Breast Cancer Community

Aha! Add to this week's mystery the explanation
behind "#12288"...
It seems ot be gaining on me!!

Rachael,

Thanks for keeping this up!

I've been absent for a little while as I tried to absorb some nice weather we had for a few days to get my mind off "things". Just found out through a PET scan I may have a possible tumor in my right femur which may or may not have anything to do with the breast cancer. What scares me is the thought of the type of biopsy that I've read about which may need to be done to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant and if malignant, what type of cancer. All this after doing the bilateral mastectomy and chemo!

Trying to keep the head up....

Please ask questions of your medical team! Let them know your concerns. You'd hate to have wasted perfectly good worry which you may need sometime in the future!!

Unfortunately, I don't have first hand knowledge of such biopsies so I can't help. Hopefully, maybe someone else will. But ask! You may happily learn some reassuring answers! I willray for that. I will also put you on the VIP list while you wait. Okay?

Blessings.
Rachael

Hi Rachael,

Can you please send me a copy of what you're trying to post when you get that weirdness at the end?

Please send to exchangemanagement@webmd.com and put Attention: Caprice in the subject line.

Thanks!

Thanks, Rachael, for your prayers. Looks like I have the go ahead to start radiation this week for the breast cancer just waiting to hear what day. The radiation oncologist nurse mentioned for now we'll take a "wait and see" approach with it which is actually fine with me at this point. From what I've read, I don't think I want to bother with any biopsies, surgery, chemo, or radiation to my leg for this. At this point it's a quality of life thing for me since I'm a very active person. Another scan in the future to see how "it" is behaving is the route I'll go (considering no other scans of that area exist for comparison). I'll be praying it's just benign.

Thanks again, Rachael!

Its in the email!

Rachael

7 more treatments after today's 3pm appt. The radiologist and PA said my last day is 4/2, good friday. What an easter present.....At least the bunny rabbit will take the cancer away from me..LOL!!!

Everything is going good - outside of the usual shooting pains (sometimes very mild to severe), redness, itchiness(that just started!), and tiredness. Still working my job through all this radiation with minimal time off.

Jen

Jen,

Good to hear everything is going well! Can you give me some tips about the radiation? I just got the call today that I start tomorrow morning. Are you using anything for the redness and itching? Are you able to use a regular bra? What does your doctor recommend for the shooting pains? At what time of day do you do your radiation treatments? How long are they?

Sorry about all the questions just nervous about tomorrow....lollol

Jen,

Already had you on the upcoming Passenger List for 4/2, CELEBRATION DAY!!!

Glad to hear things are going fairly well, but I know how much you are looking forward to being done!!

blessings.
Rachael

So tomorrow is your first day...and the count-down begins!

I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is. I would bet that the first day will be the longest as it is usual for them to use that day to mark or tattoo spots so that the beam is always aimed correctly. They will also make a foam form which will be used exclusively for you during all the txs...Again insuring the aim of the xray.

After that is done, your appointments will be a real snap! In and out...It will take you much longer to get there and to strip and then dress than any txs!

They will give you creams and/or suggest salves to use to keep the skin healthy. Do NOT use deodorant prior to the procedures nor any kind of cream except pure aloe (But DOUBLE CHECK THAT! That is what I was told...Make sure your doctor agrees!!) Some items will not allow the rays to penetrate!

It was suggested that I not wear a bra during this period, but that was not comfortable for me. I was able to find a very soft yet supportive sports bra (Hilliard & Hansen?) which was a compromise and worked.

I only have experienced a minimal of discomfort from the rads. But everyone is individual.

I hope this gives you a bit of info so that you can be a mite reasured. We will make sure we are all aboard Pinkie to accompany you tomorrow!

blessings.
Rachael

PS...I see where Nora (ncw43) is also beginning tomorrow...Maybe you Gals can compare notes!

Thanks, Rachel!

Thankfully I had the tatooing and form done already in a previous visit. I was nervous about the tattoing at first because I thought it would be very noticeable. Thankfully the dots are smaller than a mole making them barely noticeable. So tomorrow will be strictly the treatment I'm assuming. Good to hear I'll spend more time undressing than the treatment itself. I do have some soft bras I bought when I transitioned from the surgical bra to sports bras after my surgery. I'll have to test those out to see how they feel. With my tissue expanders, I may be able to go braless but prefer not to. I like some support even if they stay up on their own but gravity still must have some effect, no?

I'll write back as I go along to let everyone know how it's going.

Thanks for Pinkie!

Hi bc ....today is the day! did you get tattooed yet? they put you on the table to measure you for radiation and mark you with a small "dot". you can't see it with your eye but the machine picks it up. It looks like a freckle.

I am using eucerin. I still get itchy during the day so I have lotion here on my desk that I put on. Helps! The itching started about 3 1/2 weeks into radiation. Not right away. The redness came about 3 weeks into it. You can see where its beaming on your skin. The color of mine is posted note pink. Not terribly red like a 2nd degree burn. I doubt it will get any redder.

I am not using a regular bra. I bought sports bras ( walmart has them - buy about 3 sizes larger - I am a 34A and I bought a 38). You don't want them tight. My incision is on my right breast, at the 6pm site underneath my breast. I am thinking that the elastic would cut into my breast. I probably will use the sports type bras until summertime (which will be 6 months after the lumpectomy - that was 12/15/09).

the radiologist didn't give me any pain meds for the shooting pain. They might creep up on you the 1st week but went away at the 2nd. The 3rd week was my worst, the shooting pains came back and stayed with me ever since. They come every hour or so for a second. Some are very mild and others are very excrutiating. You will have them for at least a year or so. They said it may be longer but I've heard from people its only that long. We'll see what happens with me.

I arranged my radiation time for 3pm. I changed my work hours to 6:30-2:30. The procedure lasts about 5-6 minutes. What I do is, check in at the front desk using a scanner barcode at the front desk, walk to the machine control room door and peek in and tell them I am there, go into the dressing room and put the gown on (bring your clothes with you, I conceal my sports bra in my folded shirt), maybe wait for a minute in the waiting area for them to call you in (some days you might come in and they take you in right away - the longest I had to wait was 30 minutes when the machine kept breaking down - that was the day I wasn't feeling well), you lay on the table (with your arm over your head, there is a bar where you can grab on to), they measure you, mark you with a pen (all my sports bra's have blue ink.LOL!!), they zap you (it does not hurt), the machine goes around and they zap you again. Your done for the day. I was able to do that without taking any personal time off for this. I did put in for FMLA (please fill out the paperwork - check mark the intermittent because there are days where you will be good and days where you will feel terrible - I think I've only taken about 3 days off in the 6 weeks). I probably won't be taking my FMLA time (you would have had to exaust all your personal time in order for it to take effect). My work is about 10 minutes away from Roswell Park here in Buffalo NY so I feel very lucky in that respect.

I am very tired right now and looking forward to next week's last day. I can see the light at the end of this. I am fortunate to have the pink bus pick me up at 2:45pm when I walk into Roswell daily.

Hope I answered all your questions.

Jen