All Topics → Forum: Stage IV and Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY → Topic: Radiation Therapy and Stage IV
Posted on: Apr 14, 2010 12:07 AM
Moderators wrote:
This thread will be for the discussion of radiation therapy as it relates to Stage IV.
Log in to post a replyPosts 31 - 60 (187 total)
Jun 17, 2010 04:12 PM Mazy1959 wrote:
Thx Mods..good idea
I had 9 rads to my 5th lumbar and it helped some with the pain but didn't work near as well as the onc expected. It just kind of knocked the edge off of the pain. Hugs, Mazy
Jun 18, 2010 03:35 AM dreamwriter wrote:
Could the swelling be a reaction to the radiation....? I dont think you should think the worst so quickly - though we all tend to.
Jun 22, 2010 03:25 AM ChocolateLover wrote:
hi jleigh. when i had rads to neck and chest in 2008, rad.onc said the results could last from 2 mths to 2 yrs. i got 2mths. dont assume the worst, but get it checked out for sure. I've now had 2 other chemos and i'm feeling not bad on most days. hang in there!
Jun 25, 2010 02:08 AM dreamwriter wrote:
Im back in radiation starting next monday.... six trips to the hospital... though one of those is for pamidronate (bone meds). Five for radiation to my left shoulder. Plan to sleep the rest of the days away as each one requires early rising to get there. Had to cancel all of my services except laundry... have to have that done.... hahahahah.
Jun 29, 2010 01:00 PM Mazy1959 wrote:
Dream hugssssssssssss
Jul 13, 2010 03:02 AM imbell wrote:
Had 20 rads to my sternum and T6. Sunburn that lasted 2 weeks. Not bad. Question: Finished May 21 but I have had travelling head, neck and jaw pain from the beginning and still ongoing. Scalp is also sore in spots and itchy. Is this a side effect? I have asked with no real response. The rads did work. I have an excellent surgeon I still see every 3 months. She was the one that pointed out to me that there was no bone bump on my sternum any longer. I just knew the shooting pains were gone.
Jul 13, 2010 01:17 PM Mazy1959 wrote:
Mary,
I didnt have traveling pains with rads at all..maybe someone else will come along who can shed some light on the subject. Hugs, Mazy
Jul 14, 2010 05:48 AM jleigh wrote:
i had radiation to my sternum, scalp, and T6 & T7 too back in May. had pain right after each radiation and after radiation was complete. the pain did last a couple of weeks. the pain was more in my sternum then anywhere else. they told me it was normal. hope this helps some!
Jul 30, 2010 06:52 PM, edited May 4, 2011 02:12 PM by 01Alpenpfeilchen
currently pelvic rads for bone mets.
Jul 31, 2010 01:47 AM dreamwriter wrote:
I dont want to say this very loudly - because of radiation, I am currently pain free. I still walk slower and cant do much but it is not due to pain.
Jul 31, 2010 04:21 AM chrissyb wrote:
I had radiation to my humerus after having a pin inserted for stability, seven sessions and after each one the bone pain lessend. My arm and shoulder were quite sore for about three months as the radiation stirred up my bursitis and gave me a frozed shoulder. Was it worth it in the long run?..............Yes.
Oct 30, 2010 12:03 AM sueUK wrote:
I am so glad to have found this thread! I am starting with rads next Wednesday - 10 rounds to my pelvic bone which has a significant area of mets. I started with Zometa last Monday..oh joy - NOT, have calcium supplements, was swapped from Tamoxifen to Arimidex so on Monday will have some implant (cant remember name now) to shut my ovaries down as we are not sure where I am on the menopause trail.
My question was regarding the pain relief as I have SO much pain and am taking morphine in increasing doses which while giving me comfort while sitting and doing nothing, walking is hell - it feels like my hip/leg is broken or will break with one more step! The hospital just couldnt give me any guidance as to when pain relief would kick in with the rads, but from what I am reading here, it seems safe to feel quite optimistic? Oh I hope so...I would like a bit of a life back and sitting on my backside 24/7 just doesnt cut it!
I will keep popping by now to read how you are all doing with the rads experience, and will report in with my own once I get going next week....oooo.....scared and excited all at the same time!
Take care you all!
