My Radio update..

Hi Christine,

Yep all of the above support is great. I put the sorbeline cream on immediately even before I got dressed and it seemed to hold off burns 'til just at the end. The lovely nurses gave me parrafin and a sort of net bandage to keep it all greased up when I got a burn near my neck and it took nearly 2 weeks but has healed really well. Now it's been 3 months and I still put bio oil or rosehip on that area especially and of course avoid the sun! Hope you manage to fight off the burns, keeping yourself cool is pretty helpful. Good luck

Sue

hi there; i had lumpectomy and radiation therapy and i did find the fatigue with this treatment peaked in week 5 and then the last week--good news is dont get too worried as in my case it lifted within a week which was lovely.  my skin did get red and bit angry looking and again i wouldnt worry too much --i started seeing the nurse on the unit --and i did get a tear which looked huge but healed overnight--reminds me that body is amazing--however this occured in the last 2 weeks so i had daily nursing to change bandage--they would clean, apply solugel which i think everyone should now have it at home--and there was no pain--occasionally there is some --and not itcy etc; bandages were lovely and i applied solugel a few times a day--just took supplies with me as i was mainly at work etc--so dont worry too much; my treatment was all low intervention but nurses will jump in when needed --including creating a vest for me to wear at night to keep bandages on --very cute.  and after treatment it all just came good pretty quickly

best wishes

Sorry you are feeling anxious about the radio. I know everyone says it is the easier part of the process but it is still the unknown part of how your skin will handle it etc. I actually found the pain in deeper quite severe at times and found it worrying because not much is said about this. All the info seems to concentrate on the skin reaction. I kept asking the onc about my pain and she kept reassuring me this was 'normal'. I still have quite a bit of discomfit when I stretch the arm and chest area (2 months after finishing) and was told this may take months or even years to totally resolve. Some people always have a little bit of pain left in the area (hopefully not us!) With your skin, you could try using pure aloe vera gel immediately after (or within the first hour at least). This has a cooling, soothing effect. Another idea I read on here is to put a wet washer in the fridge and put this onto the area as soon as you get home. Moo goo is excellent but particularly if your skin is fair you may find you still get quite a reaction. I have olive skin which held up very well during the 5 weeks of radio but I did find it got worse for 2-3 weeks afterwards. I had some skin peel which was very uncomfortable but the skin underneath was very healthy thank goodness and I did not have any infection issues. The area now is just a tanned look. Hope you find some relief and that it goes as well as possible for you. Take care. Deanne xxx