Hi
Can anyone help me I have just started rads ,had 2 ,13 to go, had 6 sessions of chemo , had recon on feb 25th and mascctomy, from back tissue.
Had swollen breast , arm at top and back wear flap done and since chemo finished feels worse, had for ages but pain and tightness worse last few weeks! Feel rads will make it even worse, seen doctors who say just take pain killer,now got sort of lycra crops to wear! sort of strechy things. any tips? x julie
Hi,
just wanted to say hope it improves matey 
Lily x
Hi Julie,
I don’t know if this will help but I wore front fastening bras that were a very soft cotton fabric immediately post op and found their support comfortable. I bought them on line from Fifty Plus. I am four months post op and just starting to wear ‘normal’ bras and chicken fillet having had two ops for excision of lump then axillary clearance.
Mail to me privately if you think I can help any more and you don’t want to discuss nitty gritty in public.
Hattie
I am doing rads at present too, had a WLE not mx with recon, so I’m not sure how applicable any of my experience is for you, but this is what I’ve been doing, for my own extremely painful and sensitive boob (a lot of the pain seems to be, for me, due to the additional fluid collecting in reaction to the burning caused by the rads, and it kicked in about the 3rd treatment in, and I’ve just now had treatment 12).
The big thing seems to me to be to make sure things stay as cool and dry as possible. I’ve tried all sorts of things for my “Boob of Fire” and what’s worked for me seems to break some of the rules I was given.
I know they say don’t use ice packs, but I have found the pain (my nipple in particular) has been eased greatly by a well-insulated chiropractic flexible icepack. I wrapped it up in a pillowcase, and then wrapped a small towel around it as well. I tend to lie on the sofa with it balanced on top of the rads region, and then again when I go to bed, as I lie on my side, I have the insulated pack to rest my boob against. But if I’m on my back, the pack is on top of me.
The rads nurses also gave me a couple of geliperms which I chill in the fridge and then slap over the hottest part of me. They are blissful, and having 2 means I can tag team them. You have to rinse them after use and store them in their original pack again with some water around them.
I’ve now had to pretty much give up on using any kind of emollient on the area as well, as it seems to make my clothing stick to me - and I don’t want my skin on my clothes - I want it on my body! Up until Thursday (11 of 20 rads) I was using radience gel, which I got from the Penny Brohn Centre, and that worked really well for me (my skin doesn’t like pure aloe vera gel, nor does it go for aqueous cream the hospital recommended).
Anyway - that’s to try to minimise the pain. Oh, and an antihistamine for the itching… Scratching being out of the question.
Clothing-wise, upper layers are immaterial for me - apart from in the hot weather you don’t want to be cooked. I’m sticking to wearing cotton tops. When I can bear a bra, I’ve used sanitary towels on the underside of the bra to catch any sweatiness below the boob.
On the bra question - I NEVER thought I’d be able to cope without a bra - I’ve got a big bust, and I thought I’d be really self-conscious about going without. I’ve been using M&S secret support vests, which I pull on upwards, rather than over my head. They do me pretty well, and they are still selling them (including as pyjama tops). The big benefit they have is no seams to rub, and because I got a larger size than I am, the band of the secret support holds but doesn’t pinch.
Your rads nurses may well have some good tips for you - they’ll have seen other women who have had mx and recon before rads, and perhaps will have tips from that.
Hope it all works out ok for you, whatever happens, Julie!