Radiation April 2019
Comments
-
Question for those of you who have the stickers rather than the tattoos: As of yesterday, my first treatment (1/20), I now have two quarter-size round stickers covering Sharpie-like marks on my right breast (the one getting the radiation), one just left of the nipple and one on the right side. I also have a 3 sided box drawn across the top of that breast, down between the two breasts, and then under the right breast. No line drawn down the outside. Stickers cover the whole line, top, middle, and bottom. Looking down at my chest, the box lines look kind of like this: [ only with longer lines on top and bottom, basically boxing the whole breast except for the side closest to my right arm.
So here's the question: How am I supposed to apply enough hydrating lotion to do any good if I can't put it anywhere near those darn stickers? Sigh...
0 -
I have the stickers, too. I just glop it on over the stickers. The nurses replace them as needed. I hope the skin under the stickers won’t burn too much worse than the skin I can put aloe on. I’ve also sweat through a few stickers already since I exercise most days. Boob sweat hasn’t gone away even though I no longer have real boobs!
0 -
Thanks, Fritzmylove! I'm worried, too, about the all the skin that won't be hydrated because of all the stickers. Oh well, not too much I can do about that, but that does seem to be the disadvantage of stickers as compared to tattoos. Of course, I can always hydate from the inside!
0 -
the tattoos are tiny. Just a little dot. You can't really see them. At least that's how mine are.
0 -
Sunocean, I don't know what they do at my cancer center but I expect it's a dot, too. I already have spots all over, so a few more dots won't affect me!
0 -
Hi Rosie and others who responded.
I grilled the radiology technician today
( nicely! hsha) with questions re: setup
snd they explsined in detail the positioning
with the lights on tattoos etc and showed
me each image... all same. so maybe
being new to the process, i may have had
the feeling it was different etc.
but on an entirely different note, i asked to
see how much lung was getting irradiated
and she showed me the scan and its 2
cm... ! that sounds like a freaking lot to
me.. i cycle marathons and cardio stuff
is my only vice- i am meeting with radiology
oncologist on monday- and may stop radiation.
I read all over this site that mere millimetres
were grazed , if at all. I was so shocked to
see that image on the screen...does anybody
have any info on this from their own experience.
0 -
#16 today. Saw doctor today. He was pleasantly surprised at how well my skin is holding up! Yay! Hopefully he doesnt jinx it !! No pain at all. Glad I bought the miaderm!!
0 -
I too am an athlete and my cancer was L sided. I did proton rads because of lung and heart worries.
0 -
intersting! never heard of that.... just started
so perhaps too late to switch over but
plan on bringing that up at my sppt on monday
0 -
cassiecanada -
I got way too much radiation to my lung, and have been suffering since.
Ask your RO what the v20 is - this means what percentage of your lung is getting 20 gys or more. Usual cutoff is 35%.
But understand there is usually no damage from 20, even 30gys delivered to the lung. 40 Gys, however, usually will induce damage.
In my case, my v40 was over 20% of my lung. I'm guessing this was a LOT more than 2cm. I had pneumonitis about a month after radiation ended and should have been put on steroids, which would likely have taken care of it. Long story.
Don't know your situation, but in my case the dose was increased because they covered both supraclavicular and internal mammary nodes. IMNs was totally unnecessary because I had a lateral tumor, and there is little to no benefit shown in lateral, node negative tumors.
So, as a president once said, trust but verify. Good luck!0 -
I try not to get aloe or Miaderm on the stickers, but sometimes it can't be helped. On some spots of my body, the stickers are so close together that I have to get inbetween them and get the lotion in there and end up smudging the stickers. The techs just redraw the lines and put new stickers on as needed.
Rad # 14 - I'm half way done. Yay!!! Found out that I can bring in a CD with my favorite music so I can listen to it while being zapped. Brought in Sting's greatest hits. I let the techs keep it for today and they'll give it back tomorrow. Got to start on a mix CD to listen to. Makes the time go much faster while laying on the table.
0 -
Good afternoon ladies,
A friend of mine also went through radiation and she liked using this product on her radiated skin. I have not tried it personally, i used calendula cream mostly. I thought it might help some
Alicia
0 -
Rosie, the nurses were playing that very CD when I went in today! You don’t go to Rush Copley by chance?
0 -
Hi Ratherbesailing! ( great name... )
Thanks for that detailed info re: radiation.
Tomorrow i plan on asking the same
girl to translate 2 cm into a %.
The lung area getting irradiated looked like a small banana in size- so dont know
where she gets the 2 cm from... maybe depth. Percentage makes so much more sense than cm. Although most
docs through all this journey seem helpful etc,
the lack of knowledge really hamstrings
my convo’s- dont know what to ask- dont
know how things work etc...the education
part thrown in all this cancer journey seems lacking... like my surgeon reeling
off stats from my path report couldve
been speaking another language..
instead of googling for hours to
decipher and learn...even a fact booklet
with pictures and explanations and terminology would go a long way
to help my convo’s with these doctors.
Bit of venting here- but had I not asked to
see a pic of lung, I wouldve just
lain there like a specimen
just accepting all well.
So I say amen to your quote..!
Trust but verify!!
And good luck to you too!
( i actually
dont even care about a red hot
irradiated boob right now...lung
thing is actually a huge distraction
right now0 -
Radiation is done!! Got a graduation certificate, a chocolate (dark) bar and rang the bell!!!!!!
