Starting Radiation October 2017

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  • Gigilala
    Gigilala Member Posts: 148
    edited November 2017

    linwentz: you 're right it seems like an eternity for me

    Dodgersgirls: thank u I gonna ask my Ro tomorrow

    Thank u ladies

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  • Gigilala
    Gigilala Member Posts: 148
    edited November 2017

    thanks good u are here ladies

    I cry a lot tonight I really don' feel good

    To see open skin didnt help

    I try to be strong specially for my kids 3 and 6 years old

    Everybody told me that radiation is like walk in parc

    Actually it' s not I hate it


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  • Linwentz
    Linwentz Member Posts: 133
    edited November 2017

    Radiation, like everything else in this whole cancer nightmare is individual. Some are lucky to go through it like a walk in the park while others go through hell. But despite our differing experiences...through diagnosis, surgeries, chemo, radiation, drug therapies...the women on this site share a common bond... and we listen and sympathize, offer support and encouragement, applaud success and feel the all consuming pain that won't let go. On this site, you aren't alone. And Gigilala, we all hate it, too. Warm hugs to everyone here

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    Gigilala-- so sorry you are having a difficult time. I really understand how you feel. I met my RO yesterday and told him that he won, I give up. Got thru chemo, no problem with surgery. Made it thru most of rads without issues but the final 4 have been the hardest. New skin coming in like islands which will grow together soon to make new skin. Old skin dying off. The whole radiated area wet from this renewal process which leaks thru to my clothes and smells so bad. After being off from rads for the 4 day holiday last week, I didn't know how I was going to get through this. I cried as I explained this to RO. Well, he turned that around and I know i can get thru this with a plan in place. Skin care nurse sees me after rads to clean off old skin and apply aquaphor mixed with RadiaCare and the nurse applied Tefla pads. I wear a tight wife beater tshirt to keep Tefla pads in place. RO prescribed pain meds. And one day later, I feel much better. I would highly recommend talking to your RO right away so RO can help you, too

    Note-- again I want to stress that my skin weeping and dying off is due in large part to the bolus I re

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  • Gigilala
    Gigilala Member Posts: 148
    edited November 2017

    Thank u ladies I really appreciate your comment

    I had hard time with chemo I had all side effects

    Than I had 5 surgeries and I didn' finish yet

    I have 1 expander left side or cancer side

    I am flat on the right side I had an infection

    And now with radiation

    Until yesterday I was ok but since this morning everything change

    I will talk to my Ro tomorrow I wish they can help me


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  • catlady72
    catlady72 Member Posts: 35
    edited November 2017

    @Gigilala: Definitely talk to your RO as soon as possible. I'm sure they have many options that can help you as they've seen it all. Mine was mad that I hadn't come to her earlier, but I was sure I could get through it until I did see her, and by that time I only had a few treatments left. I have NEVER felt the kind of pain I had with this radiation and I did break down in my tears myself, something I've never done out of pain in my 45 years! I can only tell you that with the silvadene application it DID get better. I used the silvadene, plus these cooling gel pad overtop of them and YES it was a messy at times and it was taking me forever just to get ready in the mornings with all of the preparation on that one side. After one week though I did get much better. I'm finally on my way to being done with the healing so hang in there. I cannot imagine having to care for two little ones (mine are 13,15 and 17 now) but you can do THIS!

    @DodgersGirl: You hang in there also. I promise you it will get better soon. A week ago I wouldn't have believed it myself.


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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    catlady72-- just wanted to tell you that it was your post about the RO being mad that you didn't talk to RO sooner that prompted me to ask to see the RO as I had a couple of small spots I wasn't sure about and so after rads, I saw the skin care team and RO. My Bolus was then stopped. So thank you for sharing your story. It helped me in my journey.

    Bolus was intended to kill off top layer of skin and I had achieved that. RO said no sense to continue Bolus as torture was not part of game plan

    You talked about a cooling pad I had Cool Magic pads applied. Wonder if that's the same? I was having those applied each morning after rads. The pad was left in place until that night or next morning. Thanksgiving morning when we (DH and I) removed the Cool Magic, it pulled off some new skin and I started to really bleed, a lot. DH applied direct pressure to stop the bleeding. I wondered if my Thanksgiving day was going to be in ER. Bleeding was stopped but now there was remnants of the cotton pads used to stop the bleeding stuck to my moist, oozing, angry red skin. So we worked to get that off my skin without any more issues. I thought I was going to pass out from all the excitement but pushed thru it all.

