I’ll ask ! thanks bright !
My onc said it was all to do with breast size. One of the first things he asked me was my bra size & when I said 44D, he said “It will be 5 weeks of rads for you then”! I had a tiny 7mm tumour and no node involvement. He said that bra sizes 34/36 is 3 weeks, 38/40 is 4 weeks and 42/44 and above 5 weeks. But they all have their own ideas on everything - chemo as well as rads and there seems to be no standard treatment at all.
That can’t be the case in North Wales as Im a sizeable 40e had a WLE and SNB , 15mm , no node involvement and I only had 15 rads.
Oh for standard treatments, you are right ,these oncs are a law unto themselves,would be easier for us if they were all singing from the same sheet.
Sandra x
redders mine certainly wasnt related to breast size - I was a modest 36B and had 35 days first time and 30 days second time - but no breast!
Dawn
As I understand it, the overall dose doesn’t vary all that much but the number of fractions it is split into does and with that the dose per fraction.
I suppose some oncologists might think that the choice of more smaller fractions or fewer larger ones relates to size. Whether or not you have boosters seems to depend on things like the location of the removed tumour and the margins.
Eliza xx
I had big clear margins so my onc told me lol, and my tumour was just below my nipple with some DCIS so had partial mastectomy (spelling).The invasive cancer was grade2 but the DCIS was grade3,perhaps this is why I had to have so many rads.Think I will ask at my next appointment.
best wishes Mel xxx
thanks all, It’s obviously going to vary then from what you’ve all said, from hoaspital to hospital, onc to onc and breast size too 
I would be interested to know how many have had radiotherapy after mastectomy.
Dawn
Hi again.
I was told by the breast nurse that if you have rdas over 3 weeks rather than 5 weeks (15 seesions rather than 25) the length of the zap was a little longer. It was all to do with the damage that could be done to the skin that is why i opted for the 3 weeks. (well actually i told them that i wanted it over 3 weeks unless they could give me a good reason why not and they agreed.)
For my neck that had to be over 5 weeks because of the area and the nasty side effects it causes in the mouth and throat. I am sure a lot depends on the hospital and onc. Mind you it would be interesting to know.
Hi Lupin,
That would make sense then. The zap would be longer because it is delivering more units of radiation. I think that the various bits of the START trials were looking into all this.
Dawn, I had a WLE so rads was a foregone conclusion for me.
Eliza xx
Hi Eliza
It was all to do with the damage to the skin and whether they could reduce it. The fact is noone can tell whos skin will react and why. I react after the first session and that was on the 3 weeks and the 5 weeks. They were surprised but it does happen. I have known of people that i met at the hospital that no reaction at all. All luck of the draw.
I got hot and pink quite quickly but then it didn’t ever get all that bad. A small burn and a lot of nipple peeling and pretty itchy, but not really painful. Luck seems to play a large part in the whole bc process. Lets hope we have some now!
Eliza xx
Hi Dawn,
Long time no chat!
I had 3 weeks of rads after a mastectomy.
It was recommended as and I quote
‘due to the close deep margin (1mm) there is a 5-10% risk of local recurrance without any treatment. Giving radiotherapy to the left chest wall will reduce the recurrance risk to 2-3%.’
I was then taken through the risk and benefits of radiotherapy and was able to consider it at home and took the decision to go with it.
Mx
Hi all,
I would like to add that I am 42D/44D. I had a 8mm ER+, Grade 2, nothing in the lymph nodes. I have just done one week of Rads and have 2 more weeks to go. Plus 7 Booster Sessions, although on Monday the nurse said that I may or may not have all 7 Boosters. I think they just give you extra sessions just in case you need the appointment slot.
At the moment, I feel fine. I expect, my skin will start reacting at some point though.
I do get tired but I put that down to travelling and waiting.
Getting up earlier than I normally do, looking very much to having a lie in over the weekend.
I find these pages of letters a great help to me.
Best Wishes
Whirlwind