After Radiation
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rohanna, I also have the nerve damage like Jo I take the same thing she does but 25 mg and I also have a compounded cream the pain specialist gave me. I think mine pain started about a month after rads as well. Before that I had a dull pain throughout my breast and felt very heavy but then the burning radiaiting pain and stabbing pains started and it got really bad. the meds work great.
Ducky--go for it girl just take the pill and we will pray you have no SE's, and if you do you can deal with them and then decide what to do next.
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Rohanna~ my RO asked me if I was getting the sharp stabbing pains. He said best case scenerio he thinks it's the tissue already damaged from surgeries, then damaged from radiation, trying to heal and pulling with scar tissue etc. Mine were atleast once a day at first and would make me cry after about ten minutes. They are fewer and less intense now, but still hurt. I'm not ruling anything out like nerve damage like Jo, but at least my RO acknowledged the real pain. I see my MO in August, I will be asking her too. I saw my surgeon last week to get the port out and he said the same thing the RO said - I think they went to lunch together! lol.
Ducky, I asked my mom for you - she had BC in 1998 the kind that doesn't lump, they found it by accident cause she insisted on a biopsy...anyway she took tamoxifin and then femera for 10 years. She's 69 right now and doing great. She still travels etc. they just went on an Alaskan cruise then back to Mexico for a cruise, while on the drugs they went to Italy, France, Spain, etc. at different times. The only thing she noticed different while traveling was her feet swelled on the plane ride back home. A couple of days with her feet up and all was well. She's still as feisty as ever. She complained about pain deep in her bones, so her MO would give her a bone scan every six months!!!! Thank God, she is still doing great. She said it's okay to be scared, she was too, but you'll be monitored by your docs too!
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Thanks, ladies. Now I know what to ask the onc.
Ducky, My mom started Arimidex at 78 and never had any SE's. She's now a 7 yr. survivor and is still going strong! I pray for the same results for you. From some of the threads, I understand that sometimes, you have to try a couple of AI's before you find the one you can tolerate. Our onc clinic has meds. that other people have turned in because they couldn't tolerate them. The clinic lets you try them before you have to pay for a prescription. Might be worth checking into. Just think of the meds as littler soldiers that silently fight a reoccurance. That helps me.
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How long did it take for all the peeling to stop? What did you use? I'm through with the Aquaphor because it was so messy and heavy. Anyone else using Bio Oil?
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My RO gave me Silva-dine???spelling??? while I was still "raw". Then I started to very gently use a very soft loofah in the bath. It about grossed me out to see the gray skin scrub off....I still have some in the hair follicles....I look polka dotted!!!
I am using Medline's Olivamine skin rememdy cream now that the skin is healed.
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Hello ladies, I have a couple of quick questions if you don't mind. I am 4 weeks out of radiation and I am still pretty tired. It seems that I need a nap every day. I try to stay up because I am going back to work in 3 weeks and I need to be alert for my students. Have any of you experienced this? I am also having some pain on my side under the breast. It hurts mostly when I roll over on it. Any ideas? I see my RO this week and I'll bring it up there. Thanks for listening.
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Hi dolphins0412~ Yep, I'm almost two months out of rads and still fatigued. My RO said my ribs can be sore and sleeping on the rads side, I can't do yet. I tried an underwire bra for the first time the other day, and that was a big no way again for a long time.
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Rihanna...I had the silver stuff too...not the same brand as your, but does the same thing. They forgot to warn me that my skin would turn a gluey gray colour so that was a bit shocking. Didn't really stop my skin from deteriorating, but it did help prevent infection which is most important. I think dammed is luck of the draw more than it has to do with which creams we use.
