Hi @JL22 and @crystalbecks
Thanks for your suggestions
Yes, I think I will try to pop into a Maggie’s Centre when I’m in London next. I’m on the list for the moving forward course with them for once I have actually had further treatment.
I will get back in touch with my GP, but getting an appointment, even over the phone, seems to take weeks.
Anyway, have a good weekend everyone
Kx
I had mine last week and I know what you mean. You just start to feel kind of Ok and then have to face the big ONCOLOGY dept again. However the staff were lovely and the scan was efficient and non invasive. It really was fine and I didn’t feel at all tearful. Hope the same goes for you when you get there.
I’m blown away by the responses to this. Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. My appointment went ok, had a meltdown when I went in for the CT scan and the staff were so lovely and kind. Gave me plenty of time to calm down and the radiographer gave me a massive hug. Had my tattoos ( my first ever tattoos and won’t be rushing to get any more!) I know someone mentioned about the amount of time from surgery to radiotherapy and I had my surgery in October and start radiotherapy in March and was told it’s normal to have a gap so that you can heal properly. Also, i was told by a nurse who also had breast cancer that she drove herself to radiotherapy and she was fine and the drive actually gave her the time and space to process stuff, listen to podcasts/music in her own space before she got home. Thanks again for all your kind messages and support. I was so reluctant about reaching out as I know so many other people have it so much worse so often feel like I’m ungrateful and whinging but I’m so glad I have this space to get things off my chest with people who truly understand. All my love and luck to my fellow warriors who are battling this shit show xx
I totally understand how you are feeling. I had a lumpectomy and the 8 weeks in between were spent pretty much ignoring what was happening. The apt for the radiotherapy plan put paid to that!
The radiotherapy team were wonderful. And admittedly the radiotherapy itself was rather underwhelming. I expected dramatic music, a fluorescent lightbeam ending at my left breast, the smell of burning and a ghastly cranking machine moving around me so close that I felt claustrophobic!
It wasnt at all like that. The unknown allowed my mind to go riot obviously lol.
One step at a time. Hope it goes well for you
Hi, I have stage 4 which spread to my bones and because of pain in my back requested radiotherapy. I thought I had painful radiation burns so was wondering if I had done the right thing. I was telling my rheumatologist about it and showed him the “burns” only to be told I had shingles, lol.
I only had one session unlike most folks on here but wasn’t as bad as I thought.
Shingles still causing some pain after 4 months but getting there.
Good luck with your treatment and hope your radiotherapy goes well xx
#luna1 awaiting my next stage ( RT) you made me smile and I know I will think of you every time and probably start laughing, that should surprise the therapists. 
Don’t worry about it, you don’t feel anything. Depending on what type you have will depend on if you get sore. You do get tired from the travel. To start with you get the early appointments then you get later ones as new people start. I got permanent blue dots so they know where they need to work on. I found being on the table not in a machine, the machine goes around you. The staff are behind a screen and you are not alone, however you may feel you are on your own, I did but you are not.
Rest whenever your body tells you. I didn’t get tired for the 4 weeks I did mine but on my last full day in Florida a couple of months later it did hit me. To make you laugh I was eating ice cream in the villa and I nodded off my nose landed in my ice cream, my husband and friend laughing it was funny.
Hope you get on ok my treatment lasted about 5 minutes on the machine it takes longer to get you lined up with the machine then the actual treatment. This is my treatment other may differ depending on how much you need to have and for how long.
Good luck we are all here for you
Hi, I’m in a similar position to you, with radiotherapy pending. I’ve been for my initial appointment to have it all explained and be marked up and the staff were great, helpful, informative and reassuring. I’ve been feeling really wobbly emotionally at the thought of the radiotherapy myself. I have a number of pre-existing conditions including long term long covid ie for 4 years so I’m already coping with a lot of physical and emotional challenges. I now have daily morning nausea from the zoledronic acid infusion about a month ago and hot flushes from the Letrozole. I’ve learnt how to pace myself and cope although adding nausea and hot flushes on top hasn’t been easy to accommodate.
So I really don’t want any more nasty side effects. I’ve found the staff reassuring as well as my Someone Like Me contact. But being zapped with radiation feels so counterintuitive for good health, I think it’s only natural to feel anxious about it. The long gap from previous treatment, to allow surgery to heal, also gives time to mull and ruminate.
