How Long After Surgery Should Rads Start?

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kec1972
kec1972 Member Posts: 269
edited February 2019 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Wondering if there's a timeframe? I had my lumpectomy on 1/7 and will probably start the week of 2/18. Is that too long? Is there a certain time frame where it should be started? Thanks!

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited February 2019

    You need to heal from the surgery first. Actually--two weeks sounds kind of quick. I think closer to a month is more typical.

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  • OTMom
    OTMom Member Posts: 121
    edited February 2019

    My surgery was 12/5, CT mapping for rads 1/4, actually started rads 1/14. They don't like to wait super long, but they also want to give time to heal. My RO wasn't super stressed about a precise timeline.

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  • PurpleCat
    PurpleCat Member Posts: 358
    edited February 2019

    My RO said any time within 3 months was OK. I ended up doing setup about a month after my second surgery, with treatment starting about 10 days later.

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  • hapa
    hapa Member Posts: 920
    edited February 2019

    I was told efficacy starts to decrease after 12 or more weeks. My PS said you need at least 3 weeks for the scars to heal. So 3-12 weeks, just depending on your personal healing.

    I started 8 or 9 weeks after surgery. A lot of women started much later than that due to complications of surgery.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited February 2019

    I was worried about this too, because I started at about 8 weeks. I had a large hematoma so they were waiting to see if it would decrease. It didn't, so we did radiation anyway. But at the time I was worried and researched, and saw a study where they said within 12 weeks is best.

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  • Mymomsgirl
    Mymomsgirl Member Posts: 174
    edited February 2019

    I had my surgery on 12/18 and started rads on 1/24. My RO said he aims for 4-6 weeks, but that might be because I had my boost during radiation. Good Luck.

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  • Freebee
    Freebee Member Posts: 68
    edited February 2019

    I’ll be starting at around 12 weeks. I tried to postpone another month or two but my RO advised against. He say12 weeks is the current max.

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited February 2019

    I had the lumpectomy on July 11, re-excision on August 8, and didn't start rads until the end of October because I had to have an unrelated surgery first. The RO's nurse was calling and nagging me, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to do it sooner - and the first few weeks were pretty brutal from having to stretch out more than my body was ready for. But the BS had said as long as it was started in the three month window, I'd be okay.

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