Type of radiation schedules? Radiation of half the breast? All comments much appreciated!

ender
ender Member Posts: 167
in Breast Cancer #1
Hi everyone,

I just had my last chemo this Wednesday - hurray!

As impatient as I am, I had my appointment to set up my radiation schedule the day after. I have decided to go with the "American radiation regiment". The lower dose for a longer period of time. The doctor showed me a chart indicating that this regiment has been in use for 50 years. However, I am having 5 weeks of "regular" radiation and then 2 weeks of "boost". It was unclear to me if this "boost" at the end has actually been in practice for 50 years. Does anyone know?

A second thing I wonder is if any of you have had radiation only on parts of your post lumpectomy breast? I seem to remember that I spoke to my doctor about this earlier in the spring, at our first appointment. Yesterday, I met with another doctor as mine was on vacation. I did not realize my own confusing until after they put the little tattoos on my chest. The tattoos seemed to indicate that the whole breast would be radiated. And what I remember was that my doctor and I decided to radiate only parts of my breast.

Any comments on these topics would be greatly appreciated.

Eva

Comments

  • Megan M
    Megan M Member Posts: 3,000
    #2
    Hi!
    Congrats on finishing chemo! Huge milestone!

    I don't think the "boosters" have been in existence for 50 years, but, they have been for several years. Anymore, everyone has the boosters. They are a different, more intense zapping aimed directly to the tumor site, not the whole area as with the regular rads.

    I had rads to my whole breast, clear to under my arm to get lymph nodes, up to my collar bone and to the middle of my chest.

    I hope this helps. Just ask if you have more questions and good luck!


    Hugs, Megan
  • kjrpcb
    kjrpcb Member Posts: 41
    #3
    rads
    I had my whole breast, part of the chest wall and under my arm radiated. I went every day for 7 weeks and then I had a one week booster. The first two weeks they used the simulated skin. I believe that allows them to use lower dose but for a longer period of time. It also stops the redness from happening. They are very speciifc on mapping and simulation the tattos may appear to cover the entire breast but remember the beams are coming from all different directions. The tatoos help them stay within the field and hit the exact target every single time. Talk to your rads ONC. Radiation wasn't so bad. The positive thing is you see the same patients every day for 8 week so you build some friendships. It makes the day a little nicer. Good luck! You can do this.
  • butterflylvr
    butterflylvr Member Posts: 944
    #4
    kjrpcb said:

    rads
    I had my whole breast, part of the chest wall and under my arm radiated. I went every day for 7 weeks and then I had a one week booster. The first two weeks they used the simulated skin. I believe that allows them to use lower dose but for a longer period of time. It also stops the redness from happening. They are very speciifc on mapping and simulation the tattos may appear to cover the entire breast but remember the beams are coming from all different directions. The tatoos help them stay within the field and hit the exact target every single time. Talk to your rads ONC. Radiation wasn't so bad. The positive thing is you see the same patients every day for 8 week so you build some friendships. It makes the day a little nicer. Good luck! You can do this.

    Hi Eva,
    I just finished rads two weeks ago. My entire left breast was in the treatment field along with my underarm lymph nodes. I had a mastectomy and my tumor was in the lower outer quadrant. My radiation treatment consisted of 28 regular treatments and each of these treatments I had three fields. One the laser zapped me from above, next field it rotated to my right side and zapped me across my breast (tissue expander) towards my armpit. The final field the laser rotated to my left side and zapped my nodes under my armpit and across my breast in that direction. My final 5 treatments were my boosts and those were targeted where the tumor was removed along with my incision lines.

    Where your rad tattoos are placed isn't your entire treatment field, they are only laser markers. If you want to pick up some helpful tips during your radiation, check out the post "The Radiation Room" there were about 8 of us going through treatment at the same time and we shared some personal views.

    Good Luck next week sweetie..
    Hugs,
    Lorrie
  • poplolly
    poplolly Member Posts: 346
    #5
    Hi Eva. I agree with
    Hi Eva. I agree with everyone who said that the markers just indicate how the lasers are aimed. It doesn't mean they are radiating the entire breast. I had 33 treatments and I didn't get really red until the last week or so.
    And then they did give me a great cream that I started using at the beginning of the radiation and that helped my skin. I did peel toward the end as though I'd had a sunburn, but that wasn't so bad either.

    Just think how close you are to being done!


    Hugs--Judy
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #6
    butterflylvr said:

    Hi Eva,
    I just finished rads two weeks ago. My entire left breast was in the treatment field along with my underarm lymph nodes. I had a mastectomy and my tumor was in the lower outer quadrant. My radiation treatment consisted of 28 regular treatments and each of these treatments I had three fields. One the laser zapped me from above, next field it rotated to my right side and zapped me across my breast (tissue expander) towards my armpit. The final field the laser rotated to my left side and zapped my nodes under my armpit and across my breast in that direction. My final 5 treatments were my boosts and those were targeted where the tumor was removed along with my incision lines.

    Where your rad tattoos are placed isn't your entire treatment field, they are only laser markers. If you want to pick up some helpful tips during your radiation, check out the post "The Radiation Room" there were about 8 of us going through treatment at the same time and we shared some personal views.