Unfortunately, with long covid, my brain is affected and I can’t read a lot before it gets overloaded. I wondered if some generous soul would précis any useful information from all the replies above. I start my radiotherapy on March 7 - Thursday, Friday then Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday. That’s it. If you see this 1980, do you know when you’re due to start? Maybe we could buddy each other. x
#saffron1 will be thinking of you on the 7th, I get my lumpectomy and SLNB results that day - we can do this x
Hi saffron1
I’m starting mine on the 7th (my birthday) same dates as you.
They told me at planning today after the scan they’ve seen a lesion on my kidney so I need a Ct scan with dye and I had to have a blood test as they still don’t know what hormone inhibitors.
Hope yours goes well
Sending hugs
Jackie. X
Hi nannabee, I hope your results are as positive as mine were - all cancer removed in surgery and none in lymph nodes with good recovery. I’ll be thinking of you on the 7th as well. I like this link up, thanks for replying. x
Oh gosh, Jackie, that’s tough, starting on your birthday. I hope you have some treats planned for yourself. And then having a lesion on your kidney as well. It’s all quite a process isn’t it.
My oncologist said I had a fatty liver which was at the top end of acceptable, so he wanted a scan to be sure. I was warned by the technician that the effect of the infusion to show up my liver would make it feel as though I’d wet myself. I’m glad he warned me. 
Anyway, I’m rabbiting on…I’ll be thinking of you on the 7th and sending you Happy Birthday wishes.
Do you know the date of your kidney scan? I’d like to think of you then as well.
Oh and all the best with the hormone inhibitor. I’ve been on Letrozole for 2 months now and so far I get mild hot flushes from it, otherwise it seems fine.
Take care and wishing you all the best
Kate x
I wrote earlier about having a rough time with the radiation at the beginning. I am now 2/3 of my way through and it got so much better after the first 3 times. It is so easy and organized now. I’m in and out of the hospital in 15 minutes. Don’t sweat it. It does get better. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop though. Still have only slight itching in a couple of areas and very little discoloring so far. Fatique has not hit me yet either so I am just plugging along and counting down the days. Good luck to all. I hope your radiation treatments are quick, easy and not painful.
I am one of the lucky ones who only experienced 5 consecutive days of radiotherapy, you don’t say how long you are expecting it to go on. For myself, I had no problems and nothing while undergoing it, it was a bit weird getting into the right position for where they wanted me to be on the bed and only slightly uncomfortable but I am nearly 70yo! The breathing was easy. If my appointments had been on time (all at least an hour late at Portsmouth hospital) it would have been less stressful. I felt ok until 2 weeks after when I got a few weeny, tiny blisters on my breast; also it did turn a slightly red colour. The worst bit for me was the fatigue which went on for about a week, I paced myself and had little naps in the afternoon though I know some have not got the time for that luxury. Take a deep breath and don’t freak out, you are very much not on your own with all this x
Hi some people do drive to and back from RT .Some go bacķ to work afterwards .Im retired but because the hospital is an hour away i was offered hospital transport everyday of my 5 day treatment there and back .It was brilliant sometimes you have to wait for transpirt back but its worth it .It takes away the worry of parking and is less tiring than having to drive .
Contact your hospital and see if you are able toget it
Hi there,
Mine is starting on the 7th of March, too. Five days followed by a five-day booster.
I am on a similar timescale. Had to wait around since the surgery in mid-Nov 2023. I was worried too but since the lump was excised and due to capacity issues at the hospital I had to wait to be seen by the Oncologist quite worryingly.
If I may ask, what type of moisturisers do you normally use? Is it advisable to put anything on the scar? Should the moisturiser be parfume-free?
Thank you for your advice in advance.
All the best, xxx
Hi
I’m starting my five days on the 7th March too. I was told by the oncologist yesterday I need to be moisturising three times a day from now and during the radiotherapy and to use any unperfumed moisturiser and no deodrant on the treated side.
Good luck with your treatment
Sending hugs
Jackie xx
Start 5 days radiotherapy 5th March
I was nervous for the CT scan but it wasn’t as bad as expected, I even managed DIBH fine.
The videos before made me worse not better for radiotherapy & Herceptin jabs - OTT and depressing
Good luck with it all. I was given some cream called Flamigel RT which is magic! I also used Aveeno and Aloe Vera gel. I applied to quite a wide area and yes, definitely the scar too xx