Sue x
Oct 30, 2010 02:58 PM LivingIt wrote:
Hey Sue,
I had rads to hip and sacrum and more recently to L1 and T3. In both cases I had pain relief after a few sessions. The pain relief has lasted this time and I have no bone pain these days for the first time in approximately forever. I also adjusted my oxycontin up but still. Im talking about no bone pain in my mets in both hips, all over teh pelvis, spine, ribs shoulderblade everywhere. The bones are just quiet. Its wonderful.
I hope it lasts.
Meanwhile I finished my last rad on 10/12 and am still SUPER fatigued, sick to my stomach and feel inside like I drank a gallon of bleach with eggshells in it. Im assuming that the radiation inflammed my insides and they are healing slowly, but honestly its a little scary.
Has anyone had experience with Sore tubes/ lower throught, intestines??? My liver goes ouch sometimes too and I hope its sore cause of rads and not cause of the tumors there acting up.
Im not that far out from my radiation, but I honestly expected to bounce back much faster.
Reassurance anybody??
Oct 30, 2010 09:41 PM sueUK wrote:
Hi LivingIt, thank you for the reassurance about the pain relief to my weary bones! Obviously I cant answer your particular queries just yet but I do hope those with more experience will come along soon and offer up some good advice...and HOPE that the discomfort will come to an end very soon! Ive been told that indeed, all the other organs and bits & bobs that are in the 'firing line' will suffer to some extent - in my case Ive been told to expect diaorrhea (sorry cant spell that) and maybe cystitis, oh and of course the fatigue and that this can go on for a while after the rads finish.....only noone ever defines what 'a while' means do they!?! hey ho...!
Wishing you less pain and some reassuring words to come along soon!
Sue x
Nov 13, 2010 04:27 PM Honeybear wrote:
I am 6 treatments into radiation for my hip and tailbone. So far, I feel sick at my stomach a lot, have a lot of diarhhea and just generally feel completely exhausted. I feel like the techs and radiation onc. act like "no, the radiation couldn't be making you exhausted." I'm sure that I could be dehydrated from diarhhea, but generally I feel like side effects are blown off when radiation treatment is very serious, hard stuff. I've had it before for T6-T10 and had good pain relief for quite awhile.Nov 14, 2010 11:26 AM sueUK wrote:
Hi girls, I hope things are going well/better for you all. I feel that I can come along and add some comments now that I am well into my 'adventure' with this rads marlarky!
Honebear, here in the UK extreme fatigue and tiredness is the one thing they stress as very likely, with the other possible side-effects just possible and not definite...and dont we know it! I am now 8 rads in....just Monday & Tuesday to go now, and I feel like I have got away with things quite lightly. No cystitis (yet..and lets hope that stays away!), one day of a total clear out of my bowels (after round 6)...but to be honest, with the constipation from all the meds, that was a very welcome relief it has to be said. My tummy has felt more comfy and calm since. I have felt the tiredness though and sleep a lot during the evenings and I think the house could burn down and I wouldnt notice! I have on a few occasions had that swallowed acid feeling in my throat, but the doc says this wouldnt be from the rads...I dont know, maybe just a coincidence? To be honest, at this point the tiredness doesnt bother me - I can imagine however, if it lingers long after treatment it would become rather a bind. I prefer to be tired and sleepy than wakeful and anxious. I am quite astounded by the attitude of your rads techs Honeybear as everything I read about rad treatment states fatigue as the no.1 side-effect!?!
Now then, pain-wise, I dont think I have felt any improvement yet...if there is some it is only slight and only from time to time.. As I said before, my meds keep me comfy while sitting, but Im still walking with the stick and at times that is still very painful. Mornings are still hellish...getting out of bed and getting myself sorted first thing is SO painful, but things do improve once I take my slow release morphine, plus a dose of liquid morphine all at once - well, the slow release isnt going to help that early morning pain crisis is it!
The lovely radiotherapy staff at the hospital assure me that how I am feeling is normal and that the pain IS likely to get worse before it gets better. They say that the few days after treatment ends is likely to be the worst, then things should start to ease up and it could be up to 6 weeks before I feel the most benefit. I will be having my second dose of Zometa on Monday too....that is supposed to help with pain too, but my first dose left me feeling like I had been hit by a bus for a few days....lets hope this time round will be significantly better! Im told that drinking plenty of water will help, and I have already started doing that as its supposed to helps with the rads also - fingers crossed for a better experience as that really was nasty.
