Starting radiation
Hello all, I will be starting radiation tomorrow. I had a complete pathological response after 6 months of chemo and a double mastectomy with complete axillary node removal and DIEP recon. But since I am young and had TNBC I was advised to have radiation to mop up strays as they say. I am terrified of radiation and always have been even more than chemo. So I would like to hear from anyone who has been through radiation. How was the experience for you? Especially if you had it to your sub-clavicular nodes (neck). Do you still have scars? skin changes? tightness?lymphoedema? Any tips or tricks? I will be having a total of 15 sessions (40Gy). Any advice or stories welcome :) Thanks.
Radiation, driving and fatigue
I was hoping to hear about any experiences of driving and fatigue while undergoing radiation. I've been told to be aware of fatigue. The radiation oncologist and nurses have raised concerns and eyebrows when I've told them it's a one hour drive door to door, so two hour round trip x 15 sessions. I'm also maintaining hope that I can continue working part time in an outdoors job where lately I'm doing 14k+ steps a day. Ultimately I'm going to see how it goes. I'm not going to break myself. If I get too tired then I have backup people to help with the driving (public transport isn't an option around here), reduce my activity at work or take leave, or get accommodation near the hospital for some of the sessions. I'm wondering if some people have got through radiation without fatigue? Or if fatigue has occurred has it affected driving? And how fast the fatigue appears - might you have been okay one morning and zonked in the afternoon?
Starting Radiation
Hi All, Tomorrow I will starting my first of 15 rounds of Radiation. What recommendations for creams post treatmen for skin burn. I was given samples of QV cream and LaRoche-Posay Lipikar baume and Cicaplast Baume B5. I already have Dermaveen and Sorbolene Cream at home. Thanks AllRadiotherapy and exercise
Hello everyone - After a DCIS diagnosis and lumpectomy with a re-excision I now have clear margins and, although I could have refused radiotherapy, I have opted in as it is still standard treatment. And I wasn’t prepared ‘to roll the dice’ as my surgeon put it. I will have about a three-quarter hour train commute and a 10 minute walk each way from the train station. So all up I reckon it’s going to be three and a half or so hours each day. I have heard that exercise helps combat the fatigue. My question is - yoga? I’ve found a fabulous YouTube yoga by Lisa Moore which is about thirty minutes, gentle stretches etc. Walking I could definitely do in fine weather. I also have a rowing machine at home that I enjoy. Have people kept up resistance training while going through radio? I work four days a week but I can be fairly flexible about hours. Any survival tips welcome!
Taxol side effects
Hi all, I’m starting paclitaxel chemotherapy this week (once a week for 6 weeks). I’m wanting some insight into how I might feel. It’s a busy time of year and I’m a single mum. We have dance concerts and holidays booked. Is it like a hangover? Or more like a bad flu where I’ll struggle to get out of bed. What are the main things I will struggle with? I am going to do ice and to try avoid neuropathy and hair loss. Many thanks for your insights 🙏🏽
Radiotherapy side effects
Hello I began chemotherapy in April this year for triple negative breast cancer and 2 weeks ago I finished 13 cycles of chemo. I now can have a lumpectomy followed by 3 weeks of radiotherapy. Due to some side effects of radiotherapy, I was looking at my options of removing the whole breast which I then could avoid radiotherapy as both options have the same survival rate. I have had sarcoid of the lungs in past and lot of severe gerd pain which I’m on medication for recently due to chemo. Has anyone got any experience with longterm side effects from radiotherapy they could share? Thank youWhat The Heck Radiation and Chemo? What to do and the side effects, are freaking me out.
