Radiation recovery
Comments
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Lynn - I turned red on day two. Yet it never got awful. I had some burning under the breast but nothing I could not handle. The aloe vera gel was a life saver for me really. I am 5mos past it and still use it everyday. One day I skipped it and my skin felt feverish all day and itchy.
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April, I had some little re bumps right under my breast and was splotchy too toward the end of rads. Not sure if this is the same as what you're describing. Skin changes are common during rads, and are generally not serious, and will go away-but why not have the rads nurse look at them?
RunFree, thanks for the sympathy, it's nice when someone cares.0 -
April - are you using pure Aloe Vera? It helps with hives. I got them after my surgery all over my torso. It was awful but the Aloe Vera did it.
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Janis, Thanks so much for your support I am feeling minimal side effects.
Cindy, I am wearing my magic princess warrior coat, and it has given me so much support that I have not experienced nausea. Today I feel tired, but I am ok. I am eating a vegetable bagel sandwich at my donut shop now.
Hugs,
Kate
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Man...don't ya hate when your iPad eats your response? Here's a shortened version....
Yep, I've been missing a few days, and look at all this.....great thread though
First congrats to our graduates....now, let the healing begin....
Lynn, emotional ups and downs were part of the challenge during rads for me too. And it does feel like it'll go on forever, but it will be finished one day.....just come hang with us and the time will fly! Consider getting pure aloe Vera for the heat issues. I had those initially also but did not fare worse than anyone else overall and better than some. Make sure aloe is the first and primary ingredient. Water and calendula added are fine, but don't be fooled by the Vaseline brand which has aloe listed as about the 7thingredient and doesn't work.
April...red and rashy even down your torso make sense to me especially if your tumor was on the underside of the breast. Hives I'm not so sure. Sounds more like a skin allergy to me. Are you wearing a bra for work? Remember the damage from rads is inside the breast and the clothing outside could aggravate it. Perhaps you're carrying your purse hugged to your body? A new top that's tight or new soap? Are you commuting in the sun? my chest still reacts when I'm in a car in the sun with only 1 layer of clothing over it. Other than that, I know that the 3 week rads gals first end up getting skin reactions the week following rads so you might be also. And WAY TO GO on the quit smoking brigade. I'm routing for you gal...we all are!
Sorry for all the sisters with GI issues....there are so many of us it sounds almost related, doesn't it? I, fortunately, don't have heart burn issues generally, but will say that since I've been trying to go with a no sugar added diet I now can't eat sugar at all! Totally wipes me out, like bad rads fatigue. And then GERD in the middle of the night. I do love treats, but not with that bodily response....so, I've been quite good about avoiding any added sugar. Boring though
Janis, my pal, get thee to the MRI! This is too long with the knee. Of course you and DH don't want another issue. But that's not the card that was dealt. So..go for it and see where you stand. Or, give yourself 3 weeks off the A train to see if that helps. They say the A stays around at least 2 weeks in our body, so you need to try being off for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Get theMRI while waiting. And the scope.... We'll get you better, I promise
Kate, you're doing so well, I'm glad to hear it. And....you slept today which is even better and what your body needed. So.....keep it up and we'll help you along.... I think Cindy's princess warrior coat is doing great things for you
Sab..I .found a marine rope tied to side of cliff over an ocean beach today...thought better of trying it out. Took a picture for you though....will post when time permits.0 -
Hi Janis,
I am so sorry you have kneww issues. I hope you can get relief soon. Fortunately I have never had Knee issues, so I can't help you with that. Geez you've had so mnay problems, and I wish God would stop testing you.
Love,
Kate
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typo Janis it was supposed to be knee issues
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Hi Mostly Sew,
Thank you so much for your support. You are always here for me. The magic princess warrior coat with all my wonderful bc sisters, and my family is keeping my se to a minimal I have an army of bc sisters fighting my battle with me, and cancer is too scared to mess with all you strong ladies.
Hugs,
Kate
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Thanks Kate...cancer SHOULD be afraid to mess with any of us....we know how to deal with it. With a large family of friends who care!
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Hi y'all!
Kate - glad you're up sleepy head and in the donut shop! Yeah no nausea
April - hives ugh! Are you using any skin care products that are new and have not been pretested? Just checking...18 mos ago had a bad bad allergic reaction and went to ER...new jeans not pre washed one hive covered each side took weeks to go away:(
Hydrocortisone may help red read rash and RO may give you 2.5% strength ...I use with emu oil helps. Does your RO have an after hours number to call? I would call. Sending skin calming healing thoughts:)
Lynn - sorry that out the gate your skin is having issues. Check with your RO on approved skin products...I used hydrocortisone and emu oil...which helped my skin...also free boob as much as possible...sending skin healing and confident mind thoughts your way:)
Janis - sorry about the knee...hope better soon...I wear brace when running or skiing.
