There is still discoloration of the radiation field in general, and the smaller field is discolored, too. The swelling is less in general, but, talk about itch. It itches from the inside, and sometimes aches, too.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Breast Pictures 06.22.2008, 17 Days Done
These pictures were taken 17 days after completing radiation treatments. The skin is much improved, though I'm still using silvadene ointment on the nipple and areola where the last of the "flakes" came off, and aloe vera/elta cream on all of the other skin.
There is still discoloration of the radiation field in general, and the smaller field is discolored, too. The swelling is less in general, but, talk about itch. It itches from the inside, and sometimes aches, too.
There is still discoloration of the radiation field in general, and the smaller field is discolored, too. The swelling is less in general, but, talk about itch. It itches from the inside, and sometimes aches, too.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Breast Pictures 06.14.2008
These were taken June 14, 2008, nine days after completing radiation treatments. The areola and some of the skin above it sloughed off, revealing new pink skin under it. But there are still small areas of dried, almost scabby looking, flakes. I'm one to pick at things, but these flakes I'm leaving alone.
The breast is swollen and full, as well as tender. After a lymph treatment with Ike, the axillary (underarm) incision is nearly smooth, as is the one on the breast.
On the outer side of the breast where is is shiny and looks almost leathery, that's how it feels to touch it. Kind of like leathery plastic. Very strange.
The breast is swollen and full, as well as tender. After a lymph treatment with Ike, the axillary (underarm) incision is nearly smooth, as is the one on the breast.
On the outer side of the breast where is is shiny and looks almost leathery, that's how it feels to touch it. Kind of like leathery plastic. Very strange.
06.10.2008 Areola Wipe-Off
After my shower Tuesday, I was toweling off, being ever-so-careful with that tender nipple and breast. I patted the water, and--OH MY GOSH!!!! WHAT"S THAT?!?!? It looked like eraser stuff on my skin. You know, the dark skinny rubbery stuff the eraser leaves behind? I looked again, and realized my skin is rubbing off!!!! whoa. Take a breath. My heart's beating pretty fast. I looked again. Oh my gosh. It looks like all of the colored skin is sloughing off. Just rolling up and coming off. Well, that ink stain rolled off, too. And it's pink underneath it. That's ok.
As I realized it didn't hurt to come off, and it was going to come off anyway, I debrided (removed dead tissue) what I could and cleaned it up. I then applied silvadene ointment and aquaphor to the pink, newly exposed skin, and aloe vera/elta cream mix to every place else.
These pictures are 5 days after completing radiation treatments.
As I realized it didn't hurt to come off, and it was going to come off anyway, I debrided (removed dead tissue) what I could and cleaned it up. I then applied silvadene ointment and aquaphor to the pink, newly exposed skin, and aloe vera/elta cream mix to every place else.
These pictures are 5 days after completing radiation treatments.
06.07.2008 2 Days Done
These pictures were taken Saturday, June 7, 2008, two days after completing 30 radiation treatments. Total of 60 gray (centigray?) of radiation.
Red and swollen, yes, it's sore.
You can see the back side of the axillary incision; the lighter areas is what has sloughed off.
And under the breast, too, where it's shiny. That's trying to heal. The areola has raw areas, too.
Straight on. The left breast is drawing up.
That's leaning forward again.
Red and swollen, yes, it's sore.
You can see the back side of the axillary incision; the lighter areas is what has sloughed off.
And under the breast, too, where it's shiny. That's trying to heal. The areola has raw areas, too.
Straight on. The left breast is drawing up.
That's leaning forward again.
These are pictures of the
06.05.2008 Radiation Positioning
These pictures were taken on my last day of radiation treatment.
This is me on the table, with the extender thing on. What that does is narrow the field, and at the end closest to me, it has a custom made lead insert that shapes the radiation field to the markings that Doctor made. (see for that picture).
It's sometimes creepy how close that (what I call it) snout comes to me. I just try to tell myself it's all positive, to make sure the cancer doesn't return in that breast. Positive Rays.
This is me on the table, with the extender thing on. What that does is narrow the field, and at the end closest to me, it has a custom made lead insert that shapes the radiation field to the markings that Doctor made. (see for that picture).
It's sometimes creepy how close that (what I call it) snout comes to me. I just try to tell myself it's all positive, to make sure the cancer doesn't return in that breast. Positive Rays.
06.03.2008 Breakdown Treatment
(Most of this is copied from my other blog site, http://www.kathyjean.blogspot.com/ ,
http://kathyjean.blogspot.com/2008/06/tuesday-632008-doctor-day.html )
Tuesdays are "Doctor Day" at the radiation center, and after the zap, we wait to be called by the nurse and shown to an exam room. Melissa sees me come back from the radiation treatment, gets my chart, and calls us back.
