Radiation recovery
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I'm so delighted to see you gals finishing up. Be patient and honor your body-- it needs rest, protein, water and gentle care. The calendula is lovely, it smells nice too.
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Something I said
? Where is everyone? Out shopping?0 -
SAB...LOL Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
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LOL nope just been reorganizing my bedrooms. Trying to stay busy and not stare at my breast waiting for it to stop peeling. My cold bug is settling down finally and I am off antibiotics so my stomach is also calming down. I am really quarantined during the holidays by my PCP that does not want me to get ANOTHER bug. So I will be alone and a friend is dropping off dinner. I am just glad to be done with Rads and considered cancer free.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
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How do you know you are considered cancer free please? All I am told is high risk of recurrence.....
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Hi All, I finish rads next week, thankfully, but I havea question about recovery for you all. I have a large open area under my armpit which now hurts enough to require medication. Has anyone had something similar? Can anybody take a guess as to how long it will take after treatment to turn around?
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Lily55 - I had DCIS at stage 0 and it was removed during the lumpectomy. The rads was just a precaution that was recommended and I choose to do to give myself piece of mind. We never know what is growing in our bodies but they told me I am cancer free in that breast at this time.
cowpower - no open spots for me but the underside of my breast was really raw and peeling. I have been done with rads since Nov 13the and am still greesing and using aloe vera on my breast area. I am not sure when it will be healed. So an open area will take some time. I hope you have an appointment with your RO.
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Cowpower...ouch! Sorry about the open owie, but you are just about done, and that's a good thing. If we can get Janis to wake up....I think she had an open area and might know how long it takes to heal.....or Sab...did you have one of those? They're reasonably common if that helps any.
Lily....good question about being cancer free. I'm not sure how you tell, but for me, I'm figuring that I've done all the treatments they've recommended, and I'm taking care of my self by eating right and exercising and keeping my weight down (or trying to) and that's all I can do. I think we're never "free" of cancer...as at a minimum it's always in our minds.....but it is how we choose to live with it that counts.
Sab.....I'm here....just had 14 women yesterday for a pot luck luncheon....good fun but I'm taking a well deserved day off today. House is clean for the Holidays though.....now to finishing those handmade gifts! Do you celebrate daily?0 -
Cowpower, I don't have an open spot, but the area right under my SNB incision is still quite red and very irritated. I've been wearing baggy shirts, since anything closer fitting rubs on it and causes it to feel even worse. It almost looks raw at the end of the day, and any of my creams burn when I apply them. As you know, I'm just over a week out of rads, and I hope it hurries up and heals soon! I just bought some calendula cream, so I hope that helps.
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Andrea from each day forward you should get just a little more relief. I had some pretty bad burns and had to go braless for several weeks. I don't remember exactly how long after rads until i started healing. I used lots and lots of Calendula and it helped so much. Happy healing to you!
Sew the pot luck yesterday sounds wonderful! If I had known I would have popped by with some dessert for everyone!
I made a pumpkin cheesecake for my neighbor's son. Branden is a sweetie and no longer lives there but a little birdie (his Mama) told me he really wanted one. She doesn't cook much less bake. Needless to say Branden was very happy with his surprise.
I am kind of just taking it easy the past few days. I have been a little down but it will pass!
Have a wonderful weekend my friends. Love to you all!
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Thank you all for responding so fast. Bunkie, I am being followed very closely by my RO. I honestly could not imagine getting better care. A nurse takes a look every day and the doc has seen it 3x this week. My BS, MO, and RO have worked as an unbelieveable team from day one. If they have questions for each other, they text each other while you are in the room. They meet weekly and adjust careplans accordingly. I feel truly fortunate to have access to such professionals.They currently have me doing saline soaks 3x a day, plus just leaving it open as much as possible, which is not so much at the holidays, but I try. The pain meds help. I didnt want to take anything because I am stubborn, but I realized I am much less cranky and able to enjoy the holidays when not in pain- also realized there is nobody there to give you a medal for being tough:).
Andrea, glad you are starting to heal. It has been a long haul for all of us, but I am hopeful we can all put this behind us soon!
Janis, I just made my first cheesecake. I am an enthusiastic baker, but alas my results are usually in the realm of "Aw, she meant well....". I was pleasantly surprised by my cheesecake results! Maybe I have found my niche!0 -
Janis, I knew we could wake you up! Sorry you've been down. I bet baking the pumpkin cheesecake helped tons. Yes....I certainly would have ordered some desserts from you! Why is it you live so far away? Have you found a good charity to volunteer for yet?