Time to make my shopping list...we're entertaining for the first time since presurgery in Jan!
This will be a fun...BDays, Mothers Day, and Father's Day, and no more rads!
Tomorrow is the big RX day...think I will take my first pill after the weekend festivities:)
(((Hugs)))
Cindy0 -
Kate so glad your day is peaceful and restful and that you were also able to get out to your donut shop. Thank goodness for your good days!!
I made the decision the other day I am just going to do whatever I need to, to make sure all is in order with my health, but I also do a lot of self healing and it works!! Lots of meditation and giving myself time to heal and rebuild and believing in my ability to self-heal has taken me a long way. It all comes from within, if one just sits quietly and looks for it, if that makes any sense. I had my appointment witht he urologist yesterday. She told me that I have a moderate degree of prolapse, but not terribly serious. She also cathed me and made sure my bladder was emptying properly. She said she could tell my kidneys are working well, and I am hydrating well. I just need to keep doing prevention with cranberry and other herbals and natural things. That is just my style. I could go the surgery route, but I want to try natural first. My doctor was this statuesque young Asian woman who was so smart and such a pleasure to work with. She is so young!! Wow!
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Gigil, I like your plan. I agree that self healing and most especially listening to our bodies works. I just hate it when my body screams though......
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Sew, Ha! Ha! Yeah, the screaming gets a bit loud, not to mention the whining.
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Kate I'm so glad your getting some rest.Good for you that you don't have any nausea.
Janis, so sorry to hear about your knee.Sounds like you could have done something to it and it probably won't get better on its own.
April,sounds like your having some kind of skin reaction.Hives can be caused by almost anything even your nerves.Hope they get better soon.That's miserable.
Lynn,I know what you mean about the emotions.It's like once you start Rads everything starts to hit you and all it takes is one little thing to send you into tears.
Cindy happy entertaining.
Gigil all I can say is ouch!!Been there done that with the urologist.Unfortunately his nurse decided it wasn't necessary to use any lidocaine or numbing to prepare me for the Cath and that procedure to widen the opening into the bladder .
I saw my MO today or should I say her associate since she hid her pregnancy from her patients and her staff which now she's suddenly on maternity leave .Oops I just checked on that appt last week and no one said a thing.Her associate said my labs were good and since I have a family us of blood clots maybe take an aspirin with it.Then when I told him I'm allergic and then he said it doesn't have to be taken with aspirin.He all the sudden started to act like maybe if I don't want to take it it would probably be ok.Sorry this is the Tamoxofin.But what the check?Why all the sudden change your mind.I'm probably going to just take it.0 -
Mostly Sew, Cindy, Josie and Gigil thanks for even more support. Support works wonders for my health.
Gigil I am glad your urologist appointment went well. Yes, your meditation makes sense. Unfortunately, I don't meditate I am too hyper. What works for my health is pushing myself( not too hard, but pushing myself not to think about my illness, and pushing myself to go out even though I feel under the weather.) If I stay home alone my aches and pains magnify. If I go oit my aches and pains fly away. Today at the donut shop, while I was feeling a little tired, I talked to Kelly about her problems. Then 4 hours later I came home feeling great.
xoxo,
Kate
xoxo,
Kate
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April,
Did you like American Idol tonight? I thought Kree redeemed herself. I thought Angie, and Kree were the best, and I hope Amber goes home tomorrow. The judges don't agree with me. They loved Angie's performance while they are very critical of Kree. The producers don't want another country singer
xoxo,
Kate
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Hi Kate,
I seem to be on Pacific time...I watch Idol when I get home from work...so I am almost 3 hours behind. I am not the biggest angie fan, but I thought Kree was good. Candace is the best singer but not the most relevant. I don't know what happened to Amber..she used to be a young "Whitney" but now she is losing all confidence. You never know...votes from 2 weeks ... could be strange. Cme join the Idol thread some time...although it is on Eastern time...except for Eph from oregon.
Janis, glad you missed me...I cannot cannot believe that you have yet another painful issue to think about. I had a knee that was painful, a little swollen, and I was going on vacation. Ortho guy gave me a shot and sent me on my trip...I was fine...went rafting, hiking. It lasted aobut 4 months then pain came back....an OT student at my college told me to walk through the pain...I did it and I finally got the knee to work without me favoring it. BUT I obviously had a minor flare up. You be careful!!! Amazing how knees can get messed up with hardly any movement at all.
It is still bothering me, 4 years later....some swelling above, and it esp. hurts when I am driving the car. Maybe time for me to get checked out too.
