Topic: any april rad gals?

Currently in radiation, the last session is scheduled for 4/11/08.  I have just completed my 3rd week and so far the skin is good.  I had a lumpectomy with partial lymph node dissection (11 non-cancerous in the lymph nodes) in October 2007, had underwent 4 sessions of Taxodere and Cytoxan (Chemo).  I feel quite lethargic from the radiation and am slighlty reddened have a few very small itchy blisters but am doing well so far.  My simulation was performed in February and I had to have 2 Cat scans to be sure the measurments they took were precise, what should have been a 45 minute day turned out to be a 7 hour day running from spceialists thank God were located within a mile of each mother.  Had to have a second simulation last week as the last 9 sessions of radiation is directed over the scar site.  That went well and no other tests were needed.  During radiation I meet with the Radiologist 1x per week and the technicians take an x-ray 1x per week as well.  The radiation itself is very quick it is the positioning that takes time.  I go every day 5x per week my appointments are scheduled for 15 minute intervals, but I am generally done in 5.  Good luck to you.

Hi Ladies,

Hey Loriann, I guess we are among the few from the Chemo Dec 2007 team who are doing rads in April.

I am scheduled for simulation on April 10 and rads tx beginning April 17.  I forget how many but I believe it's around 20. 

I'm in the process of hunting down Aloe Vera gel and a cotton bra, etc.

I have my appointment with radiologist on april 4th.  I think I will probably start the following week or so.

loriann where is ortonville mi?  I am in petoskey. 

Caligal, According to Mapquest we are about 3 1/2 hours apart.  Ortonville is in northern Oakland County, about 15 miles south of Lapeer County actually.  I was actually in Petoskey last year.  My daughter was the "team manager" for her high school wrestling team (kept the stats during each match) and we came to Petoskey for a big invitational.  We stayed Friday & Saturday night and I came as a chaperone since there was also a girl wrestler on the team....us girls shared a room.  On Saturday night we went to an indoor waterpark that is at the ski place there.  That was a very fun trip.

I have a friend who also had BC and she did not have much problem with the rads.  I hope I'm the same...especially since I made it thru chemo with minimal problems.  It would suck if this turned out to be the worst part of treatment!  I can't even imagine that's possible!!  I finished chemo last Friday (3-14) and had an MRI this past Friday (3-21).  Now I meet with my surgeon on Thursday and surgery is on March 31st.  Really anxious to see lymph node status....We know at least one is involved based on core biopsy and first MRI back in December showed a few more that looked questionable.  The good thing is that by doing chemo first we were able to watch the tumors via ultrasound and the one in the breast is no longer even visable on the ultrasound and the involved lymph node went from 3 cm to under one.....and that was a few weeks ago, before I had my last chemo!  Anyway, like I said, I'm anxious to see what the MRI shows!

So, everybody, let's keep each other posted on how it's going so we can share any tips, tricks or magical potions that work wonders and keep us from getting anything more that a slight sunburn!!

Happy Easter all!  Lori

Hi and welcome Calypso!

Since you are a bit ahead of us, we'll be looking forward to how it goes!  Keep us posted!!

I bought a jar of the Aquaphor but am willing to try anything to avoid the crusty, blistered, weepy skin that is possible!  Hopefully I can just stick with the "sunburn" pink skin!!  But if you find the wheat grass juice works..I'll that too!  LOL

I'm hoping this is one time where my "topless" sunbathing will come in handy!  I mean it won't be the first time the "girls" have been exposed to some sun!!  One can wish, right?  LOL

Take care all, Lori

Hi girls! Sorry to crash your party! I'm a January RAD survivor. Just thought I'd pop in and tell you all good luck on your RADs. It goes by really fast! Drink plenty of water, take all the naps you want, and go heavy on the lotion, ointment, cream, whatever ....

Good Luck!

Starting bilateral radiation on March 31st.

Was originally dx'd in Sept. 07, it has taken this long to find it on the other side also had cancer and undergo all the surgeries to get clear margins.  But now am cleared for radiation.

I am going to ride my motorcycle every day to rads (weather permitting in Seattle).  I joked in BC support group that I was going to wear my helmet during treatment (what?  me afraid of radiation?! no way!).  The other BC gals suggested I put foil all over the helmet for the full effect!

Please keep all the skin tips coming.  And, let's all keep in contact as we each start and finish!