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Mostlysew, are you a quilter?
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Hi Cowpower.....yep, I'm a quilter, and a knitter and a number of other fiber arts..... How about you?
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Yes, Mostlysew, I do just about anything witha needle, thread , or fiber. This year I have been heavy on the knitting, my first love. Next year's challenge will be to find a way to hand quilt without aggravating my lymphedema!
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Cowpower.....yes, I went back to knitting during treatment also. Seemed to suit the rythem of the days, unlike sewing. My hat's off to you for doing hand quilting. That's one thing I don't do. Could you get finger gloves to avoid the needle pricks? Keep alcohol close by for those "ouch" moments? or is it more the position required? Lymphedema is certainly an interresting thing to learn to live with, although mine's so minor as to be not much problem at all.......
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Hi everyone, Merry Christmas! Thank you for helping me so much during the past year. To our friends who are recently finished with rads--Get well soon! I have had a miserable cold for the past several days, but it has been a blessing in disguise. I had to curtail some plans and just curl up on the sofa and look at the Christmas tree. Rest was what I most needed.
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Elizabeth, so sorry to hear about your cold, but the tree watching sounds quite wonderful to me......hope you're feeling better
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Elizabeth take care of that cold. I had a bad one for 3 weks and still have the cough. It was not the flu but man it was bad.
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Thanks MostlySew and Bunkie, I am feeling much better now.
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To all of you that celebrate Christmas may you have the lovliest of holidays!
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Just want to wish my friends here a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May your year be filled with healing, time with friends and family, and allthat is precious to you.
I'll be back on soon, when things quiet down a little.
LoveJoan
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Merry Christmas to all you beautiful ladies! I have been blessed to know you and will always take comfort in your support and friendship. You are the best!
Wishing everyone a wonderful day with loved ones. Cherish every moment andd make some special memories.
Love and hugs to all,
Janis
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Justmejanis.....you too....we have been through a lot this year and I just know 2013 holds
Good things for us all. Merry Christmas to you and your family.0 -
Hi All, hope you all had a great holiday. Today is my last boost, so I guess I will be in radiation recovery as of this afternoon. Just in the nick of time becauseif this hole in my armpit gets much deeper, I think my arm might actuallyfall off, lol. Had to upthe pain meds, but who cares? ALMOST FINISHED! What a friggin year! Mostlysew, I am looking forward to some quality knitting time that is not in a waiting room!
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Hi cowpower, Congratulations on being done and I hope you will heal quickly. Welcome to Radiation Recovery.
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Cowpower.....you're done! You made it.....now let the healing (and knitting) begin in earnest. Congratulations.....
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Welcome to the other side, cowpower! Doesn't it feel great to be done? Now it's time to heal, and I hope your skin does so quickly.
I am 2 weeks out and my skin just started feeling better yesterday. I think the calendula cream helped more than the Miaderm. Thank you to everyone who recommended it. My shoulder has been hurting though, so I hope I'm not getting a complication, frozen shoulder, lymphedema, or whatever else might come my way. Still loobing and stretching.0 -
Ladies, Thank You all for the congratulations. It doesnt seem real yet that its over. I will take the extra time and put it toward sleeping for a few days, hoping to start the healing. Andrea, glad to hear you having success healing your skin. My pt told me that rads can interfere with range of motion, so hopefully your shoulder will loosen up for you. Mostlysew, I have a full basket of yarn and ufos next to my recliner. Dont plan to move too far for a few days:)
Elizabeth1889, thanks for the welcome to recovery.I will raise a glob of aquaphor and aloe gel to those of you here already!0 -
Oh, man, Cowpower.....I'd managed to forget about gobs of aquaphor....getting rid of that stuff is one great benefit of being done, done, done....lol. Your plan to relax and knit sounds just perfect.
Andrea, glad the Calendula cream is helping. I think that stuff is a miracle. I even gave some to my sister to use on those little burn areas the dermatologist creates removing skin "things". It helped her too.
As far as the stretching, I'm a year out of rads and still need to stretch out my underarm. Ah well, a small inconvience .... I usually just lean against the kitchen cabinets when making my coffee....that seems to do the trick.0
