Radiation

Ginger192

Hi everyone I have two of four Chemos to go and I'll start Radiation. 5 days for 6 wks. What are the effects of radiation. Ya'll were very helpful on what to expect from Chemo now what about radiation. Has been said just like a sunburn. My response is with a sunburn I don't go right back in the sun. Need info please. Ginger

Ellison

Hi Ginger,
I had 33 radiation treatments. I did not burn. Everytime I would finish with radiation, before I would get dressed, I put pure aloe on my breast even the one I did not have radiation on. At night I used a salve called Aquaphor healing ointment. I was faithful about the routine and did not have any problems. You probably don't want to wear a bra, it will irritate your skin. I bought some of those pullover tops that have spagetti straps and what looks like a built in bra in the front. It is very soft on the skin. In the bra dept. you can find what looks like sports bra's but are not and they are made of very thin material but will hold you. I am probably not making sense, but I am sure they can help you. Good Luck

wimpy

Hello

I did not have many problems resulting from radiation and in fact found it much easier to stay well during that treatment as compared to chemotherapy. I had minimal (sunburn-like) burning but it did not occur until I had finished all treatments. I did not use aloe or other lotions because of a belief of my radiation oncologist that applying aloe would interfere with the effectiveness of the radiation treatment. You should probably ask your oncologist where he stands on that issue and then use the information to make an informed decision. Getting back to the sunburn...since I had no problems until treatment was finished I treated it as I would any usual sunburn and all symptoms were gone in a few days. Everyone has a slightly different experience that I have talked to, so hopefully many more women will answer your posting. Take care and I wish you all the best. Wimpy

DiO

After chemo I found radiation to be a breeze! I had 33 treatments, finished July 1. At each weekly doctor visit they asked me if I felt any fatigue and I said no, after chemo it just feels good to feel good! I wore a bra the whole time for work, but took it off when I got home in the evening. Had very little skin reaction--also used the aloe gel provided by the rad onc. The last week or so I got a little redness/rash, mostly in the fold under the breast, and they gave me an ointment called Biafine which helped. Really wasn't bad at all. Good luck with your remaining chemo, and hope your rad treatments are as easy as mine were! Di

suematt

I had radiation for 6 weeks and for the most part it was a snap. Of course, after chemo anything they do to you is going to seem easy! I used Vitamin E which is what my radiation oncologist recommended. There was very slight burning toward the end, but nothing more than a very light pink. I wore very soft sports bras and did just fine. About half way through I did start to have some fatigue and it did progress, but was gone a few weeks after treatment ended. Good luck to you!
Sue

bunnie

Hi i dont kmow if it is becase my radition was to the brain or not and also due to being on a med called dexamathosine or not but Radition has made me more drained then chemo did. I have not upper leg muscle left right know. as of 9-20-04 iam done with meds and can start rebuilding my strenghth. i didnt have any buring thought. i did 10 days of radition. hope this helps. Bunnie

Mich1417

It was nothing! My mom asked me if I had it to do over again, which would I pick, chemo or radiation? I replied,"Are you kidding?!!!!" I am fair skinned, so of course I got a red rash over the entire treatment area. I had 28 treatments, and I think my skin started getting red and itchy at about week 3. Week 4 it got pretty red, some peeling, and still somewhat itchy. My rad. onc. also did not want to put anything on it until I was done. I wore a bra out almost all of the time, none while just sitting around the house, and had to wear a sports bra when I taught my step aerobics classes....could you imagine? One boob bouncing around when I taught class? hahahaha I got tired at the beginning of week 5, but it went away by week 5 and 1/2. Then I was done! They gave me Aquaphor to put on twice a day after treatment was all over, and my burn was gone in about 2 weeks. No dark spots, no real evidence that I had radiation. I finished on 8/25/04! I feel back to my new normal in all aspects. Good luck, I hope you have as easy a time, if not easier!!

brksmith

Hi Ginger. Your message reminded me of where I was 5 years ago. I just passed my 5 year "cancer free" anniversary this March. I also did the four chemos followed by radiation. As with others folks here, radiation was a breeze compared to the chemo. However, I am fair skinned, so I followed every recommendation my rad. onc. made to me. I barely had any burning, which was a real surprise to both me and my rad. onc! Here are the things I did: (1) I didn't wear a bra at all, but I am small breasted and other women who were larger breasted were told to wear bras. I bought tank top undershirts that were soft cotton on the inside and slippery material on the outside (so they didn't drag against my shirts). (2) I used the aloe gel he provided me religiously - just a thin layer without rubbing the area too much. I did one after my morning radiation, and another one at night before bed. (3) Did not use a wash cloth on my breast area at all, and only used a very mild soap (Neutragena clear face soap). (4) After my shower, I patted my breast dry and never rubbed it dry with my towel. (5) Did not use dryer sheets with my undershirts/PJs. (6) Only wore soft cotton (no synthetics) against my breast, even in my nightgowns. I worked my 40 hour job through my chemo and my radiation, so that may have impacted my one side effect: I honestly did get increasingly tired over the whole radiation process (but it was never as bad as the few days after chemo were). Just a long process that was probably more tiring because of the drives from and back to work every day. Best of luck to you! Good luck with the rest of your treatments! Barb