January 2018 RADS group

Thanks Katiejane. I started T yesterday but have decided to only have one ever other day for the first few days, in an effort to ease into the side effects. I have also added magnesium supplements, based on the advice of others in these forums.

Oh my gosh I haven't been on her for days and Bell, Bea, Chips, Hershsey, and Mama, just WOW you guys are all done!! So happy for you all!!

Skookums you are so close! That chocolate story is so funny. I had that too a little bit.

I was supposed to start Tamoxifen last week but found out when I met with my Onc that another medication I take is not good with it. Basically blocks it from being effective. My primary had taken over that rx some years ago, but I changed primary docs in Jan and the new one is not comfortable changing it so here I am a week later still trying to get an appt with the specialist who prescribed it to me 8 years ago. Crazy stuff we go thru to keep cancer at bay.

In the meantime, cancer med free me is watching my skin heal and peel, happy to see my hair still coming back, and obsessing over how rock hard my lx site is. I swear it's like I have a rock in my boob. At least it stopped hurting. Walking around with my hand in my shirt was getting a little ridiculous lol.

Aww Skookum that sounds both funny and painful. I hope your skin starts feeling better ASAP! I was so tired just before treatment finished and the week afterwards but just over a week later I feel so much better. Just as well as we pick up our new puppy Saturday!!!!

That is wonderful news, hhuey! Hip, hip, hooray! Congratulations on finishing rads!

Yah Hhuey!!!! Congrats on being done!!

hhuey- Congratulations on being done and ringing that bell!!! Skookums- you should finishe today as well.. right?

Wonderwoman- I hadn’t heard about using a silicone sheet with treatment.. could it be a reaction from the sheet? Ask RO if Miaderm would help. I know all drs are different, but that’s what mine swears by. I’ve used it consistent and skin hung in there well until about a week ago. Now it’s burned, itchy, tender and starting to peel, but overall not to bad. Most of the discomfort I feel is because of the swelling and some sharp pains I get every now and then and Tylenol helps with that. Keep us posted.

Hugs!

I am done! No bell to ring, but I got a diploma signed by my technicians.

I was so excited for the last zap, I couldn’t get myself to settle down and breathe correctly.

I lay there laughing and crying...said damn once. Thank goodness for technicians who have a sense of humor and understand, to a degree, what is going on in the patients brain waiting for the last zap!

Thanks ladies for all your support, kindness and laugh during this kind of yucky time in our lives.

Yay Jen and Skookum! You did it! Here's to your health!

so I met with my RO again today, she was very transparent which I always appreciate.

The silicone sheet they put on me every other treatment is called a bolus, and because of my path report, it’s a better treatment plan for me instead of boosts.

That being said it concentrates the beams more towards my skin and my reaction although bad- is not unusual nor unexpected. They were just hoping it would have held up a little longer. They didn’t want to scare me when we started, so they kept things basic, stressed tue importance of hydration and have been reassuring me along the way.

She said I can put whatever cream I want on it and she gave me a list of “....except/avoid.” Basically, the only goal and use of creams is for comfort. She said there is no slowing down the reaction, making it better, or healing during treatment. She advised me not to waste my money, that the best was aloe and a thick layer of aquaphor- which they give me for free.

She said she rarely does breaks and that yes my skin is bad but not bad enough for a break, which did make me feel better.

I have the list of side effects, I feel like I was well educated and supported by the staff before treatment, I did my own research- I guess I was just hoping to sail through and I didn’t expect this. After all, nothing is as bad as the chemo I just did right??

I’m so jealous of you ladies ringing your bells, I have 10 more, I’m in the final push, maybe that’s also why this is hard, because I’ve come so far and done so much and I’m so close to the end of active treatment.

Wonderwoman- hope your skin is holding up. Hug on your little one, nothing better than hugs from little humans for calming love.

HI everyone!

Today is Sunday. I am so thankful for the weekends giving my skin some time to recuperate.

I finished week 4 of 6 last week. My skin looked very red/tan on Friday but it has calmed quite a bit over the weekend. I can now see a very clear outline of the area getting radiated. The cabbage leaves are so lovely to apply when I get home! I really feel like they help.