April, hope you are feeling better soon....I worked before during and after rads, but had a 2 week length of sick time after the last tx...that wa the best time...didn't get dressed much. You will bounce back. I had an itchy red bumpy rash about half way through rads. It was so uncomfortable I thought it was a fungus but RO said no...about 2 weeks after rads, my skin was completely clear except for some color changes. It healed well.
Nite all...gotta get up in 4 hours.
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My doctor just emailed. Since I felt a little worse today than Mon. or Tues. I asked him if today and tomorrow will be my worst days. He said today is considered my 3rd day, and many of his patients think the 3rd day is the worst. Yeah the third day is almost over, and now I should be feeling better. This week my chemo treatment was 5 hours. Next week and the week after they are only 1 hour. My doctor said the 1 hour treatment will be much easier on me yeah. He also said on my week off the only symptom I might have is mild fatigue. Yeah I will only have 4 or 6 worst days and I have finished one. My doctor said I will have chemo 4 or 6 months. So that is why I don't know if I will have 4 or 6. I am praying for only 4 months of chemo, but I will do whatever I can to get rid of the ugly cancer cells. I don't have another 5 hour treatment till June 3.
Hugs,
Kate
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Good morning - rash is no better and is actually a little worse this morning in that it is also on my back and on my upper arms now... and I still have a headache and a sore throat. Going to work and going to push through it cause staying home will only make me dwell on it. I will call the doctor later, but unsure which doc to call. Was thinking the RO, but doubt this is from rads. Thinking it is an allergic reaction albeit a late one to the wellbutrin I began a couple of weeks ago..or to the new compound in my vitamin D as I bought a different brand? Or something...who knows. Maybe it is even the nicotine patch. I sure hope not since I don't want to start smoking again and can't stop the patch and the wellbutrin at the same time! I havent got a clue what is going on, but it is most defnintely some kind of allergic reacation.
Kate - hope you have a better day. I hope that Kree stays, but am not sure she will since the others have more twitter followers (Angie has the most) and the oddsmakers in Vegas have her and Amber as the bottom two this week.
Joan, I am thinking I may be in work when I should be at home resting...made so many appts with clients that I felt guilty taking Monday off and rescheduling them (did take Monday) so can't find a way to not go in and I don't believe I am contagious so off I go. I know, most would call out if they were covered in hives and could barely swallow, but I am crazy...at least the hives are where no one can see them but me and they don't itch too much.
Ok ladies, off to the shower. Only using my OLD body wash with parabens in it today to see if it was the dove (which I have been using on the advice of the RO for the last few weeks) that caused this rash! Without a patch and my wellbutrin today, I am hoping that one of these things was the culprit and the rash will go away.
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Hi April,
So sorry you are feeling so yucky. I hope yout rash, headache, and sore throat get better asap.
Remember that on american Idol last week Candace and Amber were in the bottom two and Angie and kree were in the top two. They are adding the votes from Last week to this week's total. So, in my opinionSince Amber probably came in 4th last week she will be the one to go home. Kree has the pipes, but she has a dissconect with having a emotional connection to the audience. If she could find the connection she could win. I think the end result might look like 1. Candace 2. Angie 3. Kree 4. Amber. I am a Kree fan and I want her to win. It's time for Amber to go home
Going to work and not dwelling on your aches and pains at home is very good for you. When I am home my aches and pains intensify. As soon as I leave the house I feel so much better.
Hugs, Kate
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Ohhhh, April. What awful reaction. I hope by now you've rethought going to work and are at this very minute getting it looked at. If it is an allergy, it's pretty significant and I don't think you want to let it get any worse. As you are in a trial, your RO needs to take a look so he can not only treat, but document whatever it is. If you have shown up at work, odds are your manager will have already kicked you right back out.
Gigil, I had that surgery in 2012 after a couple of years of 100 kegels/day. If you 'd like to hear more, feel free to PM me.
On the gall bladder front, I realize I was never bothered by reflux until after I had that surgery. It never occured to me that I might have any digestive issues, but, after reading all y'all's posts, I'm wondering if there weren't things I should never have eaten again.
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April, I agree with brookside, am worried it's a rash.
Brookside, sorry you r having digestive issues too- soon we will need our own thread!
Kate, so happy you're not feeling too bad, better days ahead.0 -
RunFree I am still not sure how to proceed with the knee. I can spend another day resting, but really think the MRI is in order. I might wait till Monday but no later. They can usually schedule an MRI pretty quickly.
Brookside, yes, I injured it on Sunday. At the tail end of our walk. My DH is tall and has a long stride, so we take a really brisk walk. I didn't fall or do anything strange, something just went. I do have arthritis in the knee. My mom had her bad knee replaced. My dad needs to do it, but has never had surgery and refuses. We all have arthritis issues.
