Immediate reaction to radiation
Hi. This is my first forum and I'm crying as I write this because I don't want to be feeling the way I do right now. I had surgery on my left breast to remove invasive ductal carcinoma on 1/26/18. A week or so after the surgery i was diagnosed with a mild infection in my breast (my breast was slightly inflamed, pink, with intermittent pain) and was given antibiotics. It took four rounds of antibiotics before the infection was gone. I began radiation therapy about ten days after no longer having the infection. After four radiation treatments my breast was infected again - swollen, pink, intermittent pain and i had a lot of fatigue, a low grade fever, and a cough. Stopped radiation for 12 days to meet with an infectious disease doctor and take more antibiotics. The infectious disease doctor also said that it was a "mild" infection. As of Monday the infection was gone again, so yesterday I started back with the radiation. I had my second radiation treatment this morning and I'm feeling extremely tired, with a cough and I have a low fever again. Everything that I've googled about radiation therapy states that you don't feel any effects for the first two weeks. How can i be feeling this way? Has anyone else had an experience like this?
Comments
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Hi Catherine619-
We want to welcome you to the community. We're so sorry for what you're going through, it sounds incredibly frustrating! Everyone will react differently to treatments, have you talked to your oncologist or radiation therapist about what may be going on? It also might be worth checking in with your surgeon, to let them know about the recurring infection. We hope things start to turn around very soon!
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