    I can dig in and get thru the pain. I have a high pain tolerance. But that wet, oozing goo that smells from dead skin is just gross. Then I learned to clean all that crap off with sterile gauze pads dipped in water and hydrogen peroxide. Now I have learned how to clean and apply aquaphor/RadiaCare to the red skin and cover with Tefla pads to protect new skin and I am plowing thru this last part of rads and skin healing.

    Again, thanks for sharing your events....they helped me a lot!!

    Leaving for #27 of 28!!!

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  • ItsStillMe
    ItsStillMe Member Posts: 61
    edited November 2017

    Hi everyone, I’ve been following this thread for a while. I’m in the middle of chemo and will be doing rads somewhere down the line. I see some ladies have ‘bolus’ and I was wondering why some don’t. Does it have anything to do with node involvement? Dodgersgirl - You have been having such a difficult time at the end of your rads and hope you are feeling better as each day passes.

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    ItsStillMe-- my pathology showed "present" for LVI which means I could have cancer cells in the skin of the breast. Rads normally go thru your skin to impact deeper into the tissue. I needs rads to also kill cells in that surface skin. So bolus is applied. It acts like the surface skin. Rads go thru bolus and then impact my skin. The goal was to get new skin on the surface where my cancer was. Now that radiated skin is healing. The healing process involves the old skin, now dead, sloughing of flesh and new skin eventually replacing it. Rad burns are different from regular burns. Old skin dies off ( which in my case is a wet, oozy, smell your process) and islands of new skIn appear. The key here is the islands concept. The dermis goes down from your skin in spikes. So when these skin spikes make it to the surface, they are islands of new skin which expand to join other islands

    My troubles right now stem from the mess this process creates as it gets my clothes goopy and doesn't wash out completely. So I bought cheap shirts to live in during my healing and will toss them when this process is over.

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  • dmjmom
    dmjmom Member Posts: 79
    edited November 2017

    So glad you are almost through DodgersGirl! You sure are a trooper! I have LVI present but didn't receive the bolus treatments.

    I had 31/33 today! I had my weekly visit with my RO and won't see him again for two weeks (unless my skin starts to break down), then I'll have a 3-month follow up. I have been expecting to see some new damage from the boosts (have had 3/5), but so far I don't see any additional damage.

    Gigilala, You have really been through it. I'm so sorry. I hope things just get better from now on.

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    27 of 28 now finished. Skin care nurse said my new skin looks really good and there was not a lot of dead skin to be removed.

    I will continue with skin care from RO's staff as long as needed. Makes me feel better knowing someone is checking every day to make sure I am healing well. They offer this service to anyone getting rads at my center, you just have to ask for it.

    Walking into the hospital today (cancer center is inside the hospital) I realized I felt like I was going to work. Been going 5 days a week since Oct 23. So I recognize people and flows of things as if I started a new job last month.

    Dmjmom- beside LVI present, surgeon did say cancer was in my skin (which is the reason I was staged as Stage 3) so maybe my rads needed to be more aggressive to lower risk of recurrence???

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  • dmjmom
    dmjmom Member Posts: 79
    edited November 2017

    Yes, that makes sense DodgersGirl.

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  • Linwentz
    Linwentz Member Posts: 133
    edited November 2017

    Dodgergirl...I can relate to your comment about feeling like you're going to work when you enter the hospital. I retired from teaching in June & was diagnosed in July. The summer just felt like a regular summer with no school and of course I was preoccupied with tests and more tests; then surgery & more surgeries. So when people would ask how I liked retirement I honestly didn't know. Then with Rads, I was on a very strict schedule. I had to be someplace at a very specific time every day… It felt like I was going to work. As weird as it is may sound, I am going to miss the routine & the interaction with the staff. They are lovely. I think I need to find a hobby!

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    Linwentz-- I sure "get" what you described about daily structured visits and missing the rads people. By far, my rads doctor and staff are the friendliest of the onc, surgeon, rads teams. RO really listens and explains, nurses are kind and caring, rads techs are pleasant and calming. I will miss being around them after tomorrow


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  • Teach70
    Teach70 Member Posts: 64
    edited November 2017

    Dodgersgirl, congrats on finishing tomorrow. I hope the healing goes quickly.

    For those of you having skin troubles, I will say it does get better rather quickly. I had no skin issues until the end and then started with some spots that eventually scabbed over and healed within a week. I had redness, pain and peeling after I finished my boosts. It took a week to come out. But Friday will be 2 weeks since I finished rads and I can honestly say, my skin looks normal. I am using regular deodorant, body wash and even accidentally shaved my hair less armpit out of habit..lol. I know it seems like it wont get better but it heals as fast as it came. Good luck as you finish.

