Fall 2015 Rads
Comments
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Keys-plz, great pictures! Thanks for the tip about the cooling towels. I have one sitting in my cart on Amazon.
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Sweetmamaj, love the introvert slogans! They are so true . . .
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Woohoo, big congratulations to Queenmomcat and Keys-Plez! I hope that you're getting as much relaxation as you can out of the weekend.
And thank you so much for the video, Keys-Plez! That really helps me envision how it will go, as I haven't started yet. I couldn't help but gape at the technology involved...it's like something straight out of Star Trek! Heck, the special effects are probably better!
One thing I've been wondering...I didn't go for reconstruction after my mastectomy, and most of the time it isn't an issue. But I'm wondering how to handle it when my skin starts getting sensitive, and bras might be too tough on the skin. I don't think I'll be able to wear my normal bra with the heavy breast form that I usually do. I hate to go "lopsided" though.
I've heard there are camisoles with pockets built in -- think that would work, if I wore it with a light swim form or something else that'll at least give me the right contours?Take care,
--Sherri, aka EnigmaticFox
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Fox..Yes. I called my machine ET the extra terrestrial.
I wore a sports bra 2 sizes larger when things got tender. Of course, I didn't have a MX. My rad techs insisted I use CVS Aftersun Aloe Blue gel with lidiocaine. The lidocaine really helps if the skin gets sensitive. Don't get Walgreens. The ingredient list is different. I also applied a cooling towel after each treatment. It really helps cool things off in a gentle way.
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Hi there, Ladies.....Been reading your posts and waiting for the right moment to jump in. I am 37, a TN, finished AC+T on 9/4, and I go in for #4/20 rads tomorrow. I'm handling it pretty well. I've not had any anxiety or stress about the treatment. Like Ksusan, I have always gone to treatment with a smile on my face and always used the time in the chair as "me time". I have 3 kids (4, 8, 11). And since now I'm on the table for only 10-15 min, I don't mind it. Now, my tune may change once I start to really see and feel the SE's. On day 2 I did notice pain and burning.....like stabbing pain in my right breast, but it stopped and I haven't really felt anything other than itching, but I'm chalking it up to the layer of Aquafor I've slathered on.
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Gingeel: jump in whenever you like! OK if I put you on the official list?
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Hi Gingeel..welcome to Rads! Glad you have been feeling positive about your tx's! That was my goal from day 1 of Dx--actually before day 1-- but sadly I've slumped into days with a glass half empty view. Hoping your optimism will keep me on my toes.
Having said that, I just remembered that I went on this board to post an update that I'm surprised my sore throat is much worst today (I thought it would be less since today is Sunday) and also have increased breast zingers. I do think it's helpful to share what has been going on--positive or negative. ...and to try to keep a healthy dose of humor!
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Losing some armpit skin...hey, I do have nerves left! Awesomeness 😕
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Littleblue: yay. Sort of. But not much. (mine's just crossed over into 'furious', and that's life-impinging enough for me. Not quite two weeks left for you, right?
Still contemplating how to indicate on the boards when someone's finished rads--counting on the calendar gets old for me.
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littleblue that is a good point to remember during the pain. Our nerves have survived! I'm having a tough weekend with burnt skin near my armpit and under my breast. I don't ever want to see burnt poultry skin again, it will remind me of this nightmare. It's been really hard to keep a positive attitude lately. Lying on that table knowing they are going to burn me more and letting them do it seems insane. One more day of getting hit in those areas! Unless my wish comes true and they tell me I get to skip treatment tomorrow...
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meezers..Crap! I remember at my weekly happy hour with the girls last week and updating them that I had 2 more to go. They were congratulating me and everything. I was just thinking...DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? I HAVE TWO MORE TO GO! Yep. Just wanted to slap 'em.
I'm sorry you're having a tough time. Did your RO give you anything? Lidocaine? Silverderm?
