Radiation Oncology, One Year Later!

This morning I saw my radiation oncologist for the first time in a year. It was nice to see the office staff. I was greeted with hugs, compliments, and lots of smiles. They are absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for them all!

The actual exam itself was rather uneventful, which is always nice. He is sending me for a chest x-ray, due to my lungs hurting when I breathe, but he thinks it is due to my lovely expanders putting pressure. It is better to be safe, than sorry, but he thinks everything looks good. I'm going to wait until next week to have the x-ray done, so I can kill two birds with one stone and get my pre-op bloodwork done at the same time.

Okay, enough about that! I am very excited to announce that today I managed to reach my personal fundraising goal for the Relay for Life. As of right now I have managed to raise......$1,121.00!!!

Don't believe me?! Check it out for yourself....

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/bethgibbons

Pretty awesome, huh?!

Beth's Believers are currently at $1,316.00 and we are not done yet! Amanda has a fundraiser going on at work, there is a donation jar at a local chiropractor's office, and we are going to sell bracelets and do face painting at the Relay. I am absolutely amazed by the outpouring of love and support from my friends. I wish nothing more than to see a cure for this horrible disease in my lifetime and plan on doing everything I can to help that happen.

Please say a prayer for my breast cancer sisters. Some of them are really struggling right now and could use all the help they can get.

5/19/09

Today I had an appointment with my radiation oncologist. My burn looks soooooo much better. It only has 2 open places right now. He told me to clean it with diluted peroxide and then put neosporin on it. I don't have to go back for 7 weeks!!!!


The best news is, he told me that in most people who have the response to radiation that I did, the cancer doesn't come back!!! How encouraging is that?!

Radiation burn pictures

May 1
The X is what they use to line up the machine for my boosts.

















May 4

















May 8

























May 13

5/13/09

I had my final boost on May 6th and I am done with radiation!!!!!!!! I was able to complete 28 treatments and 3 boosts. The doctor had originally wanted me to have 6 boosts, but my skin is too sore and he doesn't want it to get worse. Right now it is cracking, peeling, and sometimes bleeding, so I'm glad I can concentrate on healing now.

May 6th, I went for genetic counseling and testing. They drew blood and will be checking for the BRCA 1 and 2 gene mutations. These are the genes that make you more susceptible to developing breast cancer and other types of cancer. Carriers have a 56-87% chance of developing breast cancer and a 27%-44% chance of developing ovarian cancer, whereas in the general population it is only 7% for breast cancer and less than 2% for ovarian cancer. Pretty scary statistics, huh? Knowledge is power.


If they find I have this mutation then my family can then decide if they want to be tested. Finding out they are carriers will give them the opportunity to have increased surveillance, chemoprevention, or preventive surgery. Plus it will then help me decide whether or not I want to have my ovaries removed for preventitive measures.


The results will take 3-4 weeks to come back and then they will call to schedule an appointment to have me come in for the results. I'm hoping I get negative results.


On May 29th-30th, I will be doing Relay for Life at Indiana White Township Municipal Park. It is a 24 hour event starting at 6 pm on the 29th. If you are able to participate at any time during that 24 hours (you don't have to stay the whole time) you can join my team by going to my personal page....


http://main.acsevents.org/goto/bethgibbons


....and clicking 'join my team'. You can also donate there if you are unable to attend the event.

4/27/09

Today was radiation treatment #24. So far my skin is a bit burned, but the doctor says it is just as he would expect it to look. I had this past Friday off to give my skin a break and that seemed to help. It is really itchy and a bit sore, so he gave me a corticosteroid cream, called Kenalog to put on it three time a day. Hopefully that will help.

Friday will put me at my 28 treatments he had originally prescribed and then he said I will get either 3 or 6 boosts, depending on how my skin holds up. These boosts are additional radiation to a small part of the initial targeted area. This is usually the area where the lump was found. He is thinking I will probably end up getting three.


On 4/14/09, I went to see a plastic surgeon for a consult. I was less than thrilled about the appointment. He told me that my body will need time to recover from the extensive amount of chemo it has had, before he would be comfortable putting me though a 4 or 5 hour surgery and my skin would need time before he would be able to work with it, due to radiation, so he thought I would be looking at NEXT SPRING!!!!!! I was shocked and so upset by this information.


He then told me that he felt my only reconstruction option was to have procedure called a lat flap. This is where they use the latissimus dorsi muscle and skin from your upper back to create a new breast. An ellipse of skin and the lattissmus dorsi muscle is tunneled from the upper back to the mastectomy area. This means two more scars would be added to my collection.....UGH! I will be going for several other opinions before deciding on a plastic surgeon, so I'm trying to not get discouraged.

3/28/09

Well I am happy to report that week one of radiation is done. I got 3 free, tiny tattoos out of the deal! I have one on each side of my chest and one in the middle. They use these markings to line up the machine.

Here are pics of the tattoos....

I have completed 4 treatments and so far my chest is barely pink. I really hope I continue to tolerate it well. I have been pretty tired lately, but I think that is more from the running to and from appointments not really from radiation or chemo.

So far things are going well. Please pray they continue this way!

3/20/09

Hey everybody! This week was a week of appointments. Monday I had my bone scan, Tuesday was my surgeon follow up appointment, Thursday was radiation oncologist, and today was chemo.