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  • Gigilala
    Gigilala Member Posts: 148
    edited November 2017

    Thank u ladies today I feel better

    I start boost Friday I think my skin will be worse

    Dodgersgirl: the End for you 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    Teach70-- thanks for the well wishes. My RO said the same thing, that like magic, most people are healed 2 weeks after completing rads. That is the light at the end of my tunnel!!

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  • LoJo100
    LoJo100 Member Posts: 123
    edited November 2017

    DodgersGirl - I'm sorry that it has been such a rough ride for you. Glad tomorrow is your last day, and I hope you celebrate!

    Like Teach70 said, I got some blisters and very red skin the last few days, but by the end of week 1, things felt much better. End of week 2 and there were parts of my skin that were back to the normal color. Today, I'm exactly three weeks out, and everything feels very good. Now it looks like I got a tan in a very weird shape!

    Also, I kept telling people that the whole process felt like a job. Come in every morning, say hello to the guard, the receptionist, and the techs. Talk about current events, then leave and come back the next day. It was definitely weird to stop going, but of course, I was happy I didn't need to be there every day. I go back from some follow-up next week, and will see the RO and maybe a tech or two if they are around. It will be nice to see them, but with no treatment!

    Hang in there, everyone! Once you're done, you'll notice that the healing does happen quickly!

    -LoJo

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    28 of 28... rads are now completed!!!

    Best of luck to those who are still in active treat

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  • Gigilala
    Gigilala Member Posts: 148
    edited November 2017

    dodgersgirls: 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

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  • Linwentz
    Linwentz Member Posts: 133
    edited November 2017

    Dodgergirl... Hip Hip Hooray!🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

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  • lifechoices2017
    lifechoices2017 Member Posts: 242
    edited November 2017

    Dodgersgirl...YIPPPEEEEEEEE.... CONGRATS!!!

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    lifechoices2017-- woot woot is right. Feels great to have completed all the active cancer treatments.

    Now to learn to not worry every day about the "what ifs

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  • lifechoices2017
    lifechoices2017 Member Posts: 242
    edited November 2017

    DodgersGirl your getting to this point is already a blessing INDEED! The what ifs are going to come; but when you look back over how far you've come ... girl we can pretty much tear down mountains... Im so happy for you to be at this part of your journey...I'll be there in 18 more sessions and I CANNOT WAITTTTT!!! Again, many CONGRATS!

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  • dmjmom
    dmjmom Member Posts: 79
    edited November 2017

    🛎 🛎 🛎

    Whoop! DodgersGirl puts active treatment behind her!!! I vote for enjoying the moment and leavin worry for another day!!

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    dmjmom-- planning a vacation for 2018 that I couldn't take in 2017.

    This trip has shown me to be grateful for the blessings received each and every day. No one knows their future so going to try to live each day to the fullest. And when the what if's creep in my thoughts, I hope to look around and be happy for life at that moment. My DH had a heart attack and open heart surgery while I was going thru chemo. He is still here with me. Many, many blessings in my life for sure. Have to just keep "seeing" those blessings to push away the fears

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited November 2017

    ok, I started a new topic where those diagnosed or treated in 2017 can post to keep sharing regardless where your treatment plan has you. Now that I have finished the main treatments, there wasn't a clear place to continue to share and support others so I thought a catch all group for all of us treated in 2017 might be helpful

    I started it here: 2017 Diagnosed-- A Place To Share "What's Next" (in forum Share Your Experiences Of Life After A Breast Cancer Diagnosis)

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  • dmjmom
    dmjmom Member Posts: 79
    edited November 2017

    That’s beautiful DodgersGirl. You have a wonderful attitude

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  • Linwentz
    Linwentz Member Posts: 133
    edited November 2017

    Dodgergirl, I knew you would find just the right words! Many thanks for creating a forum that allows us to continue to share and support one another

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  • LoJo100
    LoJo100 Member Posts: 123
    edited December 2017

    Congrats, DodgersGirl!!! I'm so happy for you and celebrate with you from afar! I'm now three weeks out from radiation (and all active treatment) and it is still strange to think I don't need to do anything! I'll start tamoxifen next week, but at least that is just taking a pill every day!

    *hugs* all around!

    I'll go check out the new thread you started.

    -LoJo

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