Anyone getting ready to start Radiation in Fall 2016?
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DaraB, I am 11/30, also dosage of 200, and I have the raised bumpy skin, too! I ended up putting hydrocortisone on it last night to stop the itching. I'm worried and emailed my doc. Worse is the squamation on my nipple!! I ended up putting some of my facial vitamin C serum on it then covering it with lanolin. It's better, but that's with a weekend off.
Amusing Soprano, I've looked up the mepitel and asked him if I could get it!! I doubt it, but I thought I'd try
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I really hope that your skincare people will seriously consider it. I have my final of 25 tomorrow and there is a slight pinkness of skin and that's it. It truly is amazing stuff. The only soreness I have is the tenderness inside the breast itself, the skin is perfect.
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amusingsoprano- I wanted to thank you for the Mepitel advice. My RO ok'd me using them (expensive and out of pocket, but ok'd.) My skin after 25 treatments and a week post-treatment is just a little pink, I really never had any issues. MO, RO and PS are all impressed. They are used to me doing things that they suspect won't work (cold caps, acupuncture for neuropathy, etc) and all have been successful, so it's now a joke we have- they keep saying I am the patient who makes them eat their words.
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Is the Mepitel over the counter or prescription?
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mega2016 I'm so glad it worked for you! And maybe they will recommend it to other patients now
DaraB, ours is through the health system ( we have relatively free healthcare here) so I didn't have to pay. So I presume you will be able get it direct from the supplier or via whoever sells that sort of thing. It's $100 per 10 sheets here in NZ.
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My docs are saying "there is no way to prevent your skin issues, and I'm a little peeved." Here's the link I found.
http://www.molnlycke.us/advanced-wound-care-produc...
I'm going to ask again. Meg2016, I also had rented a cold cap. I hadn't heard of acupuncture for neuropathy, but will definitely look into it!
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How often do you remove the mepitel sheets? At $10/sheet you don't take it off every day do you? I'll still have 22 tx so that would get pretty pricey. I found them on Amazon.com.
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I got mine on Amazon. I could wear them for 2-3 days per bandage. You could probably stretch them a little further even. I would take them off for treatment and reapply the same one after I was done. I used the large ones over the breast and also the smaller for armpit, edges
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Hi Dara, the link to the product site that Licata posted above says they can stay in place 10 days! Meant to have another dressing over it.
I have ONE treatment left--tomorrow. I will celebrate by coming home and sleeping.
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They stay on night and day throughout treatment and a couple of weeks after. If a piece starts to peel of the dangling edges are snipped and another piece is put over any bare skin left. Ends up looking bit like a jigsaw puzzle
Speaking of which..... I. AM. DONE. !!!!
I now have some spare sheets of Mepitel plus a couple of Mepilex squares for added protection if needed. Also once the Mepitel comes off I have an aqueous cream to apply twice a day. I still keep cold cloth-ing three times a day. 0 -
congrats amusing soprano
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congratulations amusing soprano - you go girl
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So happy for you Amusing! That is awesome! Hope the recovery is quick.
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AmusingSoprano, very happy for you! What's next? Hope you have a great project or vacation lined up.
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AmusingSoprano - Congratulations! Glad to hear your skin held up well. Hope more people can use that Mepilex dressing.
reflect - That will be a great nap!
It's been 5 weeks, and my skin is healing well. Some areas look normal. Other areas look a little tan. I'm still putting lotion on and doing my stretches.
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congratulations amusingsoprano! Good luck on your upcoming concert(s).
Have a good week everyone
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Congratulations, Amusing Soprano! I have my team looking into this, but they can't fathom how it works. Really? Any other info I can forward to them I will. On to Amazon
How does it fit over a nipple? This is the area that concerns me the most. If I bought the 2 x 3 and just put it over, would that be helpful
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meg2016, did you put any ointments over the mepitel sheets?
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Licata, here is the link to the original trial that was done Mepitel film and a news article from the District Health Board. If they would like to talk to, or email with, Annie Sutherland, who is the author of the thesis (and my RT skin care person), I can arrange this no problem. She will be able to provide them with images of how it works and all the technical details they will need, as she and her clinical supervisor have presented all this at conferences.
re putting lotion over the film, definitely not. This will compromise how it works. Lotions are used only once the film comes off, a week or two after the finish of treatment.
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AmusingSoprano, Thank you! I have been doing research, Herst's personal copy, so if my doc won't let me with all of my highlighted notes, I might ask for your inside info. The most interesting thing is, my skin damage had showed up mostly where my violin hits my collar bone! None of us thought of that very predictable friction problem.
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I was pleasantly surprised that after my simulation today, they went ahead and gave me my first treatment. And I thought chemo felt like an assembly line process, ha. Was anybody else given a badge so you can just check yourself in and get undressed without having to talk to a human being?
