After Radiation
Comments
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Granny I found a hairspray from renpure. I bought it at Walgreens. They have a complete line of hair products. The only thing is the one i bought is an aerosol but on line they do make a pump one as well and you can order on line. I have really fine hair so I bought the extra hold and boy does it hold. Next time I go to Whole Foods I am going to check out the hair spray there.
I don't know if you guys remember me telling you that my pain Dr told me that the pain in my hip is arthritis caused by my breast radiation. At the time he gave me a big long explanation about it. Well last week when I saw my MO I told him what the pain Dr. said and he agreed that it could be or it could be tamox because 6% of people develop arthritis from tamox. So he said can't really say which one has caused it. So today I went for my DEXXA Scan and asked the lady if she would be able to see any arthritis on it and she said no and I told her what the Dr's had said and she asked where my radiation was to and I told her breast and she said oh yea you could develop arthritis in your hip. If my RO ever told me that I could develop arthritis to other parts of my body I sure don't remember it.
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Sherry---gotta check out the Renpur products in Walgreens.and the prices too.
question--where is the connection to the rads in the breast to arthritis in the hip???this sure is a new one to me......anything else?????damn.
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granny what the pain dr explained was that when we get breast radiation that they cannot miss the bones that are in that area. He said that when the bone is radiated that it changes the molecular structure to the bone marrow. The bone marrow then travels throughout your body. He said not everyone but some people develop arthritis in other areas of their body and also osteoporosis. Again it will not effect everyone this way but it does happen. Because of my arthritis that I have developed he was also wanting me to get a DEXXA scan and start on Fosomax which my MO had also wanted. My MO says the Fosomax is also because there is a study that shows biophosonates help reduce breast cancer recurrence. I am 49 and pre-menopausal if my DEXXA Scan comes back with thinning bones I will be pissed. No one in my family has arthritis and no one has had osteoporosis except one grandmother at the age of 80.
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Sherry - Because of the molecular structure change, I do believe that is why I had the pains in my left toes - that was the same side I had radiated. My MO kept thinking it was neuropathic pains and when I told him about the structure change he thought that was interesting and did make sense. The amitriptyline has calmed all the pains down - breast and toes. Too bad more doctors are not aware of this.
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Jo that is for sure would be nice if they did. When I went to get my MRI the tech spoke very highly of my pain Dr. and talked about what a great Dr he is. I told her I was very happy with him and was glad that I had found him. Makes you feel good when other health care professionals think highly of your Dr.
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My first day post rads. Right around the time I Have been going to rads everyday I looked at the clock and had a feeling like I was forgetting something. Nope....I'm a free woman!
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Hello, Romansma...You Go Girl...You made it Congratulations and celebrate...L. Cath
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So happy for you! It is a good feeling not having to go to rads.I am 6 weeks out and feeling better everyday! Enjoy your day!
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Welcome Romansma - Great feeling to finish rads - you kinda think you are forgetting to do something. What a sense of freedom that was when I did not have to go anymore - I am 7 1/2 months out.
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You finally made it Romansma! I know I walked around wondering what to do the first few days after rads ended, but now I'm finally enjoying summer with the kids.
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Romansma congrats on finishing, it is freeing not to have to go there every day. I am 6 months post rads.
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Well The 3.5 hour drive to son's house went well... my blister is partially looking better and other part has spread toward my armpit and is all raw now... hopefully this stops soon.. Tired of the burn pain..
Having a great time watching son and granddaughter playing Little Big Planet....
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gmafoley have a great time.
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I had my last rad yesterday! I am free!!! Ready to start healing. The RTs told me that the radiation will continue killing cells for a couple weeks. Should I wait to do my first Arimidex pill after the two week period. My MO said I can start right away. The RO said there is no study to tell me one way or the other is best. Common sense is telling me wait two weeks and let the radiation process finish. Any comments on this? I feel like I am on my own with this.
BTW, my RO said in the begining that it does NOT affect the bones, but it does affect the red blood cells. I feel that we get a different story from each doctor.
Gma, My RO has prescribed some topical antibiotic for the open wounds. Maybe you need that.
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Stage 1 glad you are finished woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My RO told me to wait a couple of weeks to start my tamoxifen, so that is what I did. My RO did not tell me anything about bones I got this from other doctors after the fact with my additional problems. And yes it seems they all tell you something different.
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Sherryc, I think I will wait the two weeks, makes sense.
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Stage 1 - WOOHOOOOO!!! So glad to hear you have finished rads. Like Sherry doctors tell us different things. I really did not find out about the potential bone issues until I had so other problems. Such confusion - not what we need right now. I started first with Femara and that lasted one week - too many SEs. So it was about one month after I finished rads that I started Tamoxifen. I really think the choice can be yours.0
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Thanks, jo1955 0
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Stage 1: i went to the pharmacy and talked to two different pharmicists and one told me to use some polysporin and the other said use it sparingly because it could cause a fungal infection being its in a tough spot to keep dry... so... air dry and x-clair like my RO said in the first place... It is getting better but traveling across to armpit (it was all blistered just starting to peel toward the armpit) do I make any sense - I feel like I make no sense sometimes
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Gma, yes you make sense, sounds like you have the problems in the same spot I have. I told my RO nurse that it was traveling and she could not see what the RTs saw, she is half blind, I swear!!!0
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Gma, I am done with rads now, and I have no pain today, I am using Aquafor at night and Miaderm in the day. It is getting better quickly, that is the good news. If it is bad under the breast, I rolled up a soft peice of fabric (T-shirt material or panty material) and stuck it under my bra to hold my boob up a litttle for air
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Stage 1 doc told me not to do that because it would cause an infection... you are darned if you do and darned if you don't.... I am so confused... oh and no bra for me -RO told me to let it hang LOL
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Congrats on being done stage1! Take some time to let your body heal...treat yourself well and let yourself revel in the joy of being done with active treatment!
