Hi,
I am due to have my planning session next week,the letter does not say what they will do but that it can take half a day. When they say have you got any questions, I can’t think of any, but once I get home think of loads. I had a WLE and ANC on 9th May and worried the scars will be damaged by the rads. Also why do we have rads to the collar bone area, I know I will not think to ask next week. Gosh I am not looking forward to this next stage.
x
Thank you everyone, almost looking forward to my appointment today at 12.30 as I really want to get this bit over. They had told me 3weeks but who knows it may have changed since they told me in hospital. I will also have a 50 mile round trip for treatment which I think will end up being the tiring bit. Great idea to all support each other this month and thanks or aloa Vera tip xx
It’s nearly 2 years since I had my radiotherapy but I can remember on one occasion I did have a sort of panic attack and wanted to jump off table chair thing I was lying on. Of course I didn’t, I just counted the tiles on the ceiling and this got me through. You will be fine, as you say it is the tiredness that get to you, but just rest more if you can.
Hi everyone - just thought I would update as now two thirds of the way through the rads journey . My skin so far is holding up really well . The main issue for me is a heavy weariness that has gradually got worse and which is leaving me feeling a bit dreary and down. I am making myself move - a longish ( 1 - 2 hours ) walk nearly every day - as I read somewhere that doing some exercise is good for rads tiredness. It does make me feel better for a while but the weariness creeps back ! I am 6 weeks into taking tamoxifen so I suppose it could be a bit of a combination ? On most days I am being treated before my official appointment time so in and out quickly. One of the machines broke this week so I was cancelled on Monday ( will now finish a day later ) and on Tuesday had to wait as they were still a machine down but to be honest I expected to have to sit around waiting a lot more than I have had to. I see the oncologist once a week just for a checkup - but as I am not really having any issues with the tratment - my two meetings have been very brief. And just to finish off - I have got over my anxiety - the first couple of sessions were the worst . Hope everyone else just starting is doing ok.x
Great to hear you are coping ok with rads. And your skin too. Are you managing to drive there yourself every day?
How is the pup? Am trying to imagine a springerdoodle as I have 2 mini poodles. They are proper little lap dogs and have been constant companions through chemo and surgery.
Im still very worried about my MX scar and ANC area getting the rads. There is no flesh left there at all.
Hope you continue to get on with it ok.
Hi catzooo
My Oh is driving me as he wants to but so far I would have been ok to drive ( it is about 20 miles each way - but easy dual carriageway driving for most of it ). The pup is great thanks - she has quite a poodley face but springer colours and markings but with some poodle curls - a v cute mix - and a fun easy going personality .
ps my mum had a mx and anc in spetember last year and had 3 weeks of rads in November - she did not have any major issues with her skin/scars - she got a bit pink towards the end but no more so I hope you will be ok.
Hi my Mum went through radiation on and off for 5 years and she suffered from claustrophobia, so she was very panicky about the process. You can ask for valium before the treatment which she did for the first few which calmed her down enough to get use to it. After that she just got use to lying there. The radiation sessions never hurt her, however as she was oldish, her bum use to get a bit cold from the table, but not enough to make her wriggle around. Your fears are so normal, even though there is nothing normal about receiving radiation. I use to tell my Mum, when your in there, just picture the radiation beams (which you cant see or feel) shrinking and killing the invader. She found that psychologically helpful. Good luck
I was offered a trial on Monday which would be one week of a higher dose! I couldn’t do it so decided to stick with the original plan of 3 weeks. Talked through what to expect and now waiting again for app at oncology. That’s all I seem to do is wait!! Grrrr
Hello ladies,
I have been rading your posts with interest so thank you for sharing your experiences. I am due to begin three weeks radiotherapy shortly. Appointment with oncology next week. Part of me is looking forward to cracking on with this now LWE and SNL done. I am a bit anxious about the fatigue more than anything else as my children are 3 and 6yrs of age and I really don’t want this to impact on them. Any tips for keeping your energy up or coping with the fatigue?? Thank you in advance.
Hi everyone, been reading all your posts and thought I would let you know I finished rad treatment 8 weeks ago and getting slowly back to normal whatever normal is these days? .
The tiredness thing takes over bit although that awful fatigue feeling some of you are currently experiencing only lasted a couple of weeks. The Oncology consultant said I would not feel myself for 4-6 weeks post treatment and she was right. It is about pacing yourself and saying NO to others. Trouble is with cancer most of us look OK and so that means others will treat you as being normal despite you feeling weary. Make sure you rest if you can and the walking bit does help but only short walks. Remember the rad treatment has killed off the cancer cells but it also kills all the other healthy cells and your body is repairing all this and your immune system is working overtime!. Another tip keep away from anyone who has any ‘bugs’ as last thing any of you wants is a cold etc.
I also had panicky moments when I first went for my rad treatment and cried buckets after first one. I think the realisation that I did have b----y cancer really hit me when I got on table for first tiime. However as others have said on this blog the staff were brilliant and did try to make you feel relaxed. They were all very professional and whilst I did feel I was on a production line at times as they were so busy it soon passes.
Hope those just about to start get on Ok. Regards, Katy.
Sorry folks my post went on twice and I cant get rid of one! Katy.
Hi everyone. Just finished a post about rads when my browser shut down and I lost the lot! So second time around… I am two weeks post rads 15 plus 4 boosters to the tumour area. My skin has been pretty good overall - some itching and heat rash but found the Aloe Vera brilliant for that. Now have some peeling around the scar and a sore nipple but have been using Kamillosan for that and it has worked really well. I remembered I used it for sore nipples when I was breast feeding 25 years ago! It worked then and again in a very different scenario this time!! The worst thing has been the hardening within the breast where I had a haematoma. I am now left with a hard numb pebble shaped lump. Think that is because rads stops the healing process. Not sure if that will get better or will always be like that? Not seeing my onc for til the end of July so will have to wait and see.
