Fall 2015 Rads
Comments
-
Trvler: I usually just said something like "As well as could be expected." in a 'Well, what do YOU think?' tone of voice.
0 -
Did someone say hot flashes? I really, really thought that all those years of HRT would relieve me of hot flashes......NOT SO!!! Oh man!!!! To be at this 'ancient' age and be experiencing them is almost insulting! And then, followed by chills. Not fun.....nor funny!!!
0 -
Yes - hot flashes started during chemo and are going strong.
0 -
I have had surprisingly few hot flashes. When I stopped my hrt I barely noticed a change and on anastrozole I have had some hot flashes but the v dryness has been awful. I get some pain occasionally from rads that actually feels like phantom nipple pain. Weird.
0 -
Rain, I think you are onto something about the esophagus. I did have heartburn, the generic equivalent of Prilosec definitely helped. But I wonder if that manifests not self in nausea for rsome folks?
0 -
Trvler - I think you are on to something with your nausea theory. I got horrible morning sickness during pg, seasickness ALWAYS and nausea during chemo as well. And now, the smell of those alcohol wipes makes me nauseous, thanks to association with chemo.
0 -
Just a thought from a different perspective. I had nausea at the the end of Rads but I was also getting dizzy. Those to things seem to go hand in hand. My biggest issue was more an aversion to food rather than true nausea. When I was pregnant I had a lot of nausea in the afternoon and could not stand the smell of meat cooking. I love flying, floating on the ocean in a boat, sailing, etc. No motion sickness for me. I also get very sick from anesthesia. The anesthesiologist suggested the motion sickness factor as a possibility, but the motion sickness patch had to come off right after surgery because it was to much medication and I was having a side effect from it. I did have heart burn around the time of surgery but I think that was stress. Once I resolved my treatment plan that went a way. I did not have chemo so I am not sure what would have happened there.
0 -
Yeah, I forgot about the pregnancy nausea thing. I had about 15 minutes of nausea during my pregnancies.
0 -
since my field covers part of my neck, you might be right that my nausea is from esophageal irritation.
0 -
Ok, of course my rad team is like "Nope, doesn't cause hot flashes" - well mine had gone away for a while (after chemo) and now they are back crazy often, so I'm like, YES IT DOES!
0 -
Well, got a call this morning that the start of my rads has been delayed until December 1st. This sent me into a bit of a tailspin because I am on medical leave that now would have expired before the end of treatment so if I have problems with fatigue or skin reactions, I would have no more time. To make me even more stressed, the employee health rep told me that if I had to take any more time after that date, I would be terminated. I called my supervisor and she checked with HR in our main location in Minnesota and they told her that was rubbish. I had only taken three weeks of my leave for surgery and since I had already come back to work full time that she could extend my leave for as long as she felt was appropriate! Phew! I say my MO on friday and said he is going to have pathology take another look at the remaining IDC that was left in the breast tumor they removed, as he did not feel they provided complete information. He wants to see just how much of the remaining IDC is actually live cells and how much is scar tissue and dead cells. Because they found an extensive amount of DCIS in the tissue he thinks that the chemo did a much better job than pathology reported initially. No matter what, there were good clear margins.
0 -
RainNYC- I drink seltzer water all the time....going to add some fresh grated ginger and see how it tastes. If anyone does anything like that please share.
Woohoo JTC!
0 -
You know, I'm getting heat waves with rads, too. They are not like hot flashes, which make you want to rip your clothes off, but I go from normal to hot quickly and often. They say not from rads, huh? For those of you who have these heat waves, try to notice your EARS while doing rads. I get 2 blasts, and right after the first one my ears are hot. Hmmm, hopefully they're not burning because the techs are making fun of me! Haha
0 -
Creative: I am so glad you got that worked out with HR. I am sorry that idiot lady told you that and stressed you out. How many treatments will you get?
Other than skin issues, I am not really having an SE's from the rads. I am getting intermittent pains throughout the area but they are not bad.
0 -
Creative, I haven't missed any work due to rads and I am nearing the end of tx. Either way FMLA is 12 weeks per year which can be spread out anyway you and your employer want to spread it out. I was on year round FMLA when my DS was little. I worked 30 hours instead of 35 per week and kept all of my benefits that way.
0 -
Thanks for the support! I am going to receive 33 treatments (whole breast and axilla). I used up my FMLA for chemo, but my employer grants an additional three month leave and I was fortunate enough that my Short Term Disability allotment renewed just prior to my surgery, so I am getting paid when I have to take time away from work. Given that I have such fair skin (milk white) my RO is having her nurse check me daily once I start rads. I am getting my treatment prone, which I understand causes less skin reactions than being in the supine position.
