lumpectomy/radiology

anaumann
anaumann Member Posts: 60 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I posted about anxiety of my recent cancer diagnosis the other day and again after learning my second biopsy was negative. I can't find my second post..not quite sure why the search on this site doesnt work for me. Im pretty sure I will have the lumectomy. Can anyone tell me how long after surgery radiation begins? I didn't yet speak with an oncologist. I find the thoughts from all you more helpful than drs. ann

Comments

  • Boppy_of_6
    Boppy_of_6 Member Posts: 1,138
    #2
    Not sure if this will help
    Not sure if this will help since I had chemo in between but I had lumpectomy Mar.22nd started rads on July 26th. I am sure it will be quicker if not doing chemo. Wishing you the best of luck with all of it! God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice
  • Cat64
    Cat64 Member Posts: 1,192
    #3
    Ann
    Normally they like to wait at least a month. This gives your body time to recoup from surgery or chemo and get your blood counts back up. Just make sure after your surgery you get alot of rest, drink alot of water/fluids, and eat healthy foods. My Nutritionist recommended eating iron-rich foods also.
    ♥ Cat
  • aisling8
    aisling8 Member Posts: 1,627 Member
    #4
    Cat64 said:

    Ann
    Normally they like to wait at least a month. This gives your body time to recoup from surgery or chemo and get your blood counts back up. Just make sure after your surgery you get alot of rest, drink alot of water/fluids, and eat healthy foods. My Nutritionist recommended eating iron-rich foods also.
    ♥ Cat

    Well...
    I can share what happened to me, knowing, of course, what happens to you may end up something entirely different.

    I had my lumpectomy early March, recovered well even though I had a seroma under my arm. My medical oncologist suggested the Oncotype test to help her decide whether or not to "offer" chemo (why don't they just offer margaritas instead). We waited for those results. Fortunately I was low enough to skip chemo. Rads began in early April, a month after surgery, and I did that for seven weeks and am now on Arimidex.

    Next month I'll have my mammogram to make sure everything's okay and I hope to be posting about dancing with NED.

    I wish you well,
    Victoria
  • sbmly53
    sbmly53 Member Posts: 1,522
    #5
    My lumpectomy to rads was...
    Surgery 12/7, rads started 1/26.

    Sue
  • Curlz
    Curlz Member Posts: 42
    #6
    My timeline
    As many have said, they do like you to heal after surgery; about 5 weeks after my lumpectomy/sentinel node dissection I had a 2nd surgery to increase the clean margin (at the request of my radiation onc--and I understand this isn't unusual) prior to starting radiation treatments. 7 weeks of RT started about a month after the 2nd surgery, and I finished this past week.
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #7
    Curlz said:

    My timeline
    As many have said, they do like you to heal after surgery; about 5 weeks after my lumpectomy/sentinel node dissection I had a 2nd surgery to increase the clean margin (at the request of my radiation onc--and I understand this isn't unusual) prior to starting radiation treatments. 7 weeks of RT started about a month after the 2nd surgery, and I finished this past week.

    I started rads about 6 weeks
    I started rads about 6 weeks after my lumpectomy. The doctors want to make sure that you are healed before you start. So, try to get lots of rest and take care of yourself.

    Good luck!


    Sue :)
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #8
    my thoughts
    I think it can vary depending on your own situation, but I expect your Dr. would want to allow plenty of time for your body to heal from surgery before radiation. The specific amount of time would vary depending on the surgery, your own body's healing powers, Dr. preference, etc, etc. Your Dr. is the best one to answer the question for your individual situation. I had double mastectomy, chemo, then radiation, so my situation is quite unlike yours. Write down your questions and ask your Dr.

    Take care, seof.
  • sal314
    sal314 Member Posts: 599 Member
    #9
    Lumpectomy...
    was done on 9/26/01, then chemo, then radiation was started in Feb. of '02 and ended in mid March.

    It was awhile ago as you can see, so I'm not sure how much things have changed since then. I think if you don't have chemo they do radiation somewhere between 4 to 6 weeks after surgery to let the scare heal. At least that's what many other friends experiences have been.

    Hope this helps.

    Sally
  • crselby
    crselby Member Posts: 441 Member
    #10
    timeline
    lumpectomy 7/16/09 no nodes touched
    'sloshing' started 8/2/09
    (meaning fluid filled cavity)
    brachytherapy irradiation started 8/31/09
    ended 9/4/09

    Radiology oncologist wanted the cavity to dry up a little before starting rads.
    ~~Connie~~
  • anaumann
    anaumann Member Posts: 60 Member
    #11
    crselby said:

    timeline
    lumpectomy 7/16/09 no nodes touched
    'sloshing' started 8/2/09
    (meaning fluid filled cavity)
    brachytherapy irradiation started 8/31/09
    ended 9/4/09

    Radiology oncologist wanted the cavity to dry up a little before starting rads.
    ~~Connie~~

    Sloshing??
    I have not heard the term or the others you used. Does the cavity fill itself with fluid or is something that the dr does for some reason? Brachytherapy irradiaton?? Im so confused, ann
  • ms.sunshine
    ms.sunshine Member Posts: 707 Member
    #12
    anaumann said:

    Sloshing??
    I have not heard the term or the others you used. Does the cavity fill itself with fluid or is something that the dr does for some reason? Brachytherapy irradiaton?? Im so confused, ann

    4-6 weeks.