Here are the updates...

*My armpit is no longer making farting noises. Sorry to anyone who missed out on witnessing my short lived talent!

*Bone scan was good. YAY!!! I don't know why my hip has been hurting, but it isn't cancer!

*My port incisions have healed nicely and I don't see my surgeon again for 3 months now.

*I had my radiation simulation. They made a mold of my head and back so I will be laying the same way each time, did a CT scan, and put X's on my chest so they know where to radiate. Tuesday I will actually start my treatments. They will tattoo me (dots the size of freckles) and then begin.

*Chemo was quick and so far painless. They were able to give it over 30 minutes and said I shouldn't have many side effects. I hope they are right! 1 down, 9 more to go!

3/12/09

It has been a little while since my last update, so I will do my best to remember everything that has been going on.

I'll start with something funny....since my last update I have found I have a new talent....my left side where the drain was, makes a wonderful farting sound when touched! I guess that should go away, but for now it is quite entertaining! If you see me I'll show you! LOL!

Here is a video of the noise...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Moving on.... March 6th, I went for to get a second opinion regarding radiation. This doctor agreed that I do need to have radiation. He said he would probably do 28 treatments with the possibility of 4-5 more. The other doctor said 36 with the possibility of more. I am told that the difference is not a big deal. The only thing this second doctor was questioning was whether I should be able to get the chemo and radiation at the same time. The area they need to radiate will hit 10% of my heart and lung, which puts me at risk for problems as it is. He was worried that I will be possibly increasing this risk by doing them at the same time. He suggested I have my doctors do more research and see what the protocol study says about this.

This doctor was absolutely wonderful and I felt so much more comfortable with him than I did with the other one. He was very thorough in his exam, which I really liked. Both doctors asked the common question of whether or not I have any pains. The thing is I have been having pain in my left hip for the past month, everyday but not constant. The first doctor just skipped over it. This doctor immediately asked if I had told my medical oncologist about it (at the time I hadn't). He had me doing a series of things to assess the pain and told me that although the assessment seemed okay, he would definitely advise me to have this checked out with an MRI or a scan, because it could be bone mets (cancer in the bones). I love how he would rather be certain than assume. The only downfall with choosing to see him is the drive....45 minutes one way, 5 days a week. UGH!

March 9th I had my port placement surgery. Everything went well. My surgeon was able to put it where my first port had been, so no new scars!!!! YAY! I was pretty sore for a couple days, but I'm doing well now.

Today I saw my oncologist for the first time since December. I asked him if the protocol study states whether or not it is safe to do chemo and radiation at the same time and after looking over the research we found that it is. I discussed my feelings about choosing which radiation oncologist to go to and he agreed that I should go to the one that is further away if I felt more comfortable there, so they faxed the study information pertaining to doing radiation while on chemo to my second opinion radiation oncologist and it turns out he is okay with treating me while I'm doing chemo. I have decided to get my treatments at his office, so I will be doing a lot of driving real soon! I just feel so much better having that decision made. I will call their office tomorrow to get things scheduled.

I have a bone scan scheduled for Monday morning to make sure my hip pain is not cancer and chemo will probably start next Friday. Looks like I will be pretty busy very soon! I'll update again when I get the results of my scan.

2/27/09

Well it seems as though my treatments will be starting back up soon....

Two days ago my radiation oncologist's office called me and said that since my drain would be coming out the next day, they wanted to set me up with an appointment to get everything done, so radiation could begin next week!!! That startled me a bit, considering I thought I had a little more time. I thought I would atleast have a couple more weeks, but they said as long as the drain was out I was able to start.

Well yesterday I had an appointment with my surgeon. He took out my drain and told me I only needed to stay wrapped a couple more days until the incision sealed itself. I don't think I remember what it feels like to be ace bandage free since I've been wrapped for almost 2 months! That will be a treat! LOL! I told him how the radiation oncologist wants to begin radiation so soon and he made it quite clear that he does not want me to start until after I have had my port put in. We then scheduled that surgery for March 9th. He said he doesn't anticipate me having any more issues with fluid accumulating at this point, but if I do I will need to call him and it will push back the surgery date. So, as long as everything goes smoothly, it looks like my chemo and radiation will begin in March.

2/17/09

Today I had my consult with the radiation oncologist and it looks like I am getting 36 zaps. I will have to go everyday Mon-Fri for about 7 weeks. The treatment itself only takes about 10-15 minutes a day, so it will be in and out. During that time I will see the doctor once a week, so he can monitor my skin. He said we will start after my penrose drain comes out and the incision heals over.

So it looks like chemo and radiation will be starting up around the same time. I am just happy I don't have to wait until my chemo is complete. This way won't prolong my reconstruction any longer than the chemo already does!!!! Thank goodness!

2/12/09

Looks like it is surgery time again!

I had an appointment with my surgeon this morning and he decided that since I've had fluid drained twice already and it has accumulated there again, he would like to expedite things and put a drain in. Tomorrow I will be going into the OR to have the drain put in with just local anesthesia. Hopefully that will help to resolve this problem, so I will be able to move on with my treatment plan.

Then Tuesday I have a consult scheduled with the radiation oncologist to see if he feels radiation is necessary. I'm really hoping I don't have to do it, but if he says I need it, I will of course do it.

That is about it for now. I will update again soon.