Fall 2015 Rads
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Btw total lunar eclipse tonight! Started 10 min agoon the east coast
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Sweetmamaj: don't get too worried quite yet--when I got up in the nurse's face a bit about the discrepancy in times, she backed off a bit and said something to the effect of "That's [three months] more for women who've had chemo."
KSusan: blast from the past indeed, and sad that some things never change! It's all effects of the treatment. Skin. Fatigue. Sleep disruption. Nerves (the literal kind) going haywire. GI disruption.
I think I'll go cheer myself up somewhat by rereading Attack of the Squash People.
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5th treatment tomorrow, bleh. My boob already has partial redness and my underarm is tight. I should have walked around with my arm up this weekend.
Can't see the eclipse it's totally cloudy.
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Hi everyone! Congrats to those that have finished!! I envy you!
At 14/34 today. You ain't kidding that this is psychologically tough. While it seems to be a routine, I also hate going there no matter how nice the techs and nurses are!! I can't wrap my head around this being good for me by preventing reoccurance. Nobody knows for sure if the "bad" cells are there to be zapped and that's what bothers me. I didn't do chemo so I can't compare but I do know I was terrified of that....and mostly for the reasons of vanity, sorry to admit.
I don't get any music and the table and machine look kind of old to me.
So I'm experiencing pinkness in top and tightness under my skin. It feels like I've been beaten with a baseball bat is the best way to describe it. The stabbing zaps and needle stick feelings are getting more pronounced and frequent too. I saw the RO today and he says I'm swollen. He prescribed a corticosteroid... Fluec-something, I don't have it with me. They actually had a stamp to write the prescription. Common, huh?? I haven't seen any mention on the boards here.
I'm going to order the cooling cloth today. Sounds like a great idea. Thanks!!
I can't wait for this to be over....you all know what I mean!!!
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Yes, Queen, please add me in! And thanks for the little welcome-wagon. LOL
Ok, You ladies are scaring me a bit. With all the talk of having to walk around topless. This is what I have to look forward to? Yay!
I noticed my tummy hasn't been right the last couple of days, and I even felt a little tired in the afternoon, but when I asked my RO nurse about nausea, etc, she said "No, no nausea", and poo-poo'd my being tired, saying that I shouldn't get any fatigue until wk 3. This is why having this thread is so important. We get advice and info first hand and in real freakin' time.
I did go to Target for some new soft bras, cause they advised me that I will regret it if I continue to wear underwire bras. Still feeling pretty good. I did notice the temp difference between my 2 girls. Thanks for that tidbit, whomever that was. I am feeling a little uncomfortable, but nothing to cry about.....yet. And my tummy is queasy.
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Gingeel: you're on the list now. I hope we haven't scared you too much!
As for oncologists minimizing side effects, (sardonically) I'm reminded of the scene in Princess Bride when Inigo Montoya says "You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it does." to the Sicilian after about the fifth or sixth time he uses inconceivable! to describe something that's actually happened. It's not so much that we have different definitions for the terms, but rather that the threshold of intensity at which we start using fatigue or irritation is significantly lower than that at which the oncologists begin.
For example: Fatigue, for me, did start becoming noticeable by week 2, but I think my RO used the term for what I'd consider poleaxed.
Nausea? not uncommon. I think mine was largely due to psychological stress, but others may chime in.
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Hmmm....I love the reference to Princess Bride. You are so right! Besides, have they themselves actually experienced this? Probably not. So, there you go. haha
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Today was zap #18. I didn't spend the weekend walking around naked with my arm on my head, but only because I didn't think of it. HA I did spend it with my right hand on my hip like I had a real attitude. And when I sit I have a pillow I keep my arm propped up on. I also invested heavily in CVS aloe with lidocaine. I started wearing a cotton over-sized sports bra to stop the swaying when I walk, Every jiggle pulls on the skin.
I saw a new RO today, mine is in vacation. He lifted my gown, took one look and said "That's going to break open soon. You'd better buy some Domeboro on the way home." I asked him what I should do when it does, he said use the Domeboro and let us know. It'll probably happen by Thursday. Soooo, it's gonna be a fun week.
I've been telling myself today that I only have 7 more full treatments. The next 8 bonus ones after that will be site only and easier. Can I ring a mini bell after the next 7??
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Every time my RO says "Don't worry" I say "yeah, you didn't have breast cancer". He still isn't willing to believe that my ear and eustacheion tube irrietation is due to rads. Today he said its because I work too much. Yeesh.
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My female rads tech is a bc survivor. I used to give her a hard time until she told me. She was harsh, but gave me very good advice.
Have you ever noticed how having bc is like buying a new car. You think your new pretty car is so cool and as soon as you start driving around you realize how there's one just like it on every other corner. I hardly knew anyone that had bc, before I was diagnosed. Now it seems there's another survivor everywhere I go. I don't know if I should be happy that there are so many survivors or sad that there are so many women in this crappy club.
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I'm with the idea of a mini-ring at the end of the whole-breast treatments.
Finally got around to looking up "hypofractionated" radiation treatment--I'm 99.9% sure that's what I got though this link seems to indicate that both are whole-breast treatments. The only difference being (from the patient's perspective) how many times you have to go lie on that table, staring at ET/a lamprey/insert your favorite metaphor here.
