skin and all so that too plays a part. I am a brownskinned girl so being out in the sun is never my thing, so honestly I have no idea what a sunburn feels like; nonetheless how to treat one...so yeah, this should be interesting. Lol.

1 of ? today.

I meet with my RO tomorrow and hope to find out things like how many treatments; if they don't know yet, why not; why both bolus and boosts; what SE to expect from radiating above the clavicle; and how does Xeloda affect rads? Worse skin reax I knew about. Onc said last week X also will intensify the radiation internally. Online studies say nearly 100% of patients on X during rads get dermatitis.

I'm already tired. I never wanted to do rads and the more I learn about my cancer, the less I think it will help me. Many triple negs don't have rads. Our odds of survival are dismal compared to other types of BC. What TNBC responds to is chemo. But only about 50% of the time. I didn't respond. My odds of living five years disease-free, or at all are roughly 50%. Xeloda may bump that up by 15-20%. I haven't found evidence nor has anyone shown me any that rads affects TNBC at all.

I feel like I'm hurting my overall health while wasting precious time.

Finished radiation (25X) almost a week ago and now it's really starting to hurt. Super happy it's over but holy crap... the breast/chest area is itchy and "sunburned" (that I can handle) but my armpit around the lymph node removal scar is really tight, sore and uncomfortable. Sharp pains too! My RO did say the worst was going to be in the two weeks post-radiation.... Hopefully this time next week, it will start to heal. Think I will try Calendula, green tea compresses or pure aloe gel as some have suggested.

Unlike most others, I started Tamoxifen two months prior to beginning rads. Going on four months now with (thankfully so far) no side effects other than hot flashes.

Good luck to everyone still in treatment and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. Enjoy your radiation break!