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This, too, shall pass. I finished on 8/25, had crummy week and a few days after, and now feel normal (my skin is still improving but my armpit, chest, and incision feel fine). Slather!
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My RO gave me 2% lidocaine gel, I'll see her again tomorrow after my treatment. I start my boosts on Tuesday. I'm going to ask for some silverdine. Last week I declined their offer of signing me out of work. I think I will accept that offer tomorrow.
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meezers..Is the lidocaine helping? Sometimes the only thing that helps me is dry air.
I spent one weekend at home, topless and carrying my boob around in my hand to keep it from touching anything. I've also walked around, again topless, with my hand on top of my head. It actually helped a lot. Good thing I live alone.0 -
Keys, I live alone too and have been doing the same things. I was able to work at home on Friday and was topless all day. The lidocaine and everything else I put on stings at first. If I stay topless and keep my hand on top of my head I eventually get some relief. Any movement I make is painful, like the skin is going to crack open. So I just keep putting on more gels and ointments.
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QMC, maybe you can ask people to give you their "bell" date? Mine is Oct 9 (I started a day early on the 18th, not the 21st). Thanks in advance if you do end up trying to add everyone's end date, but I don't think people will mind if you decide not to.
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Sweetmamaj: If I think of an easy way to stick the information in/get it from participants, I will. For now, I may just stick with the number of treatments we're all getting.
But loud cheers a given when someone does finish! What a relief to NOT have to go back to the clinic on Monday. Eighteen was quite enough for me, but then I'm an exceedingly Bad Patient.
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The number of weeks is important. I'm curious if 3 weekers side effects are different than 6 weekers.
Maybe every one can put their bell date in their signature block too.
QMC...I think you're doing a great job. I wish there would have been a place for me. I was too late for Summer and too early for Fall. I'll just keep drifting back and forth.
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You guys! Yeesh. Already dreading the burn parlor tomorrow. Hester the proton canon is HUNGRY! And I'm piss ed because I am supposed to go crawl around in caves for work and I'm sore, and afraid of getting some weird cave fungus on my broken skin. Again, cancer and treatment are trying to tell me "you cant". And nothing, I mean nothing, irritates me like being told "you can't because..." even if it is by my own common sense lol. Can't wait for the day when "no" becomes "yes" again. If that day ever comes...
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lbf...By now you know I have a weird sense if humor. But seriously, you need to take care of yourself. If you have a physical job and can be exposed to something harmful, you need to take care of yourself. It's not being weak. Would you make the same decision if you were 8 1/2 months pregnant?
said with love girl.
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Keys, point taken! Lol, I have no idea how I'd react if I was 8 mos pregnant- I think cancer scuttled that ship.
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I think the skin effects of the short course vs the longer course vary according to total grays given. The techs told me that long course folks get 1.8 or 2 per day. Those with 2.0 generally will have more skin damage. At 20 grays, skin generally starts to get red, at 40 grays, dry desquamation, and 50 grays and up is when moist desquamation generally occurs. Those are generalities and use of bolus and total area being radiated can affect it. It also I'd greatly variable based on just how your skin heals itself...some people will finish just pink and others will end up much worse.
Little blue, I am not looking forward to going for more burning tomorrow either. Blaah. Each day is a day closer to the finish line though
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Kbeee: interesting. I ended up having 50 grays over the course of 18 total treatments--2.75 grays for regular whole-breast zaps and 3 for the smaller-area boosts. I did get pink about halfway through, right on schedule, but no peeling. Yet. (Ask me again this time next week!) Time's an issue too--something about the healing cycle of our skin? And that nebulously crazymaking "individual reaction to rads".
Keys-Plez: your place is where you make it. I'd suggest just considering yourself part of both groups. (I'm sure this'll happen with each group!) Get advice from the earlier group, mentor the later one.
Littleblue: my sympathies. Will you see your RO before you need to go crawling through the caves?