Would you believe this...a friend of mine, a breast cancer survivor had tattoos when she had radiation. She went for a full body check to a new dermatologist today. He took a biopsy of one of her tattoos thinking it was a "questionable" spot. It was on her back so she didn't realize what he was doing at the time!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy!!!!
Have a relazing weekend!
0 -
CassieCandada and Ratherbesailing I feel like a guinea pig! Yeah, I am just laying there. You have opened my eyes. I don't know what questions to ask. They haven't volunteered any of this information. GGgggrrrrrrrrrrr! Thank you!!
The ONC wants me to see her for an RX. I emailed and asked what RX so I could research. They answered back they want to tell me in person. Heck, I want to save $75 and do some research on the RX first.
I don't know but I have been having some weird (heart) pains. I don't know if I should mention it. I can't afford to miss anymore work.
0 -
Carpediem56 and CassieCanada -
It is so complicated! The doctors do have years of training to understand it, so I do tend to trust them. But, yes, we do feel like guinea pigs!CassieCanada, another way to look at it is that while 2cm of your lung may be receiving radiation, that 2cm may not be the full dose of 50Gys, but only 10 Gys. So don't panic!
0 -
Fritzmylove - OMG, yes I do go to Rush Copley. My appointment is usually at 9:30. I told Lindsay that they could keep the CD until tomorrow if they wanted and she took me up on the offer. I hope you liked listening to Sting.
Wow, small world!!
0 -
Hello ladies … concerning the skin under your stickers. My experience was that the skin under my stickers faired much better than the rest of my breast. When my rads were finished I went home and immediately peeled them off so I could shower and wash off the markers. When I dried off and checked myself in the mirror it looked like I had applied perfectly round spots of sunscreen, pale skin next to the reddened breast. Six months later my skin is healed, still an occasional throbbing but all is good. Good luck to those still in the process.
0 -
Rosie, small world!! I go at 11:15. Lindsay sat with my 4 year old daughter yesterday. Love all the nurses there! Sting was great!
0 -
Grandmaadams, You bring up a couple of interesting questions. If the skin under the stickers is actually less damaged than the exposed skin, is it getting the same amount of treatment? And if so, could the material the stickers are made of somehow be used in a protective manner for the whole breast? Preferably that would not be a huge sticker to wear 24/7 for several weeks, but maybe a non-adhesive sheet that could be used just during the treatment, or a removable sticker like a static-cling bumper sticker. lol!
Fritzmylove and RosieRed, How long are you two on the table for treatment? I'm on it less than 5 minutes, hardly enough time to be aware of any music at all...
0 -
Piper, between the nurses lining everything up and the actual treatment, I’d say I’m on the table for about 20 minutes.
0 -
Love Friday, two days away from radiation. I’m on the table about 5 minutes. I need to be able to hear them say “take a deep breath and hold it, OK, breathe “ . I finished #14 today, 13 regular left followed by 5 boosts for which I had a CT to do planning after regular appointment. So far just a smidgen pink on incisions. I’m using miraderm and aloe 4 times a day. I have a little less energy but not bad. So far.
0 -
Woops, today was 15
0 -
Rad # 15 - all went well. My skin is a little sensitive and pink, but still holding up well. I am on the table, beginning to end, about 20 minutes. A little longer when they take images before rads.
Have a good weekend!!!
0 -
thank you jessie123 I appreciate all advice and reassurance from people who are going thru this or have gone thru this....its not like I don't trust doctors advice but I am skeptical especially when people talk to you and give advice when they have never experienced these things themselves...its a lot to think about and I also have been advised to take the drug Letrozole.
0 -
Hi, Jessie - I have left breast IDC/DCIS and was very concerned about heart & lung involvement as well, but my RO assured me the radiation is laser precise now and she expected no heart & very little of the lung to be affected by my treatments. She explained that taking a deep breath & holding your breath during actual short application of the radiation, moves the heart safely out of place & the vast majority of the lung as well. Have you heard the same? I just have 2 more boosts left to go & so far so good. I hope the same for you as well.
0 -
Flower,
I have finished 30/33 May 1st is my last treatment. I saw my MO a few days ago and my labs were great! I have to admit I was nervous but didn't tell my hubby...no since in both of us being worried. I had 1/3 node involved and the BS opted not to remove any additional nodes.
They say most of the things you worry about don't come true...this is what I hope is your experience. Best of luck and plenty of prayers.
0 -
BMW
When I was initially diagnosed I was told the results of the MRI indicated that my nodes were clear. At that time I chose to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction and was told that I would need to be on Letrozole for 5-10 years. That all changed when they removed 3 nodes and one of the three was positive. 16 rounds of chemo and 30/33 (I finish on Wednesday) radiation treatments and 10 years on Letrozole is my new treatment plan.
My cancer is on my left side and the type of radiation I had did a cat scan each time to pinpoint the radiation. I’m going to ask for another echo to insure my heart hasn’t been affected
My doctor told me the same thing should it come back when I wanted to stop chemo. I'm 57 and am very healthy and if I can do it. Good luck!
0 -
FaithFilled --- yes that's almost exactly what I learned from the RO. He actually showed me the films of my heart and lung and exactly how far the radiation invaded. My heart was far away from the radiation and the outside of the lung was affected by 1 mm ---- of course that 1mm extending up the whole side of the lung so I don't know how many mm's in total it is. I just have to live with it, because I did not want a mastectomy.
0