I will be starting radiation sometime in April. This morning, I had my appointment for a CT scan of my lungs and to take some kind of mould of my top half. The mould was called Aquaplast, and my doctor uses this instead of tattooing. I'd never heard of that before. This was my pre-radiation appointment, and I was told it would be about 7-10 days for them to get their computers ready for me to begin my radiation based on today's appointment. I had my bilateral mastectomy back in November and just completed my 8th and final round of chemo this week. During chemo, I had my skin expanders fully inflated, and I was finally feeling good about my figure (at least in clothing) again. Today was a disaster. My radiologist said that I need to go back to my plastic surgeon and have my expanders deflated to at least half of and probably more than their current size. I'm not even that big! He said he can't get the radiation beam in between them to get at my chest wall. So now I have to go back to my plastic surgeon this afternoon to let out a lot of saline, and then go for another CT scan and re-do today's appointment next week. It's upsetting because it delays my start date for radiation by a few days, and does who knows what to my reconstruction potential. I will need a total of 38 radiation treatments, of which 28 are on the full right breast, and the remaining 10 are a boost to the area that the tumor was in. I had it in my mind that I would be done with all my treatments by the end of May, but now because of this delay, and because I will require a few more radiation doses than I previously was told, it looks like it will be early June. I'm really depressed about that, even though it's just a few days' off from where I thought I would be. There was something about the end of May that appealed to me. I guess it was because the month was concluding, and so my treatment would likewise conclude. Going into June makes me feel like this will continue all through June, even though that's not rational. My mastectomy was exactly 120 days ago today. I had my mastectomy just 9 days after diagnosis. I started chemotherapy less than 3 weeks after the mastectomy, and did a dose-dense, aggressive regimen of every other week. WIth my last chemo regimen being earlier this week, I thought I'd coast right through radiation and just get this all done. I know this isn't a huge setback, I just feel bummed out. Sorry to go on and on and vent, but somehow just typing this is therapeutic.

Hi everyone!  I just had my rad consult today, will have my simulation on 4/15 and should start my 33 rads on 4/21.  My last chemo treatment is 4/3.  Can I start by saying "Thank Goodness" for the posts from ladies saying they had little to no burns?!  I'm terrified based on most of the posts.  I did pretty well with the chemo (don't get me wrong, I don't want to ever have to go through that again)and was really hoping that radiation would be the easier portion of this very long terrifying journey.  Please count me in as one of your April rad gals!

Birki / Anaheim, CA

Welcome Susan!  Boy do I understand how you feel.  I had a mastecomy back on Nov 1st, started chemo in Dec (my last one is this Thursday!) and now on to the unknown world of radiation.  It seems like a never ending (and always terrifying) journey, but we're never alone, we WILL get through this mess and take our lives back!  I too cannot wait for that day.  My doctors are sick of me telling them I want everything started asap so I can move on and get back to work.  Boy I never thought I'd miss work so much!  So hang in there and welcome!

will be starting radiation Apr. 14th.....had chemo from Aug. thru Jan., bilateral Feb. 26th. 

***K8scraps...noticed your surgery was same day....how are you feeling so far??

I was told by radiation oncologist to get 100% aloe (found it at WalMart)...along with 100% cotton, front close sports bras.  Can someone explain what Aquaphor is and where you get it?  I'm wondering if that would work better than Aloe.  Anything else we should know before we start rads?

I heard this is a breeze compared to chemo....looking forward to summer and having all this behind me! 

Good luck to all!!

Hi Jeanette51, I found some Aquaphor at Target, it very thick and greasy, suggested for night time use. I heard better sleep without a shirt, just aquaphor as a cover on the radiated breast.

I also heard in an other thread about CASTOR OIL. To be applied right after treatment , and 10 minutes of warm washcloth, (who has the time?). The person who posted that had no burns, can also be luck.

Drink fluids, 2x more than usual, start the lotion, cream, oils immediately, don't wait for the first signs. Get out and exercise, good for mood and the body.

I am starting on Tuesday, feeling a little down, maybe it's the weather, or pms, or rads, or all of the above...

Whyme, you are right to be concerned about your situation. I also have felt like a low priority because of having dcis, probably rightly so, but it still doesn't feel good.

Gosh you are so brave. My heart goes out to you. 

whyme - thanks for the laugh. I love the idea of them having to duct tape you quiet. There is skin cancer in my family too - though not melanoma. I'm thinking the real connection might be genetics of a different type - that the same ethic groups that have skin more inclined to skin cancer might be more susceptible to breast cancer as well? I'm also the first in my family on either side to get bc.

For all: I don't know about Aquaphor, but I've been using aloe for years. As someone who can get sunburned looking through a window on a cloudy day, I've always found that pure aloe is the best thing. Only problem is it needs to be kept in the refrigerator. When I'm away from home I use some gooey green stuff (think it's called "green stuff") that works almost as well.

Yeah, aloe is a pain because it's runny, but nothing works as well. I'm going out to get a new bottle of it today. You don;t use very much - it lasts forever & is great to have in the kitchen anyway for those occasional burns