Can I offer something?
I’m a few years older and unfortunately have a very aggressive cancer and 7 nodes affected so I had pretty heavy duty rads from the chin down to my waist after chemo.
What I wanted to offer is that despite this I had no side effects whatsoever from the rads. It isn’t inevitable that you have hardened skin, or even a burning sensation or even ‘tiredness’!
xxx
Hi
Again, excellent explanation Lemongrove.
I finished rads at the end of November last year following 6 rounds of TAC chemo and I didn’t get any side effects at all from the rads, it was a breeze compared to chemo. I even got used to travelling 40 minutes each way to hospital everyday, it was like going to work after a bit!
Ultimately, you have decide what is best for you but personally I just think you have to give it all you have got and at least you know you have given it 100% should the blasted thing come back.
Amanda xx
I would always have anything on offer even for one per cent difference in stats.Out of 100 women in your situation 20 will have a recurrence without rads.rads will reduce that by x% so you have have x more chances of being ok.Even if it is 1% that could be your 1%,your chance of beating it.Rads isnt too bad you know,you owe it to yourself to do what you can.
good Luck
Valxx
Dear Mazonga, Cancer is a real wake up call for us to look at our lives, every aspect of it… the physical, emotional and spiritual… Essentially out immune system can’t cope any more and that’s why we got sick.
The radiotherapy can be very hard for some people and only you can decide as to whether it is worth it or not. Of course the medical profession will encourage you to have the full works, that’s what they are trained to do. But there is a whole world out there of differing opinions, treatments and philosophy around disease and health.
If you would like to PM me I would be happy to say more.
Best wishes
Leadie
I found radiotherapy totally and utterly degrading. I hated everything about it and it made me really unhappy throughout it and for ages afterwards. I felt very vulnerable, bald, saggy and scarred being laid out on a table topless with men poking me into position.I had young men through out it…didnt help!
It is safe to say that regardless of how my life turns out, i would never ever have radiotherapy again. I am really glad most find it easy compared to chemo but that wasnt my case. I am 33 however and i needed to throw everything at IT.
My histology was similar to yours and i do think its our age that means we are “over treated” but if that means we have a long life, i can just about cope with it all.
Take care
S
Had A look round the radiotherapy department at St. James, LEEDS today, open afternoon. Just me, my partner and a lady with brain tumour and her partner. Journey there was fraught, parking in the huge multi storey even worse. Staff were lovely, very informative, looked at the equipment ,was persuaded to lie on the contraption with the arm support thing. That felt so un dignified and vulnerable even with my clothes on. I’d hoped this would have helped me feel more at peace with my decision to undergo treatment, but I,ve just looked at LD flap recon forum and ladies seem so positive with their outcome,
Also why has my asthma become so bad now?are my lungs telling me they don’t want irradiating, is it stress or have several mammograms done some damage
My diagnosis was 42MM high grade DCIS, clear margins, on a scale of 0-9 to determine chance of recurrance I was assessed as 8(hence MX option), don’t think I can stand the stress much longer, Had op 23rd Nov, seems like a lifetime ago, if I don’t make a definative decision soon I’m sure I’m going to end up with some stress related illness, husband also looking s–t at the moment.
I hated going through radiotherapy, particularly the feeling of being a piece of meat laid out on a slab whilst the professionals talked over me, but I got more used to it after the first 2 or 3 sessions. Try to view it as a not so pleasant necessity, perhaps a bit like having a smear test? No one likes it, but we’ve got to do it.
My biggest problem with the rads was that I’ve been trained in my job (working in nuclear power) to do everything possible to avoid exposure to radioactivity, so to allow myself to be subjected to high energy X-rays went against everything I’ve been taught.
Once I’d rebelled against wearing the stupid breast gown I felt a little more in control of my own treatment and that helped.
I’m now 3 months after rads and the only continuing side effect is stiffness of the chest muscle on the BC side, which I can overcome with exercise. For something that probably gives me a 20% improved chance of survival I think that is a small price to pay.
Hi
I had MX, chemo and 25 rads. Finished rads in March 2010. I have a bit of a suntan on the area, other than that no problem. My skin held up very well and what soreness there was soon cleared up.
I only felt tired by going to the hospital very day for 5 weeks, the rads didn’t have any tiredness effects.
It is only 5 weeks compared with the rest of our lives its a very small price to pay. I am so keen to live that I will take anything on offer to help that to happen.
Please ask for something to take to help you to cope, the time will pass very quickly.
Marian
cHESHIRE CHEESE- What a good way of looking at it, I hate having cervical smears too!!Had my first one in nine years just before christmas after breast cancer I realised my body’s not infallable!!
I’m sorry to hear some of you had such bad experiences with your rads. During an earlier treatment, I found the people in my unit both efficient and caring. I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the process, but I found silly humour helped. Some of the units had pictures of natural settings on the ceiling to look at, but for some reason the room I was assigned to had lost its ceiling picture.
I managed to work about half way through and had very few SEs except for tiredness. I lost a small patch of underarm skin a week or so after treatment finished, when I had gone back to work in a building which tends to be overheated.
Cheryl
Hi, heard on my local radio station today that radiotherapy is more effective than chemo and some ladies do not understand how effective it is at curing cancer - just thought I would put this out there in the hope that it helps anyone unsure of rads.
I am 3 months post rads and am very glad my surgeon and oncologist persuaded me to have it, it has reassured me that any cancer cells left behind have been zapped and count myself very lucky I didn’t need MX or chemo.
L xxx
That’s really interesting curlylol, I was anxious when told I didn’t need chemo, especially when at dx told cos I was young I’d have to have chemo, so hopefully just rads will have zapped any remaining little bu&&ers x