I have had problems with our Employee Health officer who oversees leave the entire time since being diagnosed. I finally just stopped talking to him and my supervisor deals directly with our main office in Minnesota. I got the message about being terminated three days after my lumpectomy. Apparently the man overseeing my leave does not really understand FMLA and the extended leave policies. When I was getting chemo, he told me Mayo does not allow intermittent FMLA leave, yet all the forms had the appropriate boxes to check if you were, and my medical note indicated that it would be intermittent. He said that was too complicated! He also told me that I could not take the extended leave intermittently to cover my care, which is also not true. He should probably read the published policies!
0 -
I am very fair as well. 33 treatments (28 plus 5 boosts) and so far though my skin, especially the axilla, is very dark red I have no breaks and am managing. The worst has been since the weekend. I have a metallic taste in my mouth and am nauseated every time I eat or if I don't eat. 4 more days of WBR, axilla, supraclavicular and intramammary nodes.
0 -
Creativevintage: how stressful for you! HR does sound like a clusterbleep in the making--while it's entirely possible you could work for part of rads, whether to take the time off is a personal one, depending on your situation.
0 -
It sounds like that guy is a bit ummm lazy?
0 -
This is my field of radiation in case anyone is interested.
0 -
My fields seem similar to yours, Molly, but I am having the back, too. I had 5 fields. But the good news is…..I only had 2 fields today and for the last two days. I thought I was having 4 fields today. I am fair, too. I did ask my RO today about the increased risk of skin cancer and she says yes but slight. It never really occurred to me but my sister mentioned it so I asked. I do get pretty regular mole inspections now anyway.
0 -
How is the itching, Trvlr?
0 -
It has actually gotten better. I didn't put any of the steroid cream on at all yet today. Not sure why it is better. My RO thinks the worst symptoms kind of peak at a certain point.
0 -
Hi all - congrats to those who have charged or limped over their finish line! Well done! Hooray!
I have had a complicated week as my pathology has been reread and once I am done rads, i am going to start chemo. Crazy.
So, I have a question for those still following who are done - I have now had 17/28 rads and I only have the tiniest bit of itchiness on my upper back. I am really hoping to go skiing just before Christmas, and was trying to book a trip. The first day would be 9 days after my rads are done. Am I crazy? Can I guess that if my skin is good so far, I should be ok.
I do have a high pain tolerance and pretty tough skin. I ran 10k the other day, and my energy is still good - appreciate your thoughts.
Also, re the nausea - I was super nauseated at the 14 treatment mark. I got into a pattern of nausea, not eating, more nausea - also taking letrozole, could have been that, also metformin, could be that too, and calcium et. Once I made sure I ate regularly and was more aggressive with drinking water, it has been much much better.
0 -
Zinny, what changed? I was surprised you were not getting chemo since you have ILC.
0 -
Hi Molly - so, my insurance included a second opinion that was done by Dana-Farber. I had a 5 cm mass of DCIS with LCIS mixed in, and and ILC in the middle of that. I had two independent path reports here which felt that the DCIS was not invasive, but the Harvard folks disagreed. The got more blocks of tissue ( in addition to the 152 slides already done) and saw more stuff, I guess.
Our team said that year ago, they would have given chemo for ILC but that now the feeling was there was no added benefit with micromets, and so we went for aggressive hormones and radiation. I was very "for" chemo and they would have given it if I had asked, but the oncotype quoted worse outcomes with chemo, which sold me.
So, doing things a little backwards. Better to know and treat than not.
0 -
Oh, and Dana-Farber was in agreement with the initial plan based on ILC alone….
0 -
I don't think you are crazy to book a ski trip. Can you get travel insurance? I think if you have tough skin, you should be ok. Did your RO tell you you could take Fridays off it you needed to after week 3? That helped me a lot but I have sensitive skin.
0 -
After my treatment today I asked to see the nurse because my axilla stung when I put cream on afterwards. She had the doctor look at me. It's really red and peeling so we are going to do boosts the next 5 days and then finish my 3 remaining full field. She gave me great pads and a prescription for emla cream . She said it's not big enough for silvadene.
0 -
ZInny, a ski trip sounds great! Travler has a great idea about getting trip ins, "just in case". Sorry about the chemo but sounds like you have a good attitude about it and will know you have thrown everything at the cancer.
0