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Pamela....funny. Hand in the air. He said you're gonna break? Where are you breaking? I started peeling under my boob, but the skin underneath is not too bad. It's not really broken. It started during week 4. That following weekend is when I was walking around boob in hand around the house and slept on my back with a fan going (with boob in hand). Anything to stop skin on skin contact and to let them cool down some. It helped a lot. I might say my girls are C/D sized.
If you put on the aloe gel and it's sticking to your clothing, just powder up with cornstarch. I put my cornstarch in a plastic cup and used a makeup blusher/foundation brush to pat it on. You cannot use talcum powder. It has things in it that affect the radiation beam.
Did I mention the cooling towel? I would drape it over my shoulder and tuck it under my boob. Leave it there for five minutes or so. When you remove it, you can feel the hot spot in the towel where it was tucked under. It doesn't have to be on your skin. It can be over a lightweight shirt or garment. It's easy to refresh the towel. You don't have to re-wet it. Just whip it around it the air or pop it like a whip a few times. It cools right back down. After my underarm starting heating up, I would tuck it under there too. Hey...It's gives you a good excuse to just crash on the couch and watch a little TV and not feel guilty.
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Ok, this is marvelous. Now, and not unexpectedly, the sharpie design they drew on me for boosts is smearing all over my chest from the lotion. And the ink STINGS. Gah.
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Everything I put on stings, even the lidocaine. So it sounds like they'll be drawing on me tomorrow for my first boost? Since Friday I've been crying almost every time I put any of the gels and ointments on because of the pain and stinging. It's such a relief to get the whole breast treatments finished. This morning was the first time tears flowed while I was on the table, between the current pain and knowing I was going to get burned more was too upsetting. So glad that is over!
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Meezers: (is sympathetic without being cloying, hands you a box of tissues) Hoping someone who's dealing with skin in the "RO expressed mild concern" category will have suggestions about the stinging?
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My suggestion, and I guarantee its the only thing that will really make you feel better- Smack your RO! Otherwise, I'm out of ideas. It do sting like a mother, though. It really do.
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I start radiation later this week if the simulation info is ready by then.
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Jctreehugger: I'll put you down for October 1, though that can be changed if you find out differently! And welcome to the group--don't let us scare you, either with our side effects or our humor
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Thanks for the welcome queenmomcat!
I would love some comments on my schedule. Am I crazy to think I can get my treatments at 415pm, pick up my kid at practice and head off to my zumba class at 530? This is my plan for keeping sane. I work full time and this way I works best with my schedule. I have never been a morning exercise person so the idea of working out in the a.m. as recommended on another thread scares me! I told my RO and she thought maybe I could do it.
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Treatments always take longer than expected...I'd build a few extra minutes into your schedule if I were you. I work out I the afternoon too...hasn't been a problem..
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Working out right after your rads? Almost certainly fine, if that's your usual time for working out; maintaining a normal pattern will help psychologically.
Picking up your kid along the way? Well, that depends. How far is it from the hospital to the wherever your kid is? And from there to where you're working out? Perhaps just as important: will your kid be OK if you're a few minutes late? (Will your child worry you're OK? Is there a safe place for them to wait?)
My experience was "allow half an hour for the treatments, assuming the machine's working smoothly and the facility isn't running late" Two caveats there, mind.
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So true about your kid. Sooner or later your facility will be running late. And you can't skip. You'll just be late too. Make sure your kid is covered if you're late.
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Jctree, maybe you can get some rapport with the front desk staff to have them alert you if they are running late. Then you can pick up your kid from practice early and them him/her to your rad appt. lots of kids where I go. Some doing homework, others just hanging out
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jctree...go visit your facility before you set your schedule. See if they have a place for your child before you make your decision.
I did not try to commit to my exercise schedule while on rads. My goal was to get through rads with minimum side effects. Given I'm not completely thru the experience, but so far think I've done pretty good. Come on now. When my boob is frying, it's 92 degrees out and 80% humidity, I'm not going outside to workup a good sweat. Raw, tender stressed skin and more heat and sweat, just doesn't sound logical to me. You might have to have hang up your superwoman cape for a little bit. You have to take of yourself. In the big scheme of things, it's just for a couple of weeks.
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inspired by others who did this, I took one of those thermometers you hold away from your skin and checked both sides. Radiated side is 4.6 degrees hotter than non radiated side.
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That was the geeky me. 1st week, 1-2 * difference. 2nd week, 2-3•. After that 6-7•. That's why I did the cooling towel. To give my poor boob and skin a break from the heat. All that heat can't be good. The first week or 2, I could get all the heat out. After that, it just came down a little. But still better than none. I think my boob appreciated it.
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I told my RO about it. So I took the thermometer with me one day. All the nurses came downstairs to check out the thermometer. They thought I was crazy, but after they played with it they thought it was cool. My RO never knew what to expect from me.
Interesting...when I try to spell RO, my spellchecker suggests ROTISSERIE.
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Keys-Plez: the world needs more patients like you. I tried. But I never thought to bring in one of those neat thermometers.
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