Dolphins...if I'm being honest, I'm almost a year out of treatments, and I'm still tired. My body is just not the same. I'm in menopause at 34 and need to nap a few times a week in the daytime. Be patient with yourself. You may always need more rest than before cancer treatments and that's ok...give your body what it is asking for.0 -
Geez, my iPad keeps autocorrecting and some of my words are wrong above...sorry! Better proofread! Lol
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dolphin my fatigue went away after a couple of months. then I still needed naps on weekends, but now am back to normal. I finished rads the end of jan. I also had pain in my ribs under and to the side. RO said that happens and would go away and it has. Can't remember the last time it bothered me.
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Hi Dolphins - I finished rads on Dec 3rd and remember being tired and feeling wiped out for many months after. I have a very demanding job in the winter months and it was just getting busy when I finished and had to focus on the job. It does get better - if you need to nap now just do it. I would have DH get me up after maybe 30 minutes and then go to bed early if I needed to. As for the pain you are having, I can't help there but would definitely ask you RO.
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Ladies........................................YEA, I TOOK THE LITTLE SUCKER TODAY........FOR THE FIRST TIME...............Thanks for all your support...............not sure what I would do without you ladies.................you are the best......................how can I lose with so many good friends...........................
To answer questions.............I do get some pain in the lumpectomy side.....have LE, but am managing it...............still somewhat swollen in the boob, but the fatigue is ridiculous.................I have a feeling that is with us to stay......................maybe not as bad as the weeks, and months pass, but I do believe it is all part of the beating up of our bodes with the Rads..................I never took a nap, or laid down in the afternoon, or any time of the day...................now my eyes close at will.
Funny story..................I take care of my 2 grandchildren 3 days a week while my daughter works..................the other day, out of a clear blue sky I could not keep my eyes open.....I was doing a crossword puzzle, and my 10 yr. old grandaughter was upstairs.....................I dozed off in the chair.................................didn't realize she had seen me doping on the chair................at lunchtime she said to me ................"Nan while you were sleeping I took your picture" (camera in her cell phone)........................I said "you did".........................she said "yea look"................she showed me the picture........................thank God I wasn't drooling.................then she said "I sent it to Mom"........................I said "you did what".......................then she said "do you want to see what Mom said".....................the text message back to her was.............................OMG............hysterical....................this is the same kid who said to her mother when she gave me my money (she insists, I don't want it)........ for watching the kids...........................................It went like this.................."here Mom this is your money for the last 2 weeks...........................she handed me $300.00, at that point my grandaughter said................"wow, Nan gets that for just sitting on the sofa"...................................Imagine the little shit.......................I think she is trying to blackmail me...........................gotta love the girl.
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Thanks so much ladies. I have something else of course lol. My hubby made the comment the other day "well shoot your are done so your fine now right?" I wanted to slap him. I feel so useless right now. Also on tamox and I have to say it makes me a little dizzy at times any of you have that happen? I see the dr thur. so I'll talk to him about that. I also have pain in my hands that I don't remember having. Crazy I know or maybe I am on the crazy train. I can't figure it all out. Thanks ladies for listening.
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Ducky Congrats for taking the jump with the rest of us!!! and thank you for the funny story.. I sure needed one tonight
.Dolphins I am also in my 4th week post rads and am exhausted...and also was told I have Costochondritis in the Ribs... Not much fun but figuring it out.. Just kinda wish the sharp pains would quit though...
lots of things going on and my life has changed.... In the "Coping with cancer" magazine May/June 2011 edition it had an article for transitioning from patient to survivor... It made me think about the things I'm feeling.
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Hi Dolphin..............................I'm on my way to NV........................I'll hold your husband while you "slap" him...........................DONE, SO YOUR OK.............................hopefully he was, as we say in my family........."making a funny"
Doesn't shock me though...............just when I think I have heard the "dumbest" thing anyone could say................someone says something even more dumb..................
Hang in there girlfriend..............remember.............when no one else gives a shit...............we do..................come back often ............hugs.
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You all are my heroes--your empathy and humor sustain me.
