Since my last post I've had 14 more radiation treatments. Today I had the last one to the overall breast and underarm area and tomorrow I will have either 8 or 10 what they call "booster" treatments to the tumor area on my breast. So I am near the end of my treatments and can now say that yes radiation treatment burns.
A couple weeks ago I noticed that my under arm was feeling more sensitive than normal, you know after lymph node removal you have that numb sensitive feeling. Then last week I noticed that my breast and under arm was starting to get a little red and by the weekend feeling a even more tender. Since I didn't know what to use on it I just used the Udderly Smooth cream and that seemed to soothe it pretty much. That is until Monday morning when I woke up with this aching hot raw skin under my arm.
When I went Monday to have my treatment the doctor looked at it and said yes that looks pretty painful but said I would be getting relief from that area when my booster treatments started in two days. The radiation techs wrote down the name of a cream, Lidocane plus extra strength, and said a lot of people use it and say it's very good. It does seem to soothe and make it feel better but knowing that the radiation is still working in my body makes me wonder just how much worse this burn is going to get before it heals.
I've never really been badly sunburned in my life so I can't even relate to that; however, I've seen some pretty bad sunburns before. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't under my arm right in the bend and of course where skin rubs skin. I keep telling myself though that this will heal, I only have a few more treatments to go and then it will all be over and in a couple months I'll be good as new.
Never will I ever say, I'll be back to normal because after cancer your life is never back to normal. There are cancer free months or years but how can you ever be the same after going through everything that goes with cancer treatment? It changes you not only physically but mentally as well. So I'll just say that I can look forward to not being in treatment and getting my hair back, my strength back and not having to plan my life around my cancer treatments.
Life is good even when we have to suffer and go through pain, there is hope and healing in the end.
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So sorry about the burn ... it can be so painful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you ... life is never back to normal but it doesn't mean we can't go out and celebrate it like never before.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI recently found your blog about your battle with breast cancer, and I wanted to reach out. I’m the blog coordinator for EverydayHealth.com. We’re currently recruiting people to write a weekly blog post about their various health conditions and I thought you might be interested.
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Oh, the burn!!!! You are not alone in that regard. My good friend said the same thing. I hope it gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share a heart-felt video called “Stand Up To Cancer”— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9avVoQB2_rQ> . This video highlights the importance of managing your cancer treatment and avoiding infection. Please watch and share with all your loved ones.
Best of wishes