Radiation

I am new to this website and this is the first time I have ever posted anything to a message board. 

July 2007, I had my annual mammogram.  They called me immediately and asked for another one along with ultrasound, which I did within the week.  They saw a spot on my mammo but not ultrasound.  Said come back in 6 months for another mammo.

 Late November, while bathing I found a lump.  Thought I was just imagining it, so waited a couple weeks; had my husband check it out; then I called a nurse for a nurse breast exam.  Went in the same day I called her.  She said do another mammo  now, which I did Christmas Eve along with an ultrasound.  That time it showed on both the  mammo and ultrasound.  When the Dr. visited with me, he indicated they had been watching this area for 4 years.  I was  astounded.  All my reports they had mailed to me said everything was fine.  I am feeling a little betrayed.  Anyway, they did the biopsy.  It was cancer; ended up with a lumpectomy.  I see oncologist tomorrow to set up for radiation. 

 However, in reading your message board tonight, I am a little scared.  Did a lot of you have bad results with radiation?  Did anyone have good results?

 I have a family history of lots of cancers; one sister had cancer in a salivary gland and they did radiation.  It was really ugly. 

 Help, if anyone knows something I should know tonight, I would appreciate feedback.  Thank you.

I'm no Doctor, in fact I'm a patient of tonsil cancer. But lucky for me, one of my best friends is also my radiation oncologist. I've known him a long time, long before my condition.

Radiation is a very effective treatment for certain cancers and if your doctors feel it is right for you, then it is right for you. I would not worry about that part. I know by having my radiation oncologist friend for years, he has used radiation for breast cancer many many times. You have plenty to worry about, let the doctors worry about the method.

Radiation can be terrible in terms of side-effects, but largely due to where it is being shot at. I think you mentioned somone getting radiation on a salivary gland. Radiation in the throat area is terrible, as I know. You can't eat, swallow, drink, mouth pain is horrible. My step-mom and friends mom both just recently went through 35 radiation treatments for breast cancer and did a whole lot better than I'm doing having it in my throat.

Just make sure you are in the right facility, comfortable w/ your team and follow their instructions. You'll be fine.

God bless and good luck

Rick 

I had 31 radiation treatements of which the last five were boosts ending on July 19, 2007.  I don't know if I am the norm or not but I really went through the ordeal totally uneventful.  I had a busy shedule at that time and did not experience any fatigue to stop me from...every morning going to see my mom in rehab at 7 AM, the going to work, an hour after arriving at work walking 5 blocks to radiation, walking five blocks back to my job, staying until 5 PM, going back to see my mom until 7:30 PM...going home, making dinner, sometimes doing some laundry.  I was told by the Radiation Dr. to use Eucertin 3 times per day to avoid skin problems.   I hate to admit this but I did not like the greasiness so only used it faithfully once a day (right after treatment) and sometimes twice a day.  I had no skin reactions so I was lucky. I also wore camisoles (as recommended by the Radiation Dr.) and she was right.  Do get yourself some if you don't have any.  Forget your bra for the month plus that you will be going to treatment.  I hope this helps...Good Luck and May God Bless.

I had radiation and a lumpectomy 18 months   ago the radiation was no problem I think now they are doing even fewer treatments instead of the 33 that I had. My biggest problem was the underarm lymph node removal. I am still having numbness and weakness in that arm. My  cancer also was there       for at least five years and when they removed it it was still very tiny. It was day surgery and I was back home five hours after I went in for surgery with a Percocet for pain and an ice pack. Back at work in two weeks and never missed a day at work during radiation.

Don't be too concerned about the radiation side effects.  Unlike other type of cancer such as head & neck it is pretty uneventfull.  If you undergo the standard 7 weeks (they have newer shorter radiation therapies) you can expect to have some redness of the skin but since I have very sensitive skin I brought this to the attention of my radiologist before treatment and she was able to give me a radiation cream, Biafine.  I was able to apply this after treatment and at night (had to take it off before treatment).  It helped tremendously even the radiologist commented on how well my skin tolerated the radiation.  An accumulation of radiation can also cause fatigue.  I have a part time job and was able to keep up with that but once I was home and hit the couch, I was done for the night.  I would wake up feeling okay but as the day progressed the tiredness set in.  It is like being a gas tank and when it is empty, it is empty.  Once treatments are done that will subside.  I went on to develop "frozen shoulder" a couple months after treatment but this is not a common occurrence.  You'll do fine and if you have any concerns or notice any problems with treatment i in progress, bring it to the attention of your doctor right away so it can be dealt with before it becomes an issue such as the skin redness.