Everything has happened so quickly with me. I was diagnosed following a routine mammogram at the beginning of November. I had surgery on the 11th December and don’t need chemo. I am booked in for a rads pre-treatment session on Monday 4th January with three weeks of Rads starting on 14th Jan. I did have a wobbly about it before Christmas because I had till then just gone along with what I had been told, but the breast care nurse was very understanding and said I could postpone it but I have come out of the ‘fog’ and have now decided to get on with it and get it over!
They have recommended a moisturiser called Doublebase gell, which they will give on prescription - has anyone else used this?
First full week starts today…not looking forward to trying to juggle everything with school run, and work at the end of the week and travelling to hospital. Noticed at least one machine breaks down daily, luckily mine hasn’t so far, and can mean delays up to 2 hours Roll on the weekend!
Well done Nicki and Kazglass for leading the way! Happy New Year everyone!
I have my first blast on Thurs…all my appointments are early (mostly 8.48 - weird time?) so I hope they will not be running late by then and I will be in and out promptly.
Started my Tamoxifen on Sat too…no particular side effects yet though not sleeping well…don’t know if that’s related.
I’ve managed to start running a little again in the last week…hoping I can continue during rads but will have to see how the tiredness goes. Plus a bit concerned about friction/pressure from sports bra on delicate skin. Yesterday when I came back from my run I couldn’t get my sports bra off over my head and had to call my 18 year old son to help…poor boy!
Hope everyone’s ok…going to buy E45 lotion today x
Had my 3 rads last week no problems except one of the machines broke while I was on it! Then I’ve suddenly got a trapped nerve in my shoulder/neck I can’t believe the pain. To cap it all my app got cancelled yesterday !!! Still in pain so have had to go off work which wasn’t my plan at all .
Hopefully rad will go to plan today , boob is fine using e45 lotion when I remember it’s just slightly pink
Hi girls, had my first of 20 today - all fine. I was inspired by someone else in the waiting room who arrived in her running gear having run to her appointment, so might give that a go (though perhaps not tomorrow as my appointment is at 8.18…eek!)
Bought E45 lotion and Diprobase cream for good measure…moisturise, moisturise!
Don’t overdo it work wise Nicki, your body will need enough rest to be able to repair (and that’s why I’m sitting with my feet up watching Homes Under the Hammer…I think my brain has completely atrophied!!) x
Might just get to join the ‘party’ this month, and then go all the way through Feb AND into March! I found out today that, if I don’t choose ‘extensive’ surgery to remove ribs and reconstruct the rib cage, the recommendation is for 33 rads - that’s six and a half weeks!! I was expecting 15-25 so a little bit shell shocked!
Hi ladies hope it’s ok to jump on board and join your chat.
Ive had my first three rads this week, due to have 20 in total. I’m getting paranoid about my skin breaking open and my nurse told me yesterday this is more common in larger ladies and that’s my category! Will it be a few weeks yet before I notice any skin sensertivity, I seem to be spending ages looking st myself to see if I’m going pink yet. I am using E45 as suggested by my nurse.
I seemed to breeze through my chemo but I’m finding the thought of 4 weeks radio much more daunting.
Hi ladies hope it’s ok to jump on board and join your chat.
Ive had my first three rads this week, due to have 20 in total. I’m getting paranoid about my skin breaking open and my nurse told me yesterday this is more common in larger ladies and that’s my category! Will it be a few weeks yet before I notice any skin sensertivity, I seem to be spending ages looking st myself to see if I’m going pink yet. I am using E45 as suggested by my nurse.
I seemed to breeze through my chemo but I’m finding the thought of 4 weeks radio much more daunting.
Thanks for the hugs, nickif. I am indeed feeling **bleep**!
Has anyone heard of any one else receiving 33 rads? I’m really scared about what that number of rads could do to my skin. It will definitely leave me with weakened ribs, according to the onc
Hi Nickif thanks for replying, I guess this whole experience is scary, and probably makes us all a little paranoid from time to time. How many are you having? X
Hi butterfly, thanks for the reply, I have been told most of what you said apart from I was told no aqueous cream and only E45. I will start with the loose clothing from Monday and ditch my bra, I’m going to see about buying a vest top type Tshirt in a smaller size to ‘hold me in place’!
I shall all ask about physio next week, I had wanted to join weight watcher this week but when my nurse found out she stopped me as they dint want me loosing weight while having treatment, gives me a good excuse to finish these Christmas chocs!