    4-6 weeks.
  • Betsy13
    Betsy13 Member Posts: 185
    #13
    anaumann said:

    Sloshing??
    I have not heard the term or the others you used. Does the cavity fill itself with fluid or is something that the dr does for some reason? Brachytherapy irradiaton?? Im so confused, ann

    if I knew then what I know now...
    In some women, after surgery, the cavity that is left behind from the tissue being removed fills with fluid. My rad. onc. said it is very normal.

    I had my surgery on 2/11/10 and rads began on 4/13/10. I waited 4 weeks after surgery to have post-surgical mammogram and requested MRI. My treatment was 33 rads, the last 5 being boosters.

    However, if I had to do it over again, I would have a mastectomy. The side effects of radiation are fatigue. It is the end of August and I am still napping 1/2 hour to 2 hours per day. While everyone is different, from what I have read, it takes 1 - 2 years to get through this side effect.

    I have to start work again very soon and am scared. What if I can't make it through the day? What if I fall asleep at the wheel driving home? I work 30 minutes from where I live so it's not like someone can drive me and pick me up. I can't take time off because my work is not supportive at all.

    If I had had a mastectomy, yes, I would have lost a breast. I am done with them. I have my incredible children. I still would and am going through the depression of having cancer, but on top of that is the fatigue. It is crippling. Therefore, everything is harder to handle. When you're not well rested, coping is more difficult.

    Besides, I have a divet in the top of my breast from where they removed the tumor and surrounding tissue so I'll probably end up with reconstruction anyway. Should have done it the first time. At least 6 - 8 weeks later the pain would have been a dull ache (which I still have now from my surgery). Now, I would be dealing with the emotion aspect of losing my breast without having to add the cripping fatigue on top of it.

    Good luck!
    Betsy
  • Hubby
    Hubby Member Posts: 325
    #14
    Chemo or No Chemo
    That is the question. If you end up needing chemotherapy, they will wait until it is complete until radiation starts. Donna hasn't even met with the radiation oncologist yet. She will finish chemo at the end of September.

    Bob
  • Tux
    Tux Member Posts: 544
    #15
    Hubby said:

    Chemo or No Chemo
    That is the question. If you end up needing chemotherapy, they will wait until it is complete until radiation starts. Donna hasn't even met with the radiation oncologist yet. She will finish chemo at the end of September.

    Bob

    I had only 3 weeks between
    I had only 3 weeks between surgery & rads. I am a teacher & they wanted to get as many rads in before school started as possible. Also, I am a quick healer & had no complications. I was glad to get it started--because I knew it would be over sooner. Good luck!
  • susie09
    susie09 Member Posts: 2,930
    #16
    sal314 said:

    Lumpectomy...
    was done on 9/26/01, then chemo, then radiation was started in Feb. of '02 and ended in mid March.

    It was awhile ago as you can see, so I'm not sure how much things have changed since then. I think if you don't have chemo they do radiation somewhere between 4 to 6 weeks after surgery to let the scare heal. At least that's what many other friends experiences have been.

    Hope this helps.

    Sally

    I had radiation about six
    I had radiation about six weeks after I had my lumpectomy, which was fine with me. LOL You need some time to heal and to rest up.

    Good luck with your treatment!
  • Angie2U
    Angie2U Member Posts: 2,991
    #17
    ms.sunshine said:

    4-6 weeks.

    4-6 weeks.

    It seems most start about 4
    It seems most start about 4 to 6 weeks after their surgery. I am sure it just depends on what your rads oncologist says. Good luck!
  • crselby
    crselby Member Posts: 441 Member
    #18
    anaumann said:

    Sloshing??
    I have not heard the term or the others you used. Does the cavity fill itself with fluid or is something that the dr does for some reason? Brachytherapy irradiaton?? Im so confused, ann

    Is Scorpio a water sign because I am full of water!!
    Oh. Ha, ha. I forget that not everyone sloshes afterward.

    My surgeon took a tennis ball sized lump of tissue to get a pea sized piece of
    DCIS. The radiologist was a little shocked at the size of the cavity. It was also very odd shaped. A number of factors led us to decide on interstitial multicatheter irradiation instead of the more traditional whole breast irradication that most of the women on these boards have received. Brachytherapy is for only 5 days and there are 4 ways to deliver the radiation: Mammosite, Contura, Savi, and multicatheter. Hope you can look these up on the internet to learn more. I can't imagine how it would be to have treatments for 6 weeks!

    The sloshing happened because of the size of my cavity after surgery, and because my body seems to always 'swell' or send fluid to traumatized areas. It was surprising to realize that sound was coming from my breast! lol It lasted until the radiologist inserted the needles for the catheters. My breast literally leaked an unexpected amount of fluid on him after insertion of about the 5th needle. Then, when the catheters were taken out after the last treatment on day 5, the nurse pressed gently all around my breast, and more fluid came out. In fact, after my one year post-surgery mammogram and ultrasounds last week, I was told I STILL have fluid in the cavity.

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