New and 2nd radiation treatment today.

GNPRITCHIE

I have visted this site many times and see that all the lovely ladies here always offer really good advise. I have been through 16 treatments of chemo, bilateral mastectomy w/tissue expanders and yesterday I started radiation. I have to do 25 treatments and continue Herceptin every 21 days up through July. I'm worried about the radiation due to some skin issues. During my pregnancies my breast became very large and I ended up with a bad case of stretch marks and loose skin. After my surgery this past November 2nd, one week later the plastic surgeon had to do a 2nd surgery on the left breast (cancer breast) where he removed about a half inch of necrois around the incision... double whammy. He had said this is common if you have loose skin however before the surgery he said I would only have about a 15% chance of this happening. The left breast is giving me the biggest problem and and another thing the PS mentioned it is because the surgeon that performed the mastecomy had to be more aggressive to clear the margins. Has anyone had similiar experience that they could share with me and possibly give me some advise.

disneyfan2008

How are you doing now? sorry
How are you doing now? sorry you had a double whammy....

sorry no advice just good thoughts...

jnl

I am not quite sure what you
I am not quite sure what you are asking. I had a lumpectomy with radiation treatments. If I can help you, I sure will.


Good luck,

Leeza

Megan M

jnl said:

I am not quite sure what you
I am not quite sure what you are asking. I had a lumpectomy with radiation treatments. If I can help you, I sure will.


Good luck,

Leeza

I got really dark pink with
I got really dark pink with rads, never burnt. But, I have always tanned too, and, the rads machine was brand new. My rads oncologist said with the new machines now, you shouldn't tan, nor burn. And, he was right, at least with me.

Talk to your rads oncologist about all of your worries. He is the one to answer them and to help you. He should also monitor your skin closely, at least see you once or twice a week.

Hope all goes well for you,


Megan

GNPRITCHIE

disneyfan2008 said:

How are you doing now? sorry
How are you doing now? sorry you had a double whammy....

sorry no advice just good thoughts...

Thank you for your good
Thank you for your good thoughts.. it is greatly appreciated. I am ok just the usual stress fighting this disease.

GNPRITCHIE

Megan M said:

I got really dark pink with
I got really dark pink with rads, never burnt. But, I have always tanned too, and, the rads machine was brand new. My rads oncologist said with the new machines now, you shouldn't tan, nor burn. And, he was right, at least with me.

Talk to your rads oncologist about all of your worries. He is the one to answer them and to help you. He should also monitor your skin closely, at least see you once or twice a week.

Hope all goes well for you,


Megan

I understand it is toward
I understand it is toward the end of the radiation treatment that I could experience the itching and burning. I will talk with the oncologist again regarding my concerns. Thank you for the advise, this really helps.
Take care,
Patricia

GNPRITCHIE

jnl said:

I am not quite sure what you
I am not quite sure what you are asking. I had a lumpectomy with radiation treatments. If I can help you, I sure will.


Good luck,

Leeza

Thank you.How was your
Thank you Leeza
How was your experience with radiation? I guess that everyone is different and it depends on the amount of rads, etc.

mjjones453

GNPRITCHIE said:

Thank you.How was your
Thank you Leeza
How was your experience with radiation? I guess that everyone is different and it depends on the amount of rads, etc.

rads
I finished Rads in May, I had 33 treatments, the last five were boosts to the spot that had the cancer. I experienced burning about 2 weeks in. I was told by my Radiation Oncologist that larger breast women have a tendancy to burn. The Radiation pools in areas under the arm, and under the breast. They were very helpful to me, They gave me mediplex pads to put on the burns. That helped alot. I was also told to sit with a fan on the area, to cool it off. That did help, but also hurt. The area would dry out, and then stretch, Hurt like ...! any way, the boosts were not a bother at all. You will find it amazing if you do burn, at how fast they will heal when radiation is finished. A funny thing is when I first started radiation, I had a bad case of BO(which went away within a week)! I guess it had to do with the radiation. I had a hard time going without Deoderant, so I hunted one down that the Nurse had told me about. Best wishes to you, Mary

Betsy13

cure for burns and discomfort
I am so sorry you are going through this. My gyn. told me to use BioOil. It is an orange oil that you rub into the painful areas. It absorbs quickly into the skin and is able to get into the scar tissue and help it become softer. At first, I had to rub very gently due to pain, now I am able to massage more firmly. It still hurts sometimes, but there is no more pain.

I burned during radiation and the itch was terrible. My rad. onc nurse gave me something for the itch (a gel pad) and I was allergic to the gel. So, she then told me to cover the whole area with a thick layer of neosporin, then on top of that use cortisone, then cover this with a Petrolatum Dressing (made by Kendall called Xeroform) in a 5 in x 9 in sheet, and finally cover this with a Non-Adherent Dressing. I did this 3 times per day for 3 days and thereafter whenever it itched really bad. Truly, it was hilarious. I had nothing on the top of me and was jumping up and down trying not to itch it. My husband came in the bedroom and started laughing his butt off then was kind enough to go to the store and get me the neosporin and cortisone. Sometimes you just gotta find the humor in the little things...

Hugs to you!
Betsy

Gabe N Abby Mom

I don't have any experience
I don't have any experience with rads yet, so I don't have any advice to offer. But I am sending prayers for you.

Hugs,

Linda

jnl

GNPRITCHIE said:

Thank you.How was your
Thank you Leeza
How was your experience with radiation? I guess that everyone is different and it depends on the amount of rads, etc.

I didn't burn from rads. I
I didn't burn from rads. I got tender to the touch and close to being red, but, all in all, I got along great. I was tired, so, I went to bed early and took naps. LOL I used my creams from day one and continued for weeks after I was done. I had regular rads, then boosters after that.


Good luck,

Leeza

GNPRITCHIE

Thank each of you for the
Thank each of you for the good advise and sharing your experience with me. It helps tremendously to have you answer my questions.
Praying that each of you have healthy,happy New Year!!!!