I never got REALLY red from radiation during the first five weeks and considered myself fortunate. The last 5 rads those final five days were pretty intense and I got a "sunburn", under my arm, my breast and speckled across the top. My Dr says the radiation continues to "cook" (my term, not his) within the breast for a few weeks, which is why there is swelling, tenderness, warmth, and the breast continues to change.
Recently I've experienced shooting pains. At first they were described as the nerve endings that were severed and they are healing and getting their feeling back. At times, this feels like the pain I experienced when I finally decided something was wrong in March and scheduled a mammogram for the first part of April. That unnerves me at times along with the thought of those little tentacles of the lobular carcinoma reaching out all over again.
Honestly, it is frequently very uncomfortable, quite painful actually. It can come on unexpectedly and continue for hours. I am usually a left side sleeper, was able to sleep on that side again for awhile, but lately it has been too painful.
Tuesday and Wednesday night, my one sleeping pill each evening didn't work, causing me to wake up three or four times in the night. Not wanting to repeat the effects of sleep deprivation suffered the week before, I took two sleeping pills last night and got about 7 hours. Not great, but better since it was uninterrupted. Unfortunately, I woke up because of the discomfort in my breast and the fact I was again sleeping on my left side.
The appearance of the breast is substantially worse than it was on my last day, Thursday, Sept. 30. There is some peeling skin, brown and red areas, rippling, and distortion. It is somewhat painful to the touch and, as I said, the ache is there off and on throughout the day, sometimes intense enough to give me pause, and I can take quite a bit.
I went to several reputable cancer websites and checked the discussion boards. There is some comfort reading that many other women are enduring the same. Doesn't make it any easier though. I am occasionally taking ibuprophen, but not regularly yet. I know I may need it big time later!
Every day is an adventure, a new symptom, a pain that's unfamiliar, an area that is different from how it looked yesterday. Guess I'll just sum it up by saying, "Still cooking...radioactive woman active in more ways than one!"
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