Radiation after lumpectomy

@arpie & @viking1 Hi to you both & thanks for your support! I'm back from my rad onc appt yesterday in Adelaide - 5 hr round trip to see him but that's what you do living in the country! He is an assoc prf so knows his stuff so was guided by his thoughts. He didn't push me either way but after hearing all the pros & cons, I asked him what he would do & he said he would do the rad.! The only reason i was borderline having it was that my cancer was aggressive even though only stage 1. The risk of it coming back without rad would be approx 15% (depending what study you read) which is halved by having it. The chances of getting cancer from the rad is so minimal, he compared it to the chances of being struck by lightning. He has only seen 3 cases in his long career. So I am doing it & another advantage for me which may be the same for you @arpie, it that as I was borderline, I only have to have 16 treatments over 3-4 weeks unlike the usual 5-6 weeks & I don't need a booster so that would mean less rad for me so I should get through it well. As my cancer was on my left breast, I have to hold my breath for 30 sec during some of the rad doses to get my heart out of the way so it doesn't get exposed so i will be practicing that! I also have a 10% chance of carrying the BRAC gene as my mum died at 46 y.o.of ovarian cancer so they don't want to start the rad until I see a geneticist as if I am positive, they can't do the treatment so the rad onc is busy working out what to do with me! I will have to stay in Adelaide at my sister's for the treatment & then come home for the weekend so they said my treatment can be at another hospital very close to her so i can drive myself. I found the staff yesterday very supportive & helpful & one girl who explained the  cost of the procedure said that even though she has never done it, she hears patients say how easy it is. There is also a false skin called mepitel that they use to help protect the skin so that minimizes any chance of burning or irritation so there are a lot of advancements helping you get through it better. I feel very relieved with my decision. I am having the rad to give me the best chance of it not returning & I am only having a short treatment so compared to all you other ladies out there, I am very, very lucky. @viking1 Good Luck tomorrow, i will be thinking of you as you start treatment. Think positive & after each session, it will be one step closer to finishing & closer to killing off any left over cancer cells! Look after yourself, use lots of moisturizers, which I haven't bought yet, & keep thinking that we are all here for you so keep me informed of how you go. @arpie it sounds like the surgeon took a large chunk during your op so you may have clear margins, like I had. This may be why they think you may not need rad but as you have had node involvement, they may think it's a good idea to have it. If I had nodes removed, I would have definitely gone for rad without hesitation to minimise any chance of it coming back in the lymphatic system & spreading. Listen to the surgeon & the rad onc & be guided by them. I have been lucky that my team have told me what they want to do to me & would be best for me & I have come out of it so far extremely well. I would hate the thought of not having rad & then it coming back later maybe worse & I don't know how i would live with myself if that happened. It is a game of chance & you have to go with the best odds. Please keep me informed of your progress. @sister I have posted you in on this as I feel like we started this "journey" together being diagnosed & having surgery the same time & in the same hospital. I wish I knew you were in St Andrews as I would have tracked you down. I know you have not had as good a run as me & for that I feel very sad. We are like "SA sisters" & I want to keep in touch with how you are doing. We lost contact for a while as there are so many different places to post in this website & after my surgery i was so sore, I couldn't type & forgot to post my outcome on the website when I recovered! So I just wanted you to know where I am at now & I'm wondering the same about you & hoping your progress is going well. I think about you often & I hope you have finally seen the end of surgery & are making a good recovery. Thoughts to you all & thanks for the love & support from the forum & I reckon I have just written the longest post in history!!!! xxxxxxxx