Breast Cancer ER/PR+ HER2- Grade3 Stage 3B

[DianaTrapani]

I finished chemo in May. Had two unsuccessful lumpectomy surgeries and then a nonskin sparing mastectomy, no reconstruction . Now I’m getting ready for radiation therapy.

I am also looking beyond RT and next steps. Any resources or tips?

[Tinydancer1]

I’m also flat and found that it helps to have no breasts when going through radiation. Drink a lot of water and moisturize! I used Udderly Smooth Body Cream (won’t get your clothes greasy) during the day and Aquafor at night when you wear something you don’t mind ruining with grease—an old T-shirt perhaps. The radiation sessions themselves don’t hurt, but towards the end, your skin will burn, and you will get fatigued, which will go away after a few weeks. Keep greasing up! The skin will be almost permanently tan on that side. If you’re on Facebook, you’ll find several groups dedicated to women who chose to be flat. There’s so many inspiring women out there who share their photos, their fashion ideas, their funny stories, as well as tacky things people say if they go flat in public and how these brave women handled them, and reassuring stories about how nobody notices! Of course, there’s FB support groups for all BC sisters no matter their situation and choices. Let me know if you need help finding these groups. Good luck to you!

[DianaTrapani in reply to Tinydancer1]

Thank you for the tips. I will look for the FB groups.

[DianaTrapani in reply to Tinydancer1]

I joined a couple of the FB groups. Thanks for the tips.

[AnnieAppleseed]

Here is the Evidence-based Handout I created for my cancer nonprofit Annie Appleseed Project. It has many natural cancer strategies to deal with conventional therapies' harms.

annieappleseedproject.org/w...

[DianaTrapani]

Thank you!

[iamTeal]

I had 36 rounds of radiation. My doctor adjusted the treatment toward the end because I was really sore!

The order n "boost" was moved around. This helped me get through.

Good luck!!