I'm also using fresh aloe leaf twice a day, a aloe/cucumber spray a friend gave me, organic calendula oil and hylauronic acid serum. Hoping this combo carries me through next week, which is my last week of full breast radiation. Also, my RO gave me a prescription cream for the itchy rash - for those of you not getting relief from the OTC hydrocortisone, maybe the prescription version would help?

I forgot to do the green tea compresses this week - am I the only one who feels like this radiation is affecting their brain? I've become very forgetful. Fatigue hit full force last week and I had to call on some friends for support. There were a couple of days I just had to lay down all day! I also had a couple of emotional outbursts last week that seemed to come out of nowhere? My MO said the fatigue brings this on. Have you all cried for no reason?

I have RA, which I put into remission naturally two years ago. I have been worried the radiation might cause me to get a flare. My MO didn't think there was a chance but my shoulder on the side getting radiation is acting up - I'm very sore/stiff on that side now. The muscle on the back of my shoulder is definitely getting radiation and is sore/swollen. I'm hoping it will disappear after the radiation is over. For now, my MO is sending me to PT so maybe that will help? Anyone else having pain in their shoulder?

I'm just hoping to make it through next week without burning too badly. The following week will consist only of 4 boosts. The best news I've received lately is that I don't have to make up the day I missed when I had the flu! It looks like she cut one of the boosts. So I'll end up having 29 instead of 30 treatments. Whoohoo!

Hope y'all are having a great weekend.

Smashleywnc- I thought my brain was stopping completely. I couldn't remember words, I forgot things like my purse or phone. My husband was very aware and I was feeling frustrated. I finished 4 bursts on February 22, the full breast treatment ended more than a week ago. My husband noticed and mentioned that I was already remembering better. Still not perfect, but noticeably better. I'm so glad.

I also noticed a pain in my left shoulder. I have fibromyalgia, hoping this doesn't cause that to get worse!

I rest my arm on pillows while sitting or in the car. If pillows aren't available I rest my arm on a table or my husbands elbow. I also never sleep on my left side!

My husband told me the red radiation marks on my back are getting noticeably lighter.

I agree, the frozen cabbage leaves have felt heavenly.

Hope your last 2 weeks your skin holds up and the days fly by

Now for my question, after my bursts under my left breast, my skin was so hot and painful I would cry. Fortunately it was in a focused area of the breast so was manageable. Anything other than lotioning up for those places, any ideas for what might help?They're still quite painful and my left arm feels sore and hard to hold up at times. I see my RO the 8 or 9 of March. But I'm hoping by then I'm really better. For now even putting on the lotions and ointments hurts and stings. For now I just grit my teeth and hang on. Any ideas that might help?

Ladies have not logged in for a while as i am mostly active on a FB page with some of the wonderful ladies here that Paulette has created but wanted to check in & im glad i did as i saw so many of you wonderful warriors done with your rads or almost being done with your rads. Congrats to you ladies that finished & are now concentrating on healing & taking care of you. To those that are almost done hang in there ladies there is light at the end of the tunnel & you shall get there & ring that bell with happy tears. Take care of yourselves & be good to you, they say it needs to get a bit hard before it gets better & i am a firm believer that we will all have much brighter better days ahead. Wishing you all health & not so many SE. To those that are still doing rads continue kicking C in the butt & to those done continue with the healing both physically & mentally - hugs

Smashleywnc - My original plan was RADS only and then the Onco score - 44, so out the window with the original plan. Threw me for a curve! Especially, since my BS assured me that I would not see him for 6 months because he never expected it to be aggressive. I finished RADS on Friday and have already started seeing and feeling the difference. Along with the Miaderm, I took Tylenol for the pain. Of course, at night, my skin would dry out and become tight and hot, so it was up during the night and lotion and more Tylenol. Last weekend the skin tore under my arm and not it has split under the breast, so that is painful, but it is not infected. I found the boost to be less overall pain at first, but after I finished, the area became much more sensitive and sore - again Tylenol helped. Still tired and more tired though, like all energy snapped.