Starting Radiotherapy tomorrow

Hi Jane, I had heard that Charles Gairdner  was better.  RPH  only give one week of appointments at a time, even then you never get in when they say. They have one machine broken down and its put them behind.

Glad to hear that your treatment went so well Cheers Jo xx

well i have had two lots of radiation. i had lumpectomies on both sides .i was concerend about issues with lymph flow from surgery and radiation. the right side i had 11 nodes taken, one had cancer. the left side was only the sentinel node.

 one operation was in 1998, the other in 2003.

when i went the first time to radiation, the waiting times were not long; it all seemed to run like clockwork. i would drive in each day 65 kms away. it took about an hour to drive in, then radiation , then the drive home. all up about 2 1/2 hours.

the second time there was a bit of a backlog of people waiting for treatments, but i think in some places this may be worse even. i had my treatment at the launceston general hospital in tasmania.

my skin held up pretty well. i used sorbolene cream religiously. the nipples went a lighter colour after treatment. they have stayed that way. the skin on breast has settled back to normal pretty much now. it was slightly darker, like a tan sort of i think i remember.  

 i had a few scanning light laser treatments not long after radiation treatments, and i think this has helped to settle lymph flow, pain, stiffness and speeded healing of soft tissue. my movement is good on both sides, but i have to be careful with how much i do, or i can cause discomfort, stir up lymph and make arm swell a bit. i had an axillary clearance on the right side, and a sentinel node clearance on the left side.

the lymph drains into the neck, more so on the left side of the body, than the right.

 i think i also had some slight radiation to left side of lung when i had treatment in 2003. it has settled down ok.

it took some time to adjust to the new me and how my body was now, but i have done that and life is chugging along ok, somewhat slower than when i was 42 and menopause hit me like a ton of bricks after chemo in 1998. i am now 55, my children are young adults, my marriage ended, but i am content and have had many blessings since my diagnosis of BC ( even though i have had some rough times also. now i try and go day by day, trying to accept what life throws at me and dealing with whatever happens. )

 good luck with your treatments. kathy.

well i have had two lots of radiation. i had lumpectomies on both sides .i was concerend about issues with lymph flow from surgery and radiation. the right side i had 11 nodes taken, one had cancer. the left side was only the sentinel node.

 one operation was in 1998, the other in 2003.

when i went the first time to radiation, the waiting times were not long; it all seemed to run like clockwork. i would drive in each day 65 kms away. it took about an hour to drive in, then radiation , then the drive home. all up about 2 1/2 hours.

the second time there was a bit of a backlog of people waiting for treatments, but i think in some places this may be worse even. i had my treatment at the launceston general hospital in tasmania.

my skin held up pretty well. i used sorbolene cream religiously. the nipples went a lighter colour after treatment. they have stayed that way. the skin on breast has settled back to normal pretty much now. it was slightly darker, like a tan sort of i think i remember.  

 i had a few scanning light laser treatments not long after radiation treatments, and i think this has helped to settle lymph flow, pain, stiffness and speeded healing of soft tissue. my movement is good on both sides, but i have to be careful with how much i do, or i can cause discomfort, stir up lymph and make arm swell a bit. i had an axillary clearance on the right side, and a sentinel node clearance on the left side.

the lymph drains into the neck, more so on the left side of the body, than the right.

 i think i also had some slight radiation to left side of lung when i had treatment in 2003. it has settled down ok.

it took some time to adjust to the new me and how my body was now, but i have done that and life is chugging along ok, somewhat slower than when i was 42 and menopause hit me like a ton of bricks after chemo in 1998. i am now 55, my children are young adults, my marriage ended, but i am content and have had many blessings since my diagnosis of BC ( even though i have had some rough times also. now i try and go day by day, trying to accept what life throws at me and dealing with whatever happens. )

 good luck with your treatments. kathy.

I dont know if it is all hospitals or not. But Royal Perth Hospital is shocking. At the moment i wait about an hour after my appointment time  each day if my appointments are later in the day/early evening. If i go morning or lunch time there is always a long wait.  Royal Perth now stay open till 7:30pm and open on Saturdays  to help with the overload.  Cheers Jo xx

Hi Monica, Well done with completing the chemo and now your on the journey home.  Dont feel nervous about what might happen. You have just had chemo so this will be a breeze. I used sorboline cream every night and morning, although i did miss two or three mornings. I have only in recent days come up with blisters around my breast line and on the center of my chest that have burst and gone into  weeping redness and sores. It is very red under my arm area but the skin has not broken.Fingers crossed it wont.

What does worry me about the radiation is that my chest wall and under my ribs is very sore after treatment. It feels like a stitch in your side but under the rib. I am going to see the my GP tomorrow to make sure it is not my lung because where the rays go it captures the corner of the lung.

You meet so many new people going to treatment. At mine we all have a thing going to see who gets in first and how long the waiting time is daily to be seen (my first week was between two and 3 hours wait each day)

Good luck with the treatment , it just drags on a bit and having to go 5 days weekly is a pain but thats the way it is.  Lucky for you there is some public holidays coming up that you will be able to escape from treatment and enjoy your self over Christmas.

Good luck with everything .   cheers Jo xx