Radiotherapy post surgery

Hi, just dx last week. Mastectomy then radiotherapy. Worried about just about everything but exposing a scar to rads has to be painful and the idea of doing that in a room with strangers also stresses me. Also am very claustrophobic , especially when I’m stressed. How have people coped with all this?

Radiotherapy is far easier than chemo or surgery.

My radiotherapy team were lovely.

All that happened was that I went pink, then red, then redder, and am now fading to brown (and back to white again in places where my skin has peeled).

Largely painless - I got a bit sore and tired right at the end of the 5 weeks of treatment and in the 10 days following, but just over two weeks post treatment I’m largely recovered.

Hi Trask1, please don’t worry about having rads, there’s really nothing to be scared of. They won’t let you start rads until your wound has healed properly, if it’s not right they will delay the start. I can honestly say that I didn’t feel a thing whilst having my rads, other ladies say they have felt a tingling sensation. Don’t worry about being claustrophobic, the room in which the linac machine is housed is BIG. You are not enclosed within a machine, it’s not like an MRI scanner. A large arm with a rectangular plate moves over you, not too close, whirs and buzzes then moves away. This happened, in my case, twice each session. From being called from the waiting room to meeting my OH there afterwards took less than 7 or 8 minutes. My unit had hospital gowns so you only exposed the area to be zapped once you were laid on the bench, others ladies say they wore a camisole type vest which they pulled up to expose the relevant area. Please don’t be worried about this, the radiographers are friendly and chatty but ultimately they are professionals who see hundreds of people each week. The only time when you are ‘inside’ a machine is when they do the planning for your rads, then a CT scanner, the one that looks like a doughnut, moves over you so that the radiographers can plan exactly where to target the radiotherapy. Whilst I was actually having my rads the radio was on and there were pictures on the ceiling, other ladies say they have taken their own music in to listen to. Hope this has helped to allay some of your worries, all the best Pat x

Thank you both for this. Saw a new consultant today who has recommended SNB before mx surgery. He was talking about possible chemo. I suppose the truth is they don’t know what treatment will be neededuntil they’ve got more pieces of the puzzle. SNB doesn’t sound like a fun day out at all! I guess I just have to take it step by step and sometime, somewhere,soembody will tell me something good. I’m finding this site so much more reassuring than trawling the net terrifying myself.

Hi Trask 1 , you obviously are at the beginning of your cancer journey. You are right when you say your treatment plan can only begin when the Consultant is sure what he/ she is dealing with. What happens is a team of people meet to discuss your treatment plan once they have your path lab report. This includes the breast surgery Consultant, the Consultant Oncologist , Consultant Radiographer Doctor , breast care nurses and others. Well at least that what happened for me. I was impressed so many clever professionals with all the 21st century equipment and drugs actually sat and discussed my case. It was reassuring I was going to get the best care and I have!.
My cancer was a primary and I had to have two wide local excisions ( WLE’s) and Sentinel Node Biopsy (SNB) and I had radiotherapy and have to take Anastrozole for five years( hormone blocking drug) .
The SNB is where a node or nodes under the arm are removed so they can be examined to see if the cancer has spread into them. There is advice on her about it if you type into the sites search engine or phone and ask the nurses.
You will find the waiting stage in between each stage the hardest, as it is usually ten days a couple of weeks between having your op then finding out exactly what the results are. When you go for results have someone with you and write down any questions no matter how silly might seem before you go. That extra pair of ears will pick up things you might miss. Ask your breast care nurse(you should have one allocated too you) or phone the Nurses on this site and they can explain some of the terminology.
Also you can ask for a copy of your path lab report which I did as I wanted to know exactly what the picture was for me.
As so many have said on this website don’t google stick with this site and the McMillan one as most sensible. Best wishes and let us know how you get on. Katy.