I suppose if you are taking various meds and having treatments in addition to the rads, it is difficult to know which of these contribute to all these different effects we are feeling - I guess its the cocktail of all of them that messes us up. Oh well, as long as all of this is working to see off mr nasty I can cope with it all.........but it would be nice to feel a bit better wouldnt it!
I will update you again in a few days...when rads have finished and the zometa has done its magic (hopefully). Meanwhile, good wishes to you all and I hope that the good feelings will be outshining the bad ones for you very soon!
Hugs, Sue x
Nov 21, 2010 11:21 AM sueUK wrote:
Hi again, Im checking in as my rads ended a few days ago, plus I had the 'pleasure' of the zometa infusion on Monday. I dont know which is to blame or whether its a combination of the both, but I have been feeling pretty nauseous all week. Eating is difficult - I tend to stick with cereals or crackers, just to get something in me little and often. Tiredness....well, yes I have slept most of the week away although that is wearing off a bit now. Im still getting about with my stick - I think there may be improvement pain wise as Im not hitting the top-up morphine so often, though thats more to do with feeling icky at the thought of taking it I think.
Lets think, my rads finished 4 days ago and I just feel generally unwell. I would really like to hear of other peoples experiences - is this normal? I have a review in about 3 weeks with the consultant and Im wondering what to expect. How do they judge whether the rads have actually done their magic or not? Really, what Im after is a bit of positivity I suppose, I want to hear that we have 'turned the tide' so to speak. The waiting and wondering is quite awful isnt it..its like waiting for those first results all over again, and I just dont want to hear any more bad news - of course none of us do do we! I kind of feel like - if they could tell me that we had made some progress, my recovery from this treatment would speed up, does that make sense? Sorry Im waffling!
Anyway, wishing you all well and will pop by again to see if anyone has any snippets of advice to offer.
Hugs, Sue x
Dec 7, 2010 10:41 AM justjudie wrote:
Dec 9, 2010 09:42 AM, edited Mar 21, 2011 05:42 AM by jeanne46
Am in the middle of 30 sessions of rads for large tumor mass in left chest wall that has started putting some pressure on the right side of my heart. It also has fingers into my abdomen and I've got small masses just under my clavicle on either side. So I suspect I'm getting a ton of radiation. That machine hits me in 7 different places! So half way through - skin between breasts is red and I have red pimple-like dots there as well What cream did you all find that worked well for the burning and redness?
Dec 9, 2010 09:50 AM Leah_S wrote:
Jeanne, I found 100% aloe vera to work for me. Also, if the red bumps get itchy you might want to try 1% hydrocortisone cream.
Just don't forget the usual wash-it-off, don't-use-it-for-4-hours-before protocol.
Best of luck.
Leah
Dec 9, 2010 04:50 PM EnglishMajor wrote:
I used Eucerin (kinda greasy).
Other recommend Emu Oil (not sure where to get that)
Another lady swore by Domeboro soak:
www.bayercare.com/Domeboro_faq...
Dec 9, 2010 06:43 PM suz45 wrote:
Jeanne
I used Glaxol Base for a cream & mixed it with clear Pure Aloe (all natural, non alcohol based) Ive been through radiation twice... first was 5 fields 16 sessions & the second was 7 fields 30 sessions. I pre mixed this about 50/50 as the glaxol base is really thick, I would just slather it on as soon as I went to get changed then threw on an old cotton shirt. Also re-applied a few times a day, then cleaned it right off in the shower before going back in the next morning.
As Leah mentioned hydro-cortisone cream (which the pharmacy mixes with Glaxol Base) is great if you get any sort of rash or bumps. Also ask the radiology nurses what to use for the poultice to relieve the pain (I think it was a saline & epsom salt... cant remember) you just soak a sterile cloth in it then lay it on affected area for a certain amount of time. It felt really soothing.
I'm not sure what you use for the one time blast of radiation. I just got 2 of those today on my right back ribs... I'm going to try the same on this & see how it goes. It definitely is more painful this evening than it was this morning. They said this would happen and should take about 2 weeks for the pain in my ribs to dissipate. Sounds good to me, till then I'll rely on my pain meds.
Hugs Suz
Dec 13, 2010 04:39 PM jeanne46 wrote:
Glaxol base is apparently only sold in Canada. I've had a miserable weekend of intense Itching (that 1% hydrocortisone didn't help) and red bumps everywhere (what do skin mets look like? Could it be that?). Actually, a poultice sounds like a good idea. I'll ask about that tomorrow.