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Queenmom, you mentioned you had regular whole breast zaps? I just assumed that shorter tx weeks meant you also had the hypofractioned tx like me. I was so preoccupied with skin care and heart/lung damage, that I haven't learned the basics about radiation oncology. I'm really quite clueless about my plan and will ask my RO tomorrow.
Keys-P, I'm told the SE can be different if having hypofractional vs conventional rads. Last week thetechs told me that my early fatigue is very common, along with appetite changes and lightheadedness/dehydration. They didnt say anything about skin SE, but maybe I wasnt paying close attention because I was a little ticked that they initially gave me the "very little SE, and only towards the end of tx" song and dance during my sim.
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(scratches head) Well, pretty sure I had whole breast zaps. I kinda got lost in the song-and-dance routine myself. Have to check! As List Doyenne, I suppose I'd better know the difference between whole-breast and hypofractionated.
But definitely had the light-headedness and appetite changes, and a fatigue/dehydration headache for the whole blippin' last week, despite being sure to drink two liters of just-water, in addition to whatever other fluids I ingested.
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yay! I'm so glad to hear other people are feeling light headed. I thought it was from my continued ear irritation...yeah, I'll see him. Every Damn Morning at 0800, for another 7 days, I see him. At least drinking coffee, if not to chat lol
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Sweetmamaj: hypofractionated just means it is accelerated - it can be for whole or partial breast radiation. I haven't seen anyone talking about partial breast radiation.
I am having AWBI - accelerated whole breast irradiation, also called hypofractionated, and the Canadian protocol (colloquially). The dosage is based on the plan put together by your RO and dosimetrist. I am having 16 whole breast treatments of 266 centigrays each and 2 boost treatments in the "lumpectomy cavity" of 266 centigrays each, for a total of 266*18= about 48 Grays. The last two will "burn less surface skin" because it is not covering as much area.
My RO expects my burns to be at their worst the week following rads (5th week) because they are not burning the skin as much as causing it not to grow back, and that rate would be about the same for everyone. I agree with KBee that the number of grays total would affect how bad the burns become.
Also, I have had a bad weekend - burns appeared Friday for the first time, and raised itchy-as-hell bumps appeared between my breasts and on my left breast - I thought it was entirely pulled out of the way when I lay prone ! And I had nausea and general intestinal issues was racing to the bathroom all morning today. That is the 3rd weekend in a row with bathroom issues. And the fatigue is constant now but I can fight through it and force myself to do what I want or need to do.
I will still go in smiling tomorrow as I don't want the staff to feel bad, or the others in the waiting room. And it helps me too ! Two more whole breast and two boosts to go - October 1st can't come soon enough !
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Just as a heads-up to current and future members of the Fall Rads group, I confess I tend to be a bit sardonic about effects and side effects of various medical treatments, though I promise to soft-pedal my own opinions. In regards the relative SEs of short-form rads (hypofractionated?) vs. long-form rads, IDK. Those of us with the short form may tend to get off easy, if only because our skin isn't shocked for so long.
In my case, I was more than slightly cheezed off by my aftercare sheet from Dr. RO's office, which says that side effects of radiation will continue for 7-10 days, but fatigue may continue for several weeks, up to three months after treatment. Bleeping Pete!
To quote Marge Piercy from Woman on the Edge of Time, from a discussion of psychiatric medications of (perforce, given the book's publication date) the 1970s: "....Like when I take Thorazine, the effects are controlling me, making me half dead. But I get lots of side effects, trust me...like sore throat, and constipation, dizziness and funny speech."
"But Connie blossom, all are effects! Your drug companies labeled as side effects things they didn't want as selling points. It's a funny way of looking at things, like a horse in blinkers."
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Thanks for the Piercy quote! Blast from the past.
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Goofy-foot, (are you also a surfer?) thank you for the info-I really need to ask my RO some questions about my tx plan. Sorry to hear about the inflammed skin and GI issues-ugh!
QMC, 3 months? Seriously? Ohhhhhh....
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