This is a post that should be titled "The things they don't tell you when undergoing breast radiation." As of today I am 11 days post radiation therapy. I had my last radiation followed by a doctors appointment on that last day. The doctor reminded me that radiation has a cumulative effect, which means it continues to work even after you have finished the radiation treatment. This also means that your skin will also have cumulative effects that may or may not occur for approximately the next 2-3 weeks post radiation. What they don't tell you is how BAD those skin effects can really get. So falling short of posting a picture of my poor booby, because it is really that bad, I spared those with a queasy stomach of my nightmare.
On Friday, 4 days ago, while having a visit with my friend Diane, we were wrapping up and I asked her if she wanted to see my boob. I show everyone my boob, because frankly, I have not had one person say no!
So I began to take off my bra the same way we all take off our bras, and as I took the shoulder strap off my left shoulder and removed the bra cup from my boob it ripped about 10 layers of skin from my areola (the round part around the nipple) and oh ya, 3/4 of my nipple became detached from my body!!!!! HOLY SHIZAS!!! YES IT HURT! Diane and I were both in shock and really didn't know how to respond to what just happened. I had NO IDEA this was even a possibility of the extreme effects that could be!! I guess they don't tell you this could be a possibility as most women would run screaming from the doctors office and probably reject radiation therapy all together!
Thankfully Diane is a nurse and she got it all dressed in gauze and what ever I had on hand and tucked me back into another bra for the night.
I called the radiation oncologist first thing in the morning and told her my problemo! It was at least promising that she didn't seem phased by my description and ordered cold compresses and air dry the breast wearing a cotton shirt, as much as possible for the rest of the weekend. She reassured me that she was going to be on call all weekend and if I really needed to see her I could go into RJH Emergency and she would see me.
I made it through the rest of the weekend, I spent most of it at the swimming pool doing the photography for Georgia's swim meet and had a nice Mother's Day with the family on Sunday hanging out together.
I managed to make it until Monday when the doctor had told me to call BCCA first thing and get into see a wound care nurse so she could assess it and get me sorted out. I got in right away and the nurse did a saline soak and cleaned me up really well, yes that hurt too. She said the wound was still very open and decided that a antibacterial skin healing cream would be a good option for me. She creamed me up and dressed the wound with anti-stick gauze and sent me on my way.
It is looking better today, still very stingy and sore, I do think the cream is working and it is going to heal. Hopefully sooner than later.
So there you have it.....another tidbit of information you may or may not have known about breast cancer treatment! It can only go up from here......I hope.
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