@Maree72 sometimes advise and suggestions coming from all directions can be overwhelming. The rad team do know their "stuff' so be guided by them is what I would strongly suggest. In my case the Rad nurse told me to use what my skin was used to, which was Sorbolene cream, and I was advised not to slather it on the skin;, but to apply as I normally would to my skin, and given a set number of times a day to apply the cream. I never purchased the strata xrt cream, because they had a prescription cream prescribed for me, which worked a charm. I
Try not to get ahead of yourself, I also had both breasts radiated, 25 sessions on one breast and 30 on the other. Also I was unable to do the holding by breath successfully, so they had another way around protected my left side. This was back in late 2017, and I don't have any complaints, and thankful this was made available and was needed as a part of my treatment.
It is easy for us to say don't overthink things, but truly if you do, you will think the worst, which is not helpful for your mental health. Sure there are risks with treatments, whether chemotherapy, surgery or radiation treatment, but I like to think the benefits outweigh the risks as far as trying to kick cancer to the kerb!
I am not suggesting you have a mastectomy, but sometimes women who chose the mastectomy can perhaps dodge the need to have radiation therapy. If radiation therapy is causing you so much angst, could you see if there are other options?
Perhaps some other members have stories of how they avoided radiotherapy by having other treatments? Or surgery?