Don't feel so good and palpable lumps still VERY palpable. There is some indication of less protrusion. Does this mean it's only partially working? How many of you had lumps that went away quickly? It's so hard to tease out feeling crummy from rads and feeling crummy from mets. Then there's the poor body which has been constantly assaulted for the last 5 years. Sigh.
Oh well. DH and I did have a wonderful weekend (minus the itching and fatigue) in San Francisco with both my adult kids. We had such fun together. I'm so thankful I managed to do that!!!
Dec 28, 2010 09:51 AM maggiemae713 wrote:
my daughter,Lew, started her first radiation today. She was hospitalized Friday. She was having pain in her head and numbness in her body. She is stage 1V breast cancer. The Emergency room dr. did not want to do a cat scan because it was Christmas Eve, honestly, but said she would order one on Lews way out because they did a cat scan on her heart but not her brain. We insisted on a cat scan of the brain, and the ER doctor acted like we were just wasting her time. So they did one and found out that the cancer has spread to the brain. They admitted her and started radiation today. She is suppose to have it for 10 days straight. She had just started a new Chemo last Thursday. I don't know what to expect now. It had already spread to her lungs and around her heart. She is 40 yrs. old. I woulde appriciate any comments anyone will offer. I would love to chat with someone but the chat rooms here are empty. Another thing I am concerned about is the smell that just started since she has been hospitalized this time. It is a rotting smell. Can anyone comment on this, I am not very educated about any of this. Thank you and God Bless each and everyone that reads this.Dec 30, 2010 11:03 PM soviet wrote:
I have a couple of mets in lung that have hung on despite numerous chemos. All else is stable and onc is suggesting rads to get rid of 'em. I've never had radiation. Any with similar experience? I'm concerned about SEs...
Jan 19, 2011 06:50 AM Heidihill wrote:
soviet,
I didn't have rads to the lungs but I think the SEs are manageable with that as they are for rads to the spine or chest wall, which is what I had. Fatigue is the most common complaint. You may have skin reactions. You may have difficulty swallowing. My rad onc said there was a likelihood of damage to lung tissue, but that this was reversible. I assume that would also be the case with you.
Feb 20, 2011 02:48 AM cmhartley wrote:
Getting ready to undergo radiation to top of my femur due to significant mets and risk for fracture. Can anyone fill me in on what to expect as to any SEs in this area? Anything particular I can do to help with SEs?
Thasnks,
Cat
Feb 23, 2011 09:55 AM JMEH31854 wrote:
I had 15 rads 2 years ago on my repaired femur with minimal SEs. I didn't get as tired as when I had 33 rads on my chest after my mastectomy in 1998. The radiation clinic gave me some samples of a Vaseline-like gel. It kept the area soft and comfortable. Ask the techs for recommendations. My tumor was close to the knee.
Tomorrow I have an appt with my rad onc to start rads on my other femur where we just found a mets. It's small so no surgery or limitation to activities. This one is farther up my leg so it looks like we'll be going through the same process at the same time. This is my first time without surgery, but I'll be working full time, which may make it seem like I've had surgery.
Take care of yourself,
JMEH31854
Mar 6, 2011 08:38 AM, edited Mar 6, 2011 08:40 AM by AuntEsie
I have completed 3 radiation treatments to my lower cervical, upper thoracic vertebrae for pain in my left shoulder, radiating into my left arm and numbess in all 4 fingers of my left hand. They made a mesh mask of my face and upper shoulders which they snap down over my face each treatment. This keeps me in exactly the same position however it is extremely painful for my left arm to be in this position. The plan is to do 15 treatments. We elected to do 15 rather than 10 to give smaller doses over a longer period of time to hopefully reduce the side effects. I am really concerned about irritation to my esophagus. I am 5 feet 8 inches tall and only weigh 113.8 lbs so I can't afford to lose too much weight. So far I have not felt any relief from the radiation. We are currently changing up my oxycontin and perscoset as well as trying a Prednisone Medrol pack to see if we can control the pain enough to get through treatment. I am going to see if my insurance covers accupuncture. That may be a route I need to go if we have a provider in our area.
Mar 9, 2011 01:03 PM cmhartley wrote:
Just wanted to post a follow-up. I am on day 6 of the 10 days of radiation to both femurs and so far I'm doing great other than fatigue which may be from something other than the radiation. Otherwise, no skin irritation, no pain, etc.
Cat