Radiation

azdixie

I was dx in Dec 2011 with IDC, stage 2, ER+ PR+ HERS-, 0/5 lympnodes. I had a bi-lat mastectomy with TE on Feb 1, 2011. Surgeon told me that I would not need chemo or radiation. Unfortunately, it turns out he "may" have been wrong. 5 weeks after surgery I found out that the tumor was only 2mm from my chest wall and I have been referred to a radiation onc to find out if I do need RT. Since this has been a big surprise to me, I was wondering what to expect. Has anyone else gone through RT 2-3 months after a bi-lat? What about the tissue expanders? Does the radiation affect them? Any info I could get would be greatly appreciated.

Penny67

Hope this helps
I was dx in July with IDC Stage 2, Grade 1, ER,PR+ and HR-, with 2 of 9 positive lymph nodes. My cancer was only on the left side but I chose a bilateral mastectomy. I was also told by the surgeon that I would not need chemo or radiation, but unfortunately he was wrong also. After testing negative for the BRCA gene, my oncologist still felt that because of my age (44 at time of diagnosis) and my 2 nodes that chemo would decrease my odds of a recurrence. I also had tissue expanders put in when I had the mastectomy and also ended up having radiation after I finished chemo. My chemo went from September thru December 14, took a month to heal from the chemo and began 33 radiation treatments to the left side in January and finished February 29. The plastic surgeon ended up overfilling the left side because radiation will do funky things to the tissue and muscle. Besides burning it, it will also cause the tissue and muscle to shrink and tighten around the implant (not a scientific explanation but the best one to describe what happens) causing it to become very hard. I was fortunate as my skin burned pretty bad and I had a lot of fluid under my arm, but I healed up very quickly and you can barely see the area that was radiated and my expander is still able to be moved around a bit. My plastic surgeon was very upfront about the failure rate of implants after radiation (80%) as radiated skin does not heal well and can cause capsular contracture after the implant is put in (tightening around the implant making it feel hard and then will need to be removed). I am choosing to believe that I will be in the 20% that does fine with the implant and if not I will cross that road when I have to. If you do end up needing radiation, let me know and I will give you some tips on what creams to use on your skin because I really had great results with the creams I used that were recommended by my radiation nurses. Best of luck and I hope you are one of the lucky ones that doesn't need chemo or radiation. Both are not fun but tolerable.

azdixie

Penny67 said:

Hope this helps
I was dx in July with IDC Stage 2, Grade 1, ER,PR+ and HR-, with 2 of 9 positive lymph nodes. My cancer was only on the left side but I chose a bilateral mastectomy. I was also told by the surgeon that I would not need chemo or radiation, but unfortunately he was wrong also. After testing negative for the BRCA gene, my oncologist still felt that because of my age (44 at time of diagnosis) and my 2 nodes that chemo would decrease my odds of a recurrence. I also had tissue expanders put in when I had the mastectomy and also ended up having radiation after I finished chemo. My chemo went from September thru December 14, took a month to heal from the chemo and began 33 radiation treatments to the left side in January and finished February 29. The plastic surgeon ended up overfilling the left side because radiation will do funky things to the tissue and muscle. Besides burning it, it will also cause the tissue and muscle to shrink and tighten around the implant (not a scientific explanation but the best one to describe what happens) causing it to become very hard. I was fortunate as my skin burned pretty bad and I had a lot of fluid under my arm, but I healed up very quickly and you can barely see the area that was radiated and my expander is still able to be moved around a bit. My plastic surgeon was very upfront about the failure rate of implants after radiation (80%) as radiated skin does not heal well and can cause capsular contracture after the implant is put in (tightening around the implant making it feel hard and then will need to be removed). I am choosing to believe that I will be in the 20% that does fine with the implant and if not I will cross that road when I have to. If you do end up needing radiation, let me know and I will give you some tips on what creams to use on your skin because I really had great results with the creams I used that were recommended by my radiation nurses. Best of luck and I hope you are one of the lucky ones that doesn't need chemo or radiation. Both are not fun but tolerable.

Thank you so much for the
Thank you so much for the info. Mine was left side also but I didn't want to go through this again in the future so I chose the bi-lat. I still haven't heard yet about the radiation......MD Anderson is waiting for the VA to send them all my records and films. I saw the surgeon this morning and he asked if I had heard back on the radiation but he didn't seem concerned at all about the expanders and radiation. Of course, he's the same one who told me that I wouldn't need chemo or radiation. I wasn't tested for the BRCA gene because I am the only one in my family to have breast cancer...lucky me....so they didn't feel like I needed the test. I turned 52 in January so I don't know if that is going to hurt or help me. I'll keep you in my prayers that you stay in the 20% and all goes well with you. Again thanks for the info and I will definately let you know about the radiation because I'll take whatever advice I can get. Take care-Dixie