Nickif you must be slightly ahead of me with your rads, I’m due to finish 2nd Feb and can’t wait to get my life back and return to work.
T4t, a lady I saw today was on her last of 28 sessions (I think for cervical or uterine rather than breast). Perhaps worth asking your rads team whether you get a smaller fraction but just more of them (so total dose similar to those of us having 15 or 20) as if so it shouldn’t be any harder for your skin. And like Butterfly says, lots of people don’t have probs anyway so hopefully you’ll be fine.
Still a pain to go every day for so long though…sorry to hear that X
Thank you for the link, it looks perfect and who can argue with the price, I shall pop into asda tomorrow.
Ive been on the sick,since mid august when I started my chemo, the,company I work for have been great a very supportive. They haven’t wanted me too work at all during treatment and have paid my full wage the whole time I’ve been off. I do miss work tho and being off is just making me very lazy. Can’t wait to get back Into a routine again,
Hi ladies hope everyone is well … been a bit of a mixed week with machines breaking down & lots of waiting around , to cap it all had to in on a Saturday as they’ve cancelled next Friday to get a new machine in !! My shoulder is still hurting from a trapped nerve been to osteopath x 3 this week !!
Tit4tat I’m so sorry you’ve got to go through that many rads I’ve got 20 which was increased from 15 & felt pissed off
I’ve also got the asda bras been wearing them since my op & I quite like them
Also using e45 lotion like I’ve said before , if anyone else is a member of costco they half 2 500 ml bottles for £7.99 , my boob just goes a bit pink in the shower which I was worried about cause I had an abscess & it’s new skin
Felt a bit low last night & today not sure why and after 8 rads I’m definitely getting more tired
Anyway hope everyone else is well, hopefully soon be over
How are you today Nickif ? How is your rads going , I’m starting to feel a bit tired now it’s like a weariness I do most things in slow motion lol .
My shoulder is a little better as is my mood … even though they’ve bloody changed another date & I’ve got to do another Saturday! !! I did have a moan about it which isn’t me at all but what can you
Tit4tat I’m glad you’re getting more info from here about what to expect with you having a rare ca it must be really hard to get info
3rd session done…still feeling ok and no sign of skin reddening yet (moisturise moisturise!). All extra early ones this week so might be feeling tired by the end of the week. I’m quite wakeful in the night, prob due to Tamoxifen but hoping that will settle. I seem to sleep better at night if I have a snooze on the sofa in the evening, which seems counter-intuitive but there you go!
Are you giving the gym a rest Nicki, given your comments below? I did a short run yesterday, and have signed up to rejoin a beginners running course from next week but will have to see how the energy levels go.
Well done Dizzy and Di, and glad you got a helpful response about your mega-course T4t.
Well done everyone for getting through so far and congrats to those in or near single figures of rads left. Hope your cold is getting better Nicki and everyone is holding up with the travelling and relentless frequency of it al.
Letter from the hospital today; ‘We are pleased to offer a CT planning appointment…’ like it’s some all expenses paid holiday!!! Anyway, happening on Monday and was told to expect rads to start within 2 weeks of that, so it looks like I’ll just make it into the Jan rads group. I will also start the Feb thread and will get to join in the March one too with my mega dose of 33 rads! Nervous about my poor skin and dreading the 30-40 min each way trip to the hospital, but just want to get started now.
Good news Tat that you are closer to getting going, and glad that your cold is getting better Nicki. When you’re not at work make sure you do plenty of sitting with your feet up rather than running around doing stuff at home!!
I had #5 today so a quarter of the way through. All fine so far, feeling good (sunshine and blue skies here in Brighton really helps!)
Still moisturising a couple of times a day, no sign of redness yet but decides to go bra- free today anyway. Some tenderness on my scar but not major so can’t complain.
Tamoxifen seems to be ok so far too…generally waking once in the night needing the loo and slightly disturbed sleep generally but not too bad given that it’s early days. Also still feeling mildly sick and fuzzy tongue most of the time but not sure if that’s still chemo legacy or the Tamoxifen. I was thinking yesterday, in normal times if I felt like this I’d be moaning about how I just haven’t felt properly well for ages, but because of where I’ve been I’m thinking, ‘I feel great!’ It’s all relative I suppose!
Roll on the weekend!
Sounds like it was tough, but do-able (just about). All the best with the lingering s/effects xxx