December 2017 Radiation Group

Oh, Amy you poor thing. Moth and I both have colds but that's just awful that your RADS are postponed again. If I had a drone to airlift some magic pills, sparkly shoes and a pony to your house I'd do it right this minute!! Hang in there.

PauletteK, yeah for #17!!!

OCDAmy, so sorry you are not feeling well, i hope you are better soon. I'll keep you in my prayers.

On a more personal note, the other day i posted about my tears in having to start tamoxifen; the not knowing.

Well God in His infinite way is always on time! Today my church started our 21 Day Daniel Fast. Its where Daniel sacrificed likened foods in His search to be closer to God. Its also for restoration, healing and just reconnecting with your faith.

My church has a call in conference line of prayer for these 21days @ 6am, 12noon and 6pm...well, ive decided to take my meds every evening at 6pm...what better way to restore than in prayer with my church family.

Tonight as they prayed, i took my 2nd tamoxifen and said Thank You Jesus for your healing...with NO TEARS!

All that being said, I had to remind myself that God saw this journey before I got here so I'm just believing that where God guides, He provides!

Stay strong my WARRIORS...stay lifted because this battle is not ours, its the Lord's!

OCDAmy i was picturing a sparkly drone unicorn flying in the sky sprinkling down colorful star shaped pills:)

PVM - I never had swelling. I only got a little tan under my armpit and my skin is very light. My breast that had the RADs felt "full" at times and even 1 1/2 weeks post RADs, my breast is a slight shade of pink. At week 2 of RADs my RO told me she noticed 3 small dots above my breast and said I'd probably get a red/itchy patch and sure enough I did. It was about 3" in diameter and just today I see it going down and looking more tan. My boob is still pink. Also, I had 4 boosts. You will have another planning session for that. They did mine at my regular RAD session, they just needed to book more time for me. A boost is where they don't give radiation to the entire area you had gotten  before, it's more targeted (smaller area) and took the same amount of time. I wanted to finish before christmas weekend so they gave me a double boost one day. I went in early in the morning and then had to wait at least 6 hours before I could get the other boost. Seemed to go well. Good luck to you!!

PauletteK i had 20; 16 whole and 4 boost.

My routine:

Morning, 6am...Shower with dove, with just the soap on my boobies...no cloth or anything ... Miaderm

My appts were at 230, so id Miaderm @ 1230. Appts over and I'd Miaderm when i left (around 245/3pm)

Id remove my bra as soon as i got home around 5/6pm and would Aquaphor and put on a cotton tshirt. Just a thin layer since ive changed shirts.

Just before bed say around 9/10pm id Aquaphor again, put on another cotton T or cotton tank, but id use a bit more since it'd rub while im sleep.

I had NO skin irritations at all; again just tenderness. I also drank plenty of water and filled with proteins... i also continued my multivitamin.

Not sure if its because of getting Accelerated rads, but I can't put on any lotions 4 hours before treatment.

Ellyn27 thanks so much for the information, its great to know what to expect from the boots & planning & well from the side effects as well. Im so glad you fared well minus the dots & hopefully the pink of your skin goes down. I have 5 boots that will start after my 16th regular rad. I was a bit nervous & am still a bit nervous but know that all will go good. Thanks for sharing its greatly appreciated

Lifechoices the only tears you are allowed are happy tears as you start this amazing New Year healthy & cancer free Stay strong it will be okay you will see, it will all go good with the tamoxifen pill & SE's. Thanks for sharing your rads info, I believe our rads treatments are pretty much similar i am having 21 sessions 16 regular & 5 boots. Im drinking or trying to drink alot of water too but find in the winter with it being frigid cold here its hard but i am trying.

Paulette im sorry that your appetite is not as good as it was when you started, hoping it stays good so you can get protein in you, maybe try drinking the protein in shakes with different veggies & fruits & milk or even greek yogurt. I used to drink these while i was on chemo especially when my taste buds were gone for the first few days after chemo. Hope your LE goes away & your skin continues to hold out & not get too bad. You are almost at the finish line.

Amy hope you can have rads tomorrow & are feeling better. I know you have your end date circled in the calendar, just think its one day extra for your skin to heal. You are almost there.