My armpit continues to be the pits--red, raw, oozing. Breast is peeling. I'm Day 11 post-rads. I think my immune system must be reeling from all of the shock. And my stomach too--I'm eating so much protein that I think Dr. Atkins would tell me to cut back. lol
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Maybe - Drink lots of water too and some extra vitamin C!0
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Maybe484- Are you improving at all? Your skin issues sound so painful and you must be so discouraged to have this come up after rads are done. Maybe you have an infection? I'm sure you're monitoring the situation but if the RO is still away, he must have colleagues who can take a look.
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Dolphin...I'm three months out, and I think I'm at 80% of my pre-BC energy level. I don't know if it's Tamoxifen or rads, or the fact that I'm not sleeping very well, but I rarely have much energy after 7 pm. My RO suggested getting my thryroid checked just in case...because I feel at a baseline...no realy highs no realy lows. Although rads did not hit my thyroid it is not uncommon for women with BC to have thyroid issues. I see my MO in two weeks, I'm going to ask that this is part of the blood tests she gives me.
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Thanks, omaz--guru of skin care.
Mamaoftwo, when I'd had the condition for 5 days, I saw my RO (last Tues.) and she said there was not an infection--I'm not running a fever.
I was reading about the Glucan and it says it promotes autolytic debridement (I love how I'm getting a $0.02 med education in the midst of this)--which is the sloughing off of damaged skin in liquid form. So I guess some of this "leakage" is actually part of the healing process when you have severe rad burns. But I can see no discernable improvement in the way my armpit looks or feels. Last week, my RO said it might take two weeks. I just have so many crazy reactions to dermatological procedures and to salves (I'm even allergic to poly/neosporin if I use it for an extended period) that's it's hard for me to tell what's what. It's often difficult for my doctors as well.
I so want to be well, but I'd settle for better!
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maybe - I am so sorry that you are going through this! I do hope it gets better soon.0
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After RADS...yeah right.this is the shit the DRS never ever tell us about....it makes me sooo angry when i see some new sistas come on here with sooo much pain and no white coats to help us......We are supposed to be getting better right????WTH...you can tell being off the boards for 2 days and i come back to pain pain and more pain...just makes me sick.It will get better.It does get better..BUT it does take time...If anyone reads the begining of these threads you can see we all had the same crap....THIS TOO SHALL PASS....Just breathe.God bless.hugggggggggs K0
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Maybe484: I am so very sorry to read about the pain and suffering you are experiencing as a result of radiation. I have been researching rads as I have a decision to make regarding whole breast rads. Will have to make this decision within the next month. Right now I'm recovering from chemo, so first things first, but to be honest I am petrified of whole breast rads.
Anyways, this lead me to research of healing for radiation wounds/burns. Have you heard of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (hbot)? With your skin in the condition you state, I would bring this up with your mo.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9145132
http://www.road-to-health.com/news/42/hyperbaric_oxygen_therapy.htm
Wish you all the best!0 -
Maybe--I like Debrox's idea about the hypervaric oxygen as it is great for healing and as bad as you are I think I would ask to go to a would care clinic.
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DebRox---Very interesting about the hyperbaric tx.My friends husband is going for that for diabetes. It is working wonder for him.Never heard of it for bc....Thanks for the info.0
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Maybe: I'm praying you get better soon!!.......... I remember not thinking I was getting better, so I started to take pictures every other day to show the doc how bad I was... it backfired because I was, to my amazement, getting better... I was still in pain but the areas first got bigger then got smaller... It really helped me to take those pictures - Still praying you get the turn around to getting better soon!!!0
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Of course she will get better.We all know that but when you are in the midst of it YOU never think its gonna get better.DO WE????
I think this calls for a group HUGGGGGGGG.We are all gonna give you that group hugggg and say a prayer for quick healing.Come on sistas I wanna hear WHOS IN?????
HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGS TO OUR SISTA MAYBE.
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I'm in ((((((HUGS))))))0
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Count me in, too. Sending gentle, loving hugs.
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Did somebody say group hug??? Well, here is a group hug -
GROUP HUG!!!!!
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