Fall 2015 Rads
Comments
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Trvler: How's your skin doing? I've been pacing around trying to figure out how to answer this: basically,a trip to the beach with my family sounds a grand idea after all the chit we've been through, though with the giant economy size bottle of a decent SPF sunscreen and some cute tops....but I have no medical experience. Just a tendency to sunburn and a husband who's melanin-challenged (of largely Irish descent) so we routinely have and use sunscreen that's 50 or higher. Did your RO say anything about it?
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The ironic thing is, my husband had a minor plastic surgery on his face last week and HE is also supposed to stay out of the sun for 6 months. My skin is ok. Most of the color is gone but not all and it is still tight. Also get occasional bouts of itching.
How was Italy, Sandy? You went to Italy, right?
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I had my first of six boosts today. Skin is tan/pink with some peeling but my RO says my skin is doing well and to keep using Calendula and Aquafor creams.
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TinyDancer: glad to hear you're holding up OK. Well, your skin is! How are you doing?
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I'm doing well, thank you. I only experienced fatigue on and off for a few days since I started last month. I'm on the standard 6 week plan of radiation. I'm scheduled to be finished with radiation on New Years Eve. Woo Hoo! I also had my #7/17 infusion today too. It was a busy day.
Happy Holidays to you all
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Onebadboob, good job finishing before Xmas! Now on to the healing.
I dunno, I can see the appeal of a beach vacation, but I'd be putting on the thickest layer of the highest SPF cream available. And maybe checking in with the RO beforehand?
I'm still in the thick of rather challenging SEs. The nurse yesterday said it would be two weeks before it turns around and starts to heal, and certainly every day since Sunday has been more painful, and the open, oozing areas have spread. I'm going in to the hospital today one last time so the wound care people can dress it, and then I'm on my own for six days as we're going out of town. I'm alternating Tylenol laced with codeine and ibuprofen. The hospital people have been great with giving me supplies; today I need to see if I can get another couple of surgical bras out of them as I'm soaking through two/day now; the worst area is under my arms.
Also get to have my Herceptin/Perjeta cocktail this morning. But I'm not complaining about that since I think they are miracle drugs.
It's going to be a challenging couple of weeks, to be sure. I will go back to the hospital when we're back in town on Thursday. I have to say chemo and surgery recovery were a breeze compared to this!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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Yay One!!!!! Congrats!!
Had #15 of 31 today, about halfway, yay!
I didn't even THINK of sun exposure after this. Crud. I'm heading to Aruba at the end of February with the family and I'll be slightly over a month post rads. Ughhhhh. Looks like I'll be finding a palm tree to relax under, as well as a big beach hat and mumu.
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Yay and congrats OneBB...
and sorry it has been so tough for you, Rain! :-(
Hugs!
Octogirl
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Merry Christmas everyone. Hope that you all can love, laugh ( and eat
) with abandon over the holidays. Wishing you all a much better 2016!!!
Rainnyc, I am so sorry to hear of you painful wounds. Speedy healing.
Off to make a Pavlova:)
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I get itching and inflamation mainly in wet weather
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Congrats to those who finished!! Steflove, why don't you buy one of those shirts that blocks sun rays? Between that and sunscreen you should be able to enjoy your vacay. Rainnyc, I feel so bad for you. I am 3 weeks post rads now. My skin is pink/tan and nearly done peeling. My TE still is tight and I still can't wear a normal bra or anything remotely snug. Otherwise I am doing great rads wise. Still dealing with stomach issues which I truly believe are the anastrozole and not rads.
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Merry Christmas from boost #2!0 -
You are rocking that gown, pennysgal!
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Stephlove- I got some great SPF 50 beach clothes and exercise tops and bottoms at Coolibar .com. Costco has water gear, but only in the summer. I live in CA, so I need it all year long. Coolibar stuff can be pricy, but it's really, really nice. My doc said SPF 30+ (either sunscreen or spf clothing) for at least one year. He also said the sun will make you tired during and after rads for a while, so spf clothing is the way to go for me since I walk outdoors everyday.
Pennysgal - Great pic. Almost done!
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Pennsygal, great picture! Congrats on being almost done.
The staff at the RO's office/wound care center today were having an ugly sweater contest. Very cute!
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Rain: I am sorry to hear you are suffering so much. I hope you heel up quickly. Where are you traveling to?
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Trvler, the cruise was amazing--started in Rome, then on to Naples, Sicily--Messina (from which we visited Taormina), and Trapani (from which we drove first to Monreale and then Palermo), Sardinia (Cagliari), Mallorca (Palma, Valdemossa), Valencia, and leaving the ship in Barcelona (alas, we left just before dawn and could see nothing from the bus to the airport except the Columbus monument/courthouses--where I spent a couple of days last April doing CLE--and a glimpse of Montjuic & the hill containing Parc Guell, site of the '92 Olympics). I've been slowly posting pix over in Crazy Town--gotta upload some from my other phone as well as DH's. For now, I've posted mostly Rome & Naples.
We had an indoor pool and spa, but I never had the time nor the inclination to use them--not even the gym, since we walked well over a mile each day, much of it on undulating terrain with stairs (and the ship was large enough that we got lots of exercise just going from facility to facility). Because of lymphedema precautions, everything at the spa except the snow-cave was off the table for me, and one does not escape Chiberia for the Mediterranean just to experience artificially-induced snowfall (the snow-cave was mostly for in between sauna sessions, in which I couldn't partake). All spa services (except hair appointments) had long before been booked by those in the upper-deck pricier suite staterooms, who had priority over us peons.