CindyNY i believe i am doing accelerated too & was told no lotion 2 hours before like lifechoices mind you mine are early so i take a shower & go I don't apply any lotion till after im done rads & i am home. Hope your faring well too & your skin is not doing too bad.

That's great Amy that you had rads today not so great that your tummy is not that good & your skin is peeling. Super happy that you will be done next Friday woot woot that must be such a relief for you. I think you should buy some shoes to mark the occasion

I had my treatment today & saw my RO he said he was happy with the way my skin is looking for far. He was a bit worried before hand as im big chested & though my skin may have issues but so far im slightly pink, its not that bad, im not suffering any tiredness or lack of appetite, this may change & by next week & i may be experiencing more issues but i hope not as bad. I am following you Amy as you will be done on the Friday the 12th & i shall be done on Tuesday the 16th. Paulette i believe you will be following after me & be done soon too woot woot.

Have a great day ladies & stay strong

PauletteK - I had 20 RAD session and the last 4 were boosts.I used only Aquaphor at first and when I developed the red/itchy patch I was told to use hydrocortizone cream on that area followed by the Aquaphor on top of that. My sessions were mostly at 10:30 and was told not to use lotion 4 hours prior to that time. At night I'd load up with lotion and then in the morning I would take a shower and not put anything on. After my sessions I'd load up on lotion again.  I used a mild soap in the shower and I did use a washcloth because the Aquaphor is like vaseline. I used it gently. I hope your skin begins to heal and that you can get your protein in. 

It's been so nice not having anything right now. But that will change when I go see the MO next week and then start the meds. I'm not looking forward to that at all. 

OCDAmy...sorry you have not been feeling well but good that you are close to being done. You and I have a similar path, and I was wondering if your rads have caused any pain or tightness with your expanders? I was doing well with some Physical Therapy but then RO told me to hold off because I was having some redness that she did not think was caused by the radiation, and some pain as well. She didn't want me irritating the pec muscle during radiation. It's been a week since I've done any PT stretches or exercise, and my range of motion has suffered! I cannot lift my left arm (where lymph nodes were removed) near as high as the right...and still having some pain off and on. I'm seeing my plastic surgeon tomorrow to let him take a look. They may choose to put me on a preventative antibiotic. My skin is holding up ok, some redness and irritation but not too bad - I'm more worried about the loss of range of motion, but hopefully I can get it back quickly once radiation is done.

Sonia, I stopped my PT and so does my pump because my RO doesn’t want to irritate my skin with my pump so I do manual massage daily. I do stretch exercises all the time to make sure my motion is fine. I have no problem lift my arms, we don’t want to have frozen shoulder.

Neanie44, they told me that as well that i could wait... I DIDN'T! I trusted the group here and glad i did. I went on Amazon and ordered Miaderm, the 4pk....got my tub of Aquaphor and my Aloe (i only used that once). My mapping was Nov 13 and i ordered that same afternoon:)... My first zap was Nov 29th, but i started my lotioning around the 20th. My RO and techs applauded how well my skin did... and yes that included as i say the pre-treatment.

In my mind, i know my skin but im a black girl, dark complexion and i really dont tan. So i was clueless as to what a sunburn or any peeling, flaking would feel like...since thats what they compared the SE s too... in any case, i followed this threads recommendations and im glad i did. Now during my 4wk, 20zaps... i did get 2 more tubes from them... the first one the 1st week and i got another on my last day so that id have it for my 2wks following the end of zaps.

Im sure they THINK waiting works, but everyone has different skin and although we get to choose how much sun we get... we have no idea of the 'heat' in those zaps.

I pray that your SEs are minimal to none... and that these zaps are over and done quickly:))))

Hi Neanie and all. Just chiming in to say that some doctors don't like us to start lotion ahead of time because there is an off chance we will develop a rash just from the lotion, and they won't be able to tell what is a lotion-caused reaction and what is a RADS-caused reaction. But my RO was fine with me starting early, and thanks to the good advice here that's what I did. It worked marvelously.

Cindy, I was surprised too but got "photos" weekly which were sent to the RO in case we needed to discuss anything at our weekly check-ins. All good but I wish they had explained it in advance.

Hang in there warriors! You are close to the finish line. I am 2 1/2 weeks out and feel great; just a slightly sore nipple, lol.