Am also finding the unpredictability of the tiredness quite hard. Felt really well at the weekend but am now really tired and finding it hard to do much at all. I walk my two dogs each day for a little bit as I think some exercise and fresh air is helpful but feel a weariness throughout my whole body which is not great. Am hopeful that I am now in the worst bit and that it will ease over the coming weeks. Really ready to move forwards now and get back to feeling well. You are right Katy, we have to learn to pace ourselves and say no if necessary. Have found the Spoon Theory very helpful in explaining the tiredness to others. Google it. I read about it on another thread on here. As ever the best support comes from other fab women going through this…
Good luck to everyone doing rads at the moment. Nearly there
I had my first Rads on Monday so today was no.3. I had a melt down after the first one. As I was getting up off the table I came over dizzy and headachey. Then burst into tears. The radiologists were lovely, let me take my time to get up and dressed then marched me off to the health centre where I was offered a course of counselling. I said no, still tearful, but did drink their coffee and biscuits. I really don’t know why it affected me like that. I wasn’t too worried before I went, I know everybody says it is so much easier than chemo. I had driven there myself but didn’t feel up to driving 20 miles home so had to call mum in law to come rescue me. Then spent the rest of the day crying.
Still not sure why it has affected me like this. Maybe it was a panic attack? It is scary lying in that huge Star Trek like machine. I know I am worried about permanent damage / health issues at the end of all this. And is the radiotherapy really necessary? There are no noticeable benefits as there were with chemo (done before surgery and successfully shrunk the tumour from 8 cm to negligible fragments) then surgery (physically removing the disease).
I managed ok yesterday and today when my partner came along, well, still felt dizzy but didn’t cry! But he is back to work tomorrow so I will be on my own. I do have patient transport arranged so don’t have to drive!
This is not like me at all. I have been fine through chemo and surgery- just a day or so of worry before treatment then just got on with it.
Partner is doing his best to be supportive, he keeps asking if I am upset because it hurts. And I should be happy as getting to the end of treatment.
Oh well, off to slap on more cream…
Catzooo, I had m/x & chemotherapy and finished 15 rads in May. I felt quite down during rads, due to all the prior treatment having drained my energy already… also I think that emotions come out more at this stage of treatment. I now feel lots better and my chest is settling down. Take it easy and I hope you will feel OK too before very long. 
After m/x, if you’re high risk, then most definitely radiotherapy is recommended to destroy any cells that may still be at the m/x site. Info on this at breastcancer.org/treatment/radiation/when_appropriate
Also the links below are worth a look - I’ve been reading about the need for more funding for radiotherapy in the UK, and also about radiotherapy being used more, instead of surgery, in the future:
[color=#000000]http://www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/news-events/news/pages/20110728.aspx
[color=#000000]cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/news/archive/cancernews/2011-10-20-Radiotherapy-after-surgery-halves-rate-at-which-breast-cancer-comes-back
[color=#000000]christie.nhs.uk/about-the-christie/whos-who/our-chief-executive-officer/carolines-blog/an-underrated-treatment.aspx
[color=#000000]walesonline.co.uk/news/health/breast-cancer-welsh-non-surgery-treatment-4405930
[color=#000000]Jen.
Jen - Thanks for the links. I was a bit undecided whether to have rads or not and reading that info has helped make my mind up to go ahead.
X Yvonne
Thanks Jen. Lots of interesting reading there. Ta.
Felt better today having Rad4. More relaxed. Though they did strap me down taped my arms to the supports. Was quicker too.
Catzoo have you tried rolling onto your side and taking a couple of breaths before you try to get up off the table?
Well Walkabout survived her rads - last one yesterday ! My skin has coped really well but I am feeling like I need some new batteries and I have felt a bit tearful the last week . As I said before it is possibly my body adjusting to the tamoxifen and three weeks of radiotherapy all in six weeks.
So now it is just carry on with the tamoxifen and try to move on. Oddly I talked to two women yesterday whilst we were all waiting for our treatment and both were on their second primary - one had been clear for 14 years and the other 15 years. Bit of a reality check for me. The radiographer did say with treatment plans improving all the time she thought that would become less common going forward.I think that is what I am going to focus on.
Catzooo - I did find I developed some strange anxieties during my treatment . I put it down to the intensity of having active treatment every day - it seemed to make me more obsessed by it all. I worried about moving during treatment and the beams not going to the right place. I even rang the liason radiographer one day because I realised I had forgotton to turn my phone off and was worried it might have effected the machine. So yes I became a bit barmy : ) !!! I hope you continue to find it more bearable.
Well done Walkabout on completing your Rads! Another stage over. Time for a few of weeks R+R.
I’ve done a week now. As the week went on it did get easier. Felt much more relaxed in there. And quicker as the radiologists can get me into position faster.
Hi ALi, there is no room on the table to turn onto my side before sitting up. But happily have felt ok the last couple of days.
I am starting 5 weeks of radiotherapy tomorrow, and it was good to read your posts. I am feeling quite down and keep crying for no reason. Just want to run away and hide.
Have been applying aqueous cream as suggested by radiographer but thats all preparation I have done.
Hope I sleep tonight as I didn’t last night. OH is cooking dinner as I really can’t be bothered.
Perhaps I will feel better tomorrow??