Sew I have been off Arimidex for a week now. I know it can take awhile to get out of the system so trying to be patient and see what happens.
April have you tried taking a couple of Benadryl? I get rashes if I go out in the sun and they itch like mad. The Benadryl really helps that.
Kate I am thrilled you are doing well. Of course fatigue is normal and sleep as much as you need to. The body mends and heals as we sleep. All those little cells get really busy during nap time! Keep having good days! A cup of coffee and a bagel sounds perfecr. I might just have to come and join you!
Susannah Sounds like your DH is struggling with all the problems too. Can't blame them, they really feel the stress.
I am wishing for joy for everyone....minimal SE's and the energy to do something you enjoy. Happy healing!
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BrooksideVT - I never had any issues with my stomach either till after that darned surgery. They told me to cut out fats like fried chicken etc...my favorite...but said I could eat what I wanted. Not so. I immediately started having acid reflux and a host of other stuff mainly bubbling after each meal. So I cut back on sugar, salt and fat foods. Still I had issues with veggies, yogurt, smoothies, nuts...I love nuts...and eggs. My favorite meal was a fried egg sandwich with two strips of bacon. I really miss bacon. Then it started with tomatoes, pizza, chili. That is why I need to be tested for wheat sensitivity. They say it can develop after GB surgery. Might mention that to your GI Dr. I am.
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Hi, Bunkie. My sin is fatty foods. Love, love, love, beef, chicken with skin, cheese, chips, all those goodies. As I never felt an upset tummy after my gall bladder went bye bye, I assumed I could eat what I wanted. Never connected the reflux with the naughty diet until this morning. Oops! Not always the smartest, huh? Anyway, I ignored the reflux until a couple of years ago, when an endoscopy found Barrett's esophagus, which is a change in the cellular structure of the poor, abused, lining of said esophagus. I take Lansoprosole (I think that's the generic of Prevacid) and feel mostly fine, but now I need a scope every three years (coming right up this summer). I did have tummy problems on and off throughout radiation, however. My RO said that the combination of stress and the flat-on-your-back-with-your-arms-over-your-head position is problematic for this.
Strangely enough, since my lumpectomy, I seem to have lost the taste for fatty foods. I do not know if it is because I know it is/was a risk factor for breast cancer, or if something in my body chemistry has changed. Regretfully, I admit I hope this change stays with me. There's just a little a bit of joy missing in my menus, however.
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Suzannah thank you so much for your support. So sweet of you to post for me. I love it the more support I get the better I feel.
Janis I wish you could join me for coffee and a bagel We would have a blast. Tell dear hubby to take you to Santa Monica.
So far today I feel so blessed. I am not tired at all and I am feeling no nausea. I still have constipation, but geez that nothing.YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
So much looking forward to American Idol tonight and praying amber goes home and not Kree
xoxo,
Kate
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Kate - So good to see you on here and doing so well. Yeah this is better than we thought so far. I wish nothing but easy times for you overall. Although I know this is not easy but at least better than we thought. I wish I was in Santa Monica with you. Maybe this winter I can be.
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Kate, excellent news. You are going to get through this thing, I love American Idol too. I have to record it tonight. We are going to our second posh restaurant this week to celebrate another granddaughter's birthday. This time it is a fondue place. She is 14 and at such an interesting time in her life. Oh, to be 14 again. The world has changed so much!
April I think your Radiology Oncologist would want to know about that rash.
Janis, you have a good plan. Monday if it isn't improving a good deal, time for the MRI.
Josie, no lidocaine or numbing agent for me either. I wasn't sure what she was up to down there until she said I would feel a "pinch". There was indeed a pinch - going in and coming out! It looked like a drinking straw she used! But maybe the goal was to stretch the opening, because it feels less congested now! Brookside, I will pm you about that surgery. Just in case...
Time to hit the showers for another night on the town!0 -
Bunkie, it sounds so difficult, all your (and my) favorite foods on the forbidden list. I'm hoping that gluten is the culprit. I will say that the peaches and nectarines, God knows where they come from, have been excellent lately, can you tolerate those?
Janis, I have to remember to be more upbeat around DH.
Had acupuncture today, too early to tell if it's helping, but minimal reflux today-though some days are just like that for me.
Kate! Such good news!! I am so happy, emend is a miracle drug, and your body seems to adjust well to chemo! God bless you!0 -
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Suzannah thank you so much for your support. You are always here for me.
Bunkie. It is so much better than what I thought it would be. Thanks so much for your support. I would love to see you if you come to Santa Monica
Gigil have fun at your granddaughter's birthday party, and thank you for your support.
Hugs,
Kate
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