After a bit of small talk, she looks at my breast. Oww, she said. Yeah, I said. The nipple and areola really hurt, and it's open under here, and it broke down over the axillary incision about 3 this morning. She listens and looks. Ok, she said. How about some silvadene cream?? And you know, let's do a hydrogen peroxide treatment, too. Ok? Sure. They're the experts. She soaks some gauze pads (sponges) into a half-strength H2O2 solution, squeezes it out until very wet and almost dripping, and lays the on my very reddened, skin sloughing breast. AHHH--That's cold! Why didn't we wait for a hot flash?? She laughed. She had padded me with a large blue pad, so that was absorbing the stuff. She left it on for about 10 minutes, and when she took it off, it did feel better, and a lot of the redness was gone, too. Hm, very good. She asked about the silvadene cream and I said sure. Whatever you need to do, you're the one familiar with this stuff....I lay there on the table, "air drying". Melissa goes out to get supplies, and Dr. DeBiose comes in. He shakes hands with us, and looks at my breast. That looks good, he says. It held up pretty well. He basically just looked at me and told us that we've got 2 more treatments, that I'll have a follow up with him in 4-6 weeks, and if we have any questions, call. Alrighty then. We small talked for a minute, he shook hands again, and left the room.Melissa came back in with several items in her hands. She set them on the counter, and proceeds to do her nursely things: opening packages, setting things out where she wanted them, and chattering all the while. She squeezed a bunch of silvadene cream onto a telfa pad and placed it under my breast. She squeezed silvadene cream and aquaphor onto a half of a telfa pad and placed it on my nipple. Then she squeezed some silvadene cream onto the end of another telfa pad and stuck it to the axillary incision. I'm holding these with my own hands, and she has a long piece of tubular netting, maybe 30 inches or so, which she has snipped and cut. She puts this over my head, then one arm at a time, pulling it down over my chest. She slips a dry gauze pad over my healthy nipple, and declares me good to go. And this is what I ended up with.
I ended up leaving this on for the rest of the day. I did several more of the H2O2 (hydrogen perroxide) soaks over the next few days until the skin stopped feeling so "raw". After that, I just kept the breakdown areas treated with the silvadene cream, and the other skin treated with the aloe vera/elta blend.
http://kathyjean.blogspot.com/2008/06/tuesday-632008-doctor-day.html )
Tuesdays are "Doctor Day" at the radiation center, and after the zap, we wait to be called by the nurse and shown to an exam room. Melissa sees me come back from the radiation treatment, gets my chart, and calls us back.
After a bit of small talk, she looks at my breast. Oww, she said. Yeah, I said. The nipple and areola really hurt, and it's open under here, and it broke down over the axillary incision about 3 this morning. She listens and looks. Ok, she said. How about some silvadene cream?? And you know, let's do a hydrogen peroxide treatment, too. Ok? Sure. They're the experts. She soaks some gauze pads (sponges) into a half-strength H2O2 solution, squeezes it out until very wet and almost dripping, and lays the on my very reddened, skin sloughing breast. AHHH--That's cold! Why didn't we wait for a hot flash?? She laughed. She had padded me with a large blue pad, so that was absorbing the stuff. She left it on for about 10 minutes, and when she took it off, it did feel better, and a lot of the redness was gone, too. Hm, very good. She asked about the silvadene cream and I said sure. Whatever you need to do, you're the one familiar with this stuff....I lay there on the table, "air drying". Melissa goes out to get supplies, and Dr. DeBiose comes in. He shakes hands with us, and looks at my breast. That looks good, he says. It held up pretty well. He basically just looked at me and told us that we've got 2 more treatments, that I'll have a follow up with him in 4-6 weeks, and if we have any questions, call. Alrighty then. We small talked for a minute, he shook hands again, and left the room.Melissa came back in with several items in her hands. She set them on the counter, and proceeds to do her nursely things: opening packages, setting things out where she wanted them, and chattering all the while. She squeezed a bunch of silvadene cream onto a telfa pad and placed it under my breast. She squeezed silvadene cream and aquaphor onto a half of a telfa pad and placed it on my nipple. Then she squeezed some silvadene cream onto the end of another telfa pad and stuck it to the axillary incision. I'm holding these with my own hands, and she has a long piece of tubular netting, maybe 30 inches or so, which she has snipped and cut. She puts this over my head, then one arm at a time, pulling it down over my chest. She slips a dry gauze pad over my healthy nipple, and declares me good to go. And this is what I ended up with.
I ended up leaving this on for the rest of the day. I did several more of the H2O2 (hydrogen perroxide) soaks over the next few days until the skin stopped feeling so "raw". After that, I just kept the breakdown areas treated with the silvadene cream, and the other skin treated with the aloe vera/elta blend.
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