As for SPF, a few years ago my derm told me that anything over SPF 45-50 is overkill and doesn't protect any better. Far wiser to apply thickly & often, and after a couple of hrs. either cover up or go indoors. Hats are a must. I have been using facial sunscreen for years--prefer Aveeno moisturizer (50), LaRoche-Posay “Rosaliac" (for rosacea-prone skin) CC cream (50) or Aveeno CC cream (30). Had been using Olay Total Effects CC, but it's only SPF 15. When wearing short sleeves or shorts (and sandals), I put Water Babies 50 on my arms, legs, and feet. Despite that, circumstances can throw a monkey wrench into the works. In 2005, we went to Puerto Vallarta for my voice teacher's wedding, and took a deep-sea fishing trip the day before. I slathered all exposed parts of me with SPF 45--but when the boat hit full speed, salt spray washed it ALL off and I looked like a lobster. First sunburn since 1982 in Ft. Lauderdale; and before that, not since my college days back in the late '60s when we all went out on the quad with sun reflectors and bottles of baby oil mixed with iodine (if we only knew!). Had several peeling burns as a kid, so I am paranoid about melanoma. My best buddy from law school (nearly albino) has had two melanomas and a squamous-cell removed--whenever I'm in SoCal visiting him, the first thing he does is proffer a tube of sunscreen and then ask me where's my hat!
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I am glad you had a great time. I have been to some of those place and several are on my someday list. I am paranoid about sun, too. I did baby oil maybe once in my life but had my shares of burns as a freckle faced kid. Our beach vacations consisted of my parents planting us on the beach and me burning the first day to a crisp and being miserable for the rest of the trip. WHY I loved beach vacations is a mystery to me.
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Thanks, Allison. We're going to Boston to see family. Yesterday's nurse said things should peak on Tuesday, so perhaps that's the day things will turn the corner.
ChiSandy, sounds like a wonderful, rejuvenating trip!
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Rainnyc: If you're like me, after my horrible time with all the moist areas, most of it turned after about 9 days after, except my boost area, which I only finished a week ago. It hurts, but it never broke, but the dressing people said I should still put the gel I got from them on it for another few days. Let me tell you, it was a relief when it turned back (I've been referring to my skin breaking down as "turning over to the dark side". Sorry, Start Wars.
We're in the thick of the start of summer here in Australia, so having to constantly cover up with scarves/shirts is not a fun thing for me. It was so hot yesterday for Christmas that we had to cut our traditional walk around Melbourne short--about 35C or 95F! And not a cloud in the sky. It's now a high of 20C/68F today and lots of rain overnight. LOL We live close to the beach, so we often went in the summer time (daughter is off until February), but this year I'll need my beach tent. We have to use high SPF anyway as skin cancer is so prevalent here (so different to my Milwaukee baby oil sun worshiping summers!) so that's no change. Just enjoy wherever you decide to go!
We're off to a "beach" holiday and tour of the Great Ocean Road, a fantastic drive along the Southern Ocean in Victoria (yes 5 oceans now--only learned about 4 growing up!) for 5 nights over New Years Eve weekend.
Hope you all had a great Christmas if you celebrate, and have a fantastic start to 2016! Let's all be healthy in the next year and years and years to come!
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Trvler: Another "hoping you enjoy the wherever you end up going".(I have much the same childhood memories of beaches as you....)
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Nuts, isn't it, Queen? At least you would think the parents would have figured it out. My parents were kind of asleep at the switch by the time I turned 8. I had two older sisters and I think they were done raising kids by that point. I always say I was raised by wolves.
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Looking back, definitely nuts! But then I remember a certain cavalier attitude toward seat belt usage, back when Ralph Nader was starting in on automotive safety. (shrugs)
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Yes, we never wore seat belts. I remember my dad making a big deal about the govt telling him he had to use a seatbelt.
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never liked them. I was terrified the forst time they were used on me: a teacher driving me home from ursery school. a male teacher. still dislike them. & dangerous, I know of an accident caused by a man with sealbelts on leaning over to access the radio
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CONGRATS One Bad B.....you did it!! Healing mercies to you!!!
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AusUSA, good to know your timing for when things turned around. I like your dark side description. I've been referring to mine as the surface of Mars. Only wetter and yuckier.
5 days post rads, and it's still getting worse, which I was warned about. I guess I'm in a routine, though: lather up with silvadene and aquaphor, dressings, surgical bra or tube top to anchor everything in place, alternating Tylenol/Codeine with ibuprofen every couple of hours. At night I've been taking Norco left over from surgery. Yesterday had a very lazy day and the pain wasn't as bad; it's definitely worse when I move around. The worst part is the front of my chest, which bleeds when I look at it. The first moment when I step into the morning shower is transcendently awful. I have to believe I'm at the point where it will turn the corner soon.
Our local pharmacist was out of silvadene cream when I called for a refill, so he called around and found another drugstore that had it in stock. I was really impressed--one doesn't expect fabulous personal service from a large chain store.
Hoping everyone has a pleasant, relaxing day.
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rainnyc - oh, I cringe just reading your post. Yes, you will turn the corner very, very soon. Hang in there.
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Rainnyc- you are in my thoughts and prayers...yes, it will get better- try to take it easy whenever possible and rest as much as possible so your body can have the energy to heal. So glad your pharmacist was so helpful. Hugs to you!
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Rain, Hoping you turn the corner and have relief very, very soon.
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