God bless!
Tori
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Hi Ladies: I have been checking a few pages in these threads as I have decision to make regarding whole breast rads.
Someone stated something about radiation travelling to distant bones, can someone elaborate, I would greatly appreciate it. I have to meet with a RO within the next few weeks to discuss whole breast rads. I have already had IORT, internal radiation directed to the tumor bed at the time of surgery. Unfortunately for me, my tumor ended up a little over 2 cm pushing me out of their protocol of internal only, so they are going to convince me that I require 5 weeks of whole breast rads.
I am opposed to whole breast rads as the tumor was in my left breast. I will be finishing up chemo at the end of this month, then will be contemplating rads or mx.
I would appreciate any info on SEs of rads that the ROs do not inform patients about. I like to be forearmed before my appointment. Thanks and hugs to all going through all the treatment we face. Its one thing after another. I know I am really looking forward to Dec 31, 2011 and bringing in the New Year.
Edited to add: I forgot to mention, I already suffer very severe cording from my lumpectomy/internal rads. I am seeing a PT and will not start rads if I go that route until this cording issue is somewhat resolved. I had 4 cords at one point popping up in my arm pit down to my forearm. It is extremely painful.
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Debrox, I am the one that has had the distant bone issues. I ended up with arthritis in my left hip. I had left breast rads. The arthritis ended up showing up about 4 months after rads had finished. I also ended up with nerve damage in my left breast from rads. Started the day I started rads but they did not pick up on the complaints I was giving them about what I was feeling. They kept telling me I should not feel anything for two weeks. So I ended up at a pain dr because of the nerve damage. Right before I went to him I ended up with terrible pain in my left hip. What the pain Dr described is that when they are doing rads to our breast they cannot miss the bones that are in that area. The rads changes the molecular structure of our bone marrow. Some people develop arthritis and others develop osteoporosis. Now not everyone is effected this way but it did happen to me. I have had several other people confirm that this can happen. I am now taking 200mg Celebrex 2 times a day for the arthritis pain in my hip. I also had some existing nerve damage in my hand from an auto accident and now the rads has caused more damage in my hand. They would be rare a thing but if you were to have any other issues like that please talk to the RO about it before hand. I have had two Dr. tell me since rads that I was not a good candidate for rads because of my previous nerve damage. Ask losts of questions and good luck with your decision.
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Hi everyone! I saw my RO for my first follow up after rads. He asked me if I was having sharp stabbing bring you to your knees pain - now how did he know? I told him he left out the part about being in the grocery store and crying in the isle.....
I was surprised for some reason that he asked me that. He said alot of his bc patients tell him the same thing. He said they will get better and fewer between. They have already lost some of the intensity. I asked him what they were - he said he could only offer his opinion cause no on really knows - he thinks it's scar tissue forming and pulling on the other tissue. My pain is very close to the scar. He said it takes a beating in surgery, then gets radiated and produces more scar tissue....so I'm guessing my first Mammo will look a little weird....
I asked him about my polka dot look, he agreed that's it's burnt skin in the hair follicles. Oh the things we can talk about!
Welcome Romansma and congrats!
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welcome romansma- keep that breast well aloed though...it is the gif that keeps giving so that means the redness and then the peeling will likely start. keep yourself slathered fo rthe next two weeks
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DebRox,
My bc is leftsided and I was very concerned about doing rads because of my heart. My RO had me do gated breathing so that when the beam was on, I was holding my breath and it actually kept my heart further out of the rad field. It takes more planning time to do it but I think for me it helped protect my heart and lungs better. My RO also kept the beam off my armpit area because I had already had the ALND and that operation left me with painful cording (still dealing with it). She didn't want to further aggravate the area and felt rads there wasn't necessary after the ALND nodes came up negative. Hope you can get some relief with PT. I'm waiting to get in to see a PT who specializes in lymphedema now.
Lee
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the pain and scar tissue stuff makes sense to me. I was told last week that my tight shoulder (and swelling) and stiff muscles in my back are all related to the scar healing and tugging on th emuscles around it so...trigger massage for me every night..works but hurt? yowser!
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Opps I didn't flip the page! Congrats Stage1!
Debrox~ my RO has been completely up front about everything. He said he was sorry to have to treat me based on what my tumor was at the beginning - chemo pulverized it - no tumor when I went in for surgery. But seeing that the ultrasound said I was 4 cm and I didn't see any surgeon or MO until after horrid biopsy - they really thought it was 5-7 cm. I so like the 4 better!
Anyway, he talked to me and DH for over an hour at the first appt. I finally told him he didn't have to sell me the radiation he had me at "hello cancer". Fatigue was the worst for me, and from day one.
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