In July, I had a mastectomy with lymph nodes out, then they found cancer somewhere else in the body with completely no relation to the breast cancer. If the breast cancer wasn't enough. So, now I have to deal with the other cancer site, which is colorectal, and I have just had an appointment with the radiation and chemo doctors at Royal Brisbane Women's, and I don't mind admitting I'm freaking out. The side effects of the 50/50 cure seem to be so much worse than the actual disease. Yes, I know that the disease, if left to run riot, equals, you know. But, after all these years of funding and funding, why do we not have something better? It's so weird that since my surgery, I have had posts popping up on my socials left right, and centre. Like the "Cure from Japan with Bee Venom" seriously makes me want to find a hive and fly into one with wanton abandon. A "Breakthrough in South Korea, scientists can turn cancer cells back to normal cells," .. Say WHAT? (frantically looking up flights to S Korea) Then there is Ivermectin, Febendazole, and something blue? I mean, I have never paid attention to these things before, but now, my ears prick to the slightest twitch and rustle, like a kid who hears a lolly bag open within a 10-mile radius. I can't help it, I am confused about everything, am I the only one? When I confronted the chemo doctor about all of my concerns and questions, he said If you don't do this, you will be in palliative care in 3 months .. What, hang on what the heck???? I mean, just like that, he said that without any pause or thought, I was never advised that before, and then said, "Whatever you decide, we start therapy on the 28th July, and proceeded to walk out. This journey is brand new; everything has happened since July, and it is no lie, akin to riding a faulty wooden roller coaster with loose nuts, bolts, and rotting timber, operated by a maniacal, crazy clown, in the middle of a thunderstorm, who looks like he has been dragged through a hedge backwards. Just to clarify, the clown is the cancer. I have questions, a thousand of them, with no end of these questions in sight. Where are the natural alternative therapies, like, singing bowls, or is humming drums? What about the milk from an Aztec goat? Yeah, or the petals from a rare flower that only grows on top of some hidden temple in the Amazonian forest, which, on recent reading, is currently swarming with giant anacondas in a breeding frenzy, ugh! Ok, I made up the goat and flowers. No, there is only radiation and chemo. Sigh! I don't know what to do with this option. I have been told my cycle will be 28 days straight of radiation with chemo. I can look forward to a burning bum hole, diareah, burnt skin, possible issues with legs and bladder, and kidneys, and all sorts of other stuff. However, I was told that everyone is different and responds differently. Well, I have to say I don't feel that comforted at all. I am overwhelmed. If anyone can share with me their experience with radiation and chemo, I would love to hear from you. And if anyone knows where I can get my hands on an AZTEC goat in Brisbane, I would love that too!! Goats are ravenous but cute.Radiation Fibrosis Syndrome
Hi everyone!!!! I was diagnosed with BC last year. I had DCIS and IDC......I had conserving surgery partial mastectomy with a flap reconstruction done......I had my yearly follow up in June this year and the mammogram and ultrasound picked up a mass....I had the biopsy straight away and it didn't contain any cancer cells......It was necrotic tissue. So I had to go back to Breast surgeon 3mths later which was last week....She said I was fine....I saw my radiation oncologist the day later for my routine check up......He told me I have radiation fibrosis syndrome.......I have pain daily and have trouble with the tendon at the front of my arm pit and pain in my arm, breast and left side of my breast. He told me it wont get better but will probably get worse and if I can't handle the pain he will give me medication which settle down the inflammation in the under lying cells which were damaged through the radiation. I was wondering if anyone out there has had this and if anyone knows if I should just have the whole breast removed.....I would be grateful to hear from you.....I don't like the idea of living the rest of my life with daily pain and restricted movement in my arm. Thank you :)
Feeling cold all the time
Anyone else feeling cold all the time after treatment? Had surgery and radiotherapy last year & started Letrozole in June. Had a few side effects from the Letrozole - occasional hot flush, big weight gain, occasional trouble sleeping (but that could be because my brain comes up with plot ideas as I'm an author...lol), diarrhea. Continual fatigue since radiotherapy. Anyway now it's autumn and although the temps are around 20 I'm feeling cold all the time. Rugged up, sit wrapped in a blanket, etc. I simply cannot get warm. Never used to feel this cold until the temps were in the low single digits...lol
