Radiation after lumpectomy

@Sister @arpie Thank you both for your thoughts & kind messages. I am home for the weekend & will head back again in the morning. I have had 3 zaps now & going OK. Got a bit teary & overwhelmed on day 2 as I came to realise that this place will be my home for the next 4 weeks & I already know my way around the hospital & all the staff names. They are wonderful & can't do enough for you. Every treatment I have to do the 30 second breath hold & have to do it for every zap which is around 6-8 times each treatment so it is very exhausting & makes your chest hurt as you try to hold it in as deep as you can to stop the rays going to your heart. That is incentive to keep holding your breath! I will make a good deep sea diver at the end of this! I am well & truly taped up with the Mepitel film & feel like a mummy. I have to leave it on for 2 weeks after treatment as well so 5-6 weeks in total. Even after treatment finishes, the Mepitel will help in reducing skin damage as the rad treatment is cumulative so peaks after treatment has finished which i found amazing. Every day, I have had to see the nurse before treatment to check the Mepitel film as there was only a 5mm clearance from the edge of the film to the rad beam so if the film starts to curl at the corner, i have to have a new film put over the end or have the curling bit cut off.  I appreciate that the Mepitel is a wonderful invention & helps in many ways but I feel like I can't exercise or do what I normally do as I don't want to promote any lifting so I have given up doing my stretching & anything else that may loosen it. At the moment it has curled a lot since I saw the nurse Friday so I am booked in to see her before treatment tomorrow. The film covers half my chest area, breast & a few inches below & goes under my arm & half way across my back so i can't put deodorant under my left arm & where the film is under my arm keeps curling as your arm is always moving. Anyway, the nurse said it is normal so she will probably see me every day for a snip &/or adding new pieces of film. I drive myself to treatment every day from my sister's house & it takes less then 10 mins to get there which is great. Every week I see the rad onc also to check me over so I will see her on Monday. @Sister Thinking of you all the time & wishing you strength for Thursday as you return for your 2nd treatment. You are doing it so much tougher than me so prayers are coming your way & I hope all goes well. take care & look after yourself & accept all the care & help that others offer you as you deserve it & need to focus on yourself. @arpie Good Luck for Wednesday as you start your rad. I hope your "motel" provides a good haven for relaxing & giving you some "timeout" to look after yourself & focus on your treatment. I know you will do well & when it gets a little overwhelming & you need cheering up, get out your uke & strum a tune to lift your spirits.     Good luck ladies. My thoughts & prayers are with you both. i wish you love, strength & courage & I know you will fight through this & come out the other side, stronger than ever. Many, Many Hugs xxxx PS I will be staying in Adelaide next weekend for my great nieces christening so I wont have access to the forum for 2 weeks until i come home again.