    Good Luck next week sweetie..
    Hugs,
    Lorrie

    My entire breast was zapped
    My entire breast was zapped and my underarm nodes and up to my collar bone also. I had a lumpectomy, so, the boosters were aimed at that site only at the end, which was nice as it let the rest of my breast area heal up. I never burnt, but, got really dark pink and was tender, but, you will heal fast when you finish.

    The tattoos aren't the only place they will zap you, they are just guides for the lasers.


    Good luck with rads and let us know how you do,


    Sue :)
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #7
    poplolly said:

    Hi Eva. I agree with
    Hi Eva. I agree with everyone who said that the markers just indicate how the lasers are aimed. It doesn't mean they are radiating the entire breast. I had 33 treatments and I didn't get really red until the last week or so.
    And then they did give me a great cream that I started using at the beginning of the radiation and that helped my skin. I did peel toward the end as though I'd had a sunburn, but that wasn't so bad either.

    Just think how close you are to being done!


    Hugs--Judy

    My rads were pretty much
    My rads were pretty much like what everyone else posted here. Good luck!


    Leeza
  • CAchick
    CAchick Member Posts: 277
    #8
    Same with me
    Hi, My rads followed a pattern like everyone else also. 35 total treatments, with the last four being boost treatments. I only got redness also, no blisters or burns.
    Best of luck in your rads, and finishing another step of treatments!
    Sybil
  • mamolady
    mamolady Member Posts: 796 Member
    #9
    tattoos
    The tattoos are to line up with the cross hairs, then they zero out the machine. That way the machine knows where to radiate. They can't use some thing on the machine because you may not be in the exact spot on the table and no 2 patients are the same.


    Cindy
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #10
    Megan M said:

    Hi!
    Congrats on finishing chemo! Huge milestone!

    I don't think the "boosters" have been in existence for 50 years, but, they have been for several years. Anymore, everyone has the boosters. They are a different, more intense zapping aimed directly to the tumor site, not the whole area as with the regular rads.

    I had rads to my whole breast, clear to under my arm to get lymph nodes, up to my collar bone and to the middle of my chest.

    I hope this helps. Just ask if you have more questions and good luck!


    Hugs, Megan

    Not 'Everybody'
    I didn't have any boosters - just 25 rads. As it was explained to me - it depends on the type and size of the cancer rather or not boosters can be done or not. In some cases, the area that was involved is too large to target with 'boosters'.

    Susan
  • ender
    ender Member Posts: 167
    #11
    mamolady said:

    tattoos
    The tattoos are to line up with the cross hairs, then they zero out the machine. That way the machine knows where to radiate. They can't use some thing on the machine because you may not be in the exact spot on the table and no 2 patients are the same.


    Cindy

    Thanks for all your great replies!!
    Hi everyone!

    Thanks so much for sharing. It is interesting how different the schedule can be. I will definitely check out the thread about radiation. Had a rough last "chemo weekend", but now I am doing much better. I am so happy to hear most of you seem to have had good experiences with radiation. As far as I know my nodes will not be radiated. What determines that? Just if the nodes were positive? I had isolated tumor cells in one node.

    Again, thanks so much

    Eva
  • LVG
    LVG Member Posts: 128
    #12
    ender said:

    Thanks for all your great replies!!
    Hi everyone!

    Thanks so much for sharing. It is interesting how different the schedule can be. I will definitely check out the thread about radiation. Had a rough last "chemo weekend", but now I am doing much better. I am so happy to hear most of you seem to have had good experiences with radiation. As far as I know my nodes will not be radiated. What determines that? Just if the nodes were positive? I had isolated tumor cells in one node.

    Again, thanks so much

    Eva

    Best of luck with your
    Best of luck with your radiation. I have just completed day 9 of 38 treatments & mine is going as described previously. I have been keeping up with radiation room (awesome info)... So I already knew to stay on top of the cream - often.
  • Angie2U
    Angie2U Member Posts: 2,991
    #13
    ender said:

    Thanks for all your great replies!!
    Hi everyone!

    Thanks so much for sharing. It is interesting how different the schedule can be. I will definitely check out the thread about radiation. Had a rough last "chemo weekend", but now I am doing much better. I am so happy to hear most of you seem to have had good experiences with radiation. As far as I know my nodes will not be radiated. What determines that? Just if the nodes were positive? I had isolated tumor cells in one node.

    Again, thanks so much

    Eva

    Glad you are feeling better
    Glad you are feeling better now. I think most get their nodes radiated just in case there is a stray cancer cell there.


    Good luck with rads!
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #14
    ender said:

    Thanks for all your great replies!!
    Hi everyone!

    Thanks so much for sharing. It is interesting how different the schedule can be. I will definitely check out the thread about radiation. Had a rough last "chemo weekend", but now I am doing much better. I am so happy to hear most of you seem to have had good experiences with radiation. As far as I know my nodes will not be radiated. What determines that? Just if the nodes were positive? I had isolated tumor cells in one node.

    Again, thanks so much

    Eva

    Sorry about your rough chemo
    Sorry about your rough chemo weekend Eva. Rads will wear you out, so, get plenty of sleep and keep your creams on from day one.


    Jan

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