Covid19 and breast cancer

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  • Caz1
    Caz1 Member Posts: 382
    edited April 2020
    @Tinks @Jwrenn just finished radio. The hospital had great systems in place to keep us safe.
    When we arrived I rang the front desk from my car and waited there until it was time to go in., and they would ring me to come in when they were ready for me. Hand wash pumps everywhere. They kept the waiting areas pretty clear.

    It did my head in to start with. BC is complicated enough. But learnt to go with the flow.
    Even had to go back in for more dressings and they were great. 
  • Tinks
    Tinks Member Posts: 234
    @Caz1, how is the skin now? Xx
  • Caz1
    Caz1 Member Posts: 382
    Hi @Tinks thanks for asking! Slowly slowly getting there, about 95% healed, but still so ITCHY. Actually looks pretty good considering how raw it was.
    Using Zyrtec  for itch . Still plastering creams all over it in random combos lol.
    Surgery in 16 days (hopefully) so it has to be totally better by then!
    How are you doing? xx
  • jintie
    jintie Member Posts: 114
    @Caz1 I finished radiotherapy on the 7th March 2019, and had my bilateral masectomy plus reconstruction on the 12th of April.  My skin was quite bad but it healed enough by the time surgery rolled around.  And I was amazed at how quickly it recovered.  Fingers crossed all will be right.
    I had my surgery at Cabrini Malvern, but my surgeon does most of her surgeries at Cabrini Brighton.   
  • Caz1
    Caz1 Member Posts: 382
    Hi @jintie, good to know.  I’m exactly a year behind you! I’m supposed to be having recon but it’s been cancelled due to current situation. Will have it later. I’ll be so relieved to get my mastectomy done before everything goes pear shaped.  Who is your surgeon? I’ll be at Cabrini Brighton.
    caz x
  • jintie
    jintie Member Posts: 114
    @Caz1 Jo M was my surgeon.  Simon O was my plastics.
  • Tinks
    Tinks Member Posts: 234
    Hi @Caz1, it’s great to hear that you see progress! I’m day 17/25 so it’s going pink and starting to itch here and there as well. Any tips looking back on what you would do differently? I’m still only on MooGoo three times a day but I was advised today that I could use mild hydrocortisone cream on itchy areas if I needed. Hugs xx
  • Caz1
    Caz1 Member Posts: 382
    edited April 2020
    Hi @Tinks don’t put up with itching, Zyrtec is the best. Hmmmmm, hard to say otherwise, I did everything I was told to! I personally found Dermeze worked best on the worst bits..solugel would dry  out and rip the scabs off OUCH. I know I had a bad reaction to rads , mostly people seem to be ok. If however the pain is really bad  or your skin is in bad shape (mine was beetroot red and ulcerated) :s I would send a pic of it to my radiation onco ASAP.  I took too long to do this , and was miserable. But he rang me straight back and got me some serious meds and to come straight in and see a nurse ...all this in a time where the hospital was discouraging people to come in due to the virus which shall not be named. Insist on seeing a nurse after your rad session if you are at all worried.  Hope this makes sense. X 

    ps dermaid was the cortisone cream they recommended. Helped a little. Try Zyrtec if it doesn’t work for you. 
  • kamada
    kamada Member Posts: 70
    edited April 2020
    @Tinks I finished 30 rads 10 days ago. All went well with using just moogoo and sorbolene religiously until the last two treatments when the red area under my arm flared right up and was very tender. Upped the moisturising sessions and it stayed intact until a week after the last session when a small part of the peeling burn started to weep. They gave me combine dressing and zinc and castor oil cream and it is doing a top job drying it out and stopping the discomfort. I was taking Zyrtec for allergies anyway so that probably helped earlier itching along with a few uses of steroid cream. So all good and as a bonus I am prepared if I should develop nappy rash 😂. Hope this helps and that you manage to keep the discomfort to a minimum. 😘
  • Tinks
    Tinks Member Posts: 234
    @Caz1, @kamada, thankyou so much for the detailed advice! It’s really helpful. I’ve upped the MooGoo to three of four times a day and I really let it soak in,  as I’m pink blotchy and slight peeling now, day 19/25, and am taking antihistamine and have really no itching to speak of. Will get hands on some dermeze too as required. It’s worst soreness underarm already so that’s an area I will watch carefully @kamada! Thanks again! Xx Tinks