how soon should you start radiation after a lumpectomy?

janie560
janie560 Member Posts: 42
in Breast Cancer #1
I had my lumpectomy on 9-16-11 and my first appt. With the radiologist isn't until 11-2-11 and that is only the consultation. It took 2 weeks to get that appt. Should i got to another facility that is futher away. I am afraid the 2nd appointment will take just as long to get.

Comments

  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    #2
    I had my surgery April
    I had my surgery April 3-2008 and started Radiation may 12-2008

    Denise
  • Double Whammy
    Double Whammy Member Posts: 2,832 Member
    #3
    disneyfan2008 said:

    I had my surgery April
    I had my surgery April 3-2008 and started Radiation may 12-2008

    Denise

    Things will move fast
    after the consult. I started my radiation about 6 weeks after chemo. That's consistent with the time Denise had between surgery and radiation. If you're concerned that this will be too long, call your surgeon or oncologist for reassurance and see if there's something s/he can do to expedite the appointment if necessary. I think they want your surgical site to be well healed before they hit it with radiation because that will delay the healing. They also want you to physically recover before the next unslaught, but not too long for cancer cells to perk up and travel.

    Suzanne
  • Tux
    Tux Member Posts: 544
    #4
    rads after lumpectomy
    My rads started ASAP after lumpectomy, but I think they started it so soon because I was a teacher & they wanted to get the treatment started before school began. It was about 3 weeks. The first few appmts. are long ones, so that is prob. why you couldn't get in right away. Also, the onc. might have been out of the office for a few days for further training, vacation, etc. I think you are OK--once you get started it will be every day, so driving to a further facility might make things more difficult.
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #5
    Double Whammy said:

    Things will move fast
    after the consult. I started my radiation about 6 weeks after chemo. That's consistent with the time Denise had between surgery and radiation. If you're concerned that this will be too long, call your surgeon or oncologist for reassurance and see if there's something s/he can do to expedite the appointment if necessary. I think they want your surgical site to be well healed before they hit it with radiation because that will delay the healing. They also want you to physically recover before the next unslaught, but not too long for cancer cells to perk up and travel.

    Suzanne

    No "standard" timeframe...
    As you can already see, it's different for each patient. More than 8 years ago (my first DX), had 3 weeks between surgery & starting chemo, 3 weeks between last chemo & starting rads. That DX was an aggressive cancer.

    Currently dealing with my second DX, a different type of BC (not mets/recurrence - no chemo). Had 6 weeks between surgery & beginning rads.

    Suzanne's suggestion is spot on: check with your doctors to alleviate your concerns.

    Best wishes to you.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • mamolady
    mamolady Member Posts: 796 Member
    #6
    Radiation can start quickly
    Radiation can start quickly after the consult. They may have set the appointment knowing you will be worked into the daily schedule soon after. 6 weeks sounds like the standard. I had to wait an extra week to improve the range of motion with my arm. I guess it would have seemed quicker if you have surgery first, then chemo, then rads because the surgery site can heal during chemo too.

    All the best,
    Cindy
  • Kylez
    Kylez Member Posts: 3,761 Member
    #7
    Double Whammy said:

    Things will move fast
    after the consult. I started my radiation about 6 weeks after chemo. That's consistent with the time Denise had between surgery and radiation. If you're concerned that this will be too long, call your surgeon or oncologist for reassurance and see if there's something s/he can do to expedite the appointment if necessary. I think they want your surgical site to be well healed before they hit it with radiation because that will delay the healing. They also want you to physically recover before the next unslaught, but not too long for cancer cells to perk up and travel.

    Suzanne

    I started rads about 6 weeks
    I started rads about 6 weeks after my lumpectomy. They want to be sure you have healed from your surgery.


    Good luck!
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #8
    6 weeks
    I had 6 weeks and I kind of remember this because I felt fairly decent on my last 2 chemo. I had the notion that feeling good through the last two chemos meant that I had already beaten the cancer. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    None the less I wanted to hedge my bet so I of course went on with the reccomended radiation after the 6 week break for healing from the chemo regimen. The 6 weeks gave me the opportunity to get a lot of food home canned as the break came at harvest time. I actually was very blessed to have felt as good as I did. I really did not push myself as some worried that I had. I felt good enough to do this. So give yourself the time that they recommend and you might be suprised how good you feel.
  • Ballerina
    Ballerina Member Posts: 152
    #9
    Your Radiologist
    Your radiologist should schedule it taking into account your healing time. I had my lumpectomy in 7-27-09 and started radiation 8-29-09.
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    #10
    Tux said:

    rads after lumpectomy
    My rads started ASAP after lumpectomy, but I think they started it so soon because I was a teacher & they wanted to get the treatment started before school began. It was about 3 weeks. The first few appmts. are long ones, so that is prob. why you couldn't get in right away. Also, the onc. might have been out of the office for a few days for further training, vacation, etc. I think you are OK--once you get started it will be every day, so driving to a further facility might make things more difficult.

    My rads start date was
    My rads start date was almost 6 weeks from my lumpectomy.

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