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At my hospital there are kiosks in the main waiting area that read our provincial health cards to check in. Then there are monitors that will display your name and treatment room. Once you see your name, you go to the treatment room waiting area. There are changing rooms there. One of the techs will call you in once ready. The whole process took at least 3 hours at the hospital. The rads floor had nice artwork at least.
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First session tomorrow morning, feeling a bit nervous. And I can't find the middle tattoo, anyone else's gone AWOL?
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Bagsharon, my RO did the same thing. I had the sim and first tx on the same day. I have a card with a bar code that I swipe and my name appears on a monitor and then I go to the rads waiting room. The tech gets me and I go in, pull off my shirt, put on a gown, and get on the table. They adjust me and then we go. Believe it or not, I get there around 8 AM and am out the door usually around 8:15! This is at an out patient clinic though; there's only one treatment room but the gals are so good and get us in and out so fast!
Dizzy, it really is so easy. Try to relax, but I know you won't be able to until the first one is over. And I frequently can't find one of my tattoos. The technicians know right where to look though so don't really have any problems. Good luck!
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Thanks, AmusingSoprano, for those links about Mepitel. I am going to write a letter to the Rad Onc department including this information. I don't think they feel it's important to focus on preventing these painful side effects.
Hi Bagsharon, I check in with a person in the lobby (who waved me through after the first few times) and go directly to the waiting room. A tech comes to get me (I only had to wait long twice) and I change in a changing room. The tech comes back for me and we go to the treatment room. Once the "bugs" were worked out of my positioning, the whole thing became very quick. Maybe 30-40 minutes altogether?
And, I. AM. DONE. Got a "certificate" from the techs, very sweet. Some moist desquamination in my axilla remains (and hurts!) and my breast is still very hard, but now, let the healing begin!
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Bagsharon - for me, no badges or self check-in. My treatments are in an outpatient facility. I'm in and out in 15 minutes and never see another patient. There's two techs and they're required to verify my identity before every session by matching me to a photo and asking me to recite my birthdate. Every day it's only us. We laugh about it every time because it is by now beyond necessary.
Reflect - congratulations on finishing up. Hope you have a celebration planned and heal soon!
Dizzybee - yes, the techs can always find the tattoos. I don't know how they do it because my abdomen is naturally covered with dots but of course they do! 😊
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amusingsuprano and refect: congrats on being done. I hope to right behind you.
I had 22/25 today (thank goodness they fixed the machine). my skin is super read but not blistered and hoping not to. my skin is red on my back as well, so dr told me to use cream there too. I have no recon so I don't have the skin/skin issue with a breast, just the underarm.
Dr is not sure if he is going to do boosts next week - he will determine on Friday if I am DONE or have the 5-more to do.
I overdid it today with running around, so I will probably be overtired tomorrow. the fatigue is still is overwhelming.
May everyone sleep well.
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I had my second treatment today. Luckily, I was able to snag an 8:15 time slot for the rest of my treatments. I got there super early because I didn't know how rush hour traffic would be. The hospitals in Cincinnati are all in one uptown urban area surrounding the university (nicknamed Pill Hill) and traffic can be a nightmare. If you discount my early arrival, the whole ordeal was over in 20 minutes. There's a secret garage that you are buzzed into but it enters directly into the cancer center. I scan my card to let them know I'm there, go to the dressing room, put my gown on, lock up my belongings and then sit in the waiting room to be called on. I had my chemo done at a suburban center instead of the actual hospital so maybe that's why this all seems so impersonal.
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First radiotherapy session today, and it went surprisingly quickly. Yes, they did find my missing tattoo, maybe I should have had my reading glasses on to look for it! My session was at 8 am, so I saw the sun rise over the sea as we drove, it was beautiful.
And when it was done, and I was getting changed, I had a good go at rubbing off the pen marks so they didn't get on my clothes, I completely forgot all the instructions about treating the skin gently. This doesn't seem quite real yet.
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Bagsharon, it's interesting. I am also at a satellite clinic rather than hospital, but I think that makes my experience extra personal. I have the same two women as technicians, they ask about personal things, I knew all about what they were doing for Thanksgiving, etc. Also the women in the waiting room are super friendly. We know each other by name and always ask about what's going on etc. We don't really have a dressing room. I just go to the treatment room, slip on a gown and get on the table. My purse is just in a chair in the same room. It's all really quick, except for once a week when they also take X-rays.
My rash continues and fatigue is getting a bit worse. Frequently I get to a point in the afternoon when I just have to stretch out for a nap.
Hope all starting this phase are doing well. I never thought I"d say this, but it does go by pretty quickly. I'm on the longer schedule, but I'm still almost 1/2 way done. Hang in there everyone!
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