On Monday I start 15 sessions of radiation therapy to my chest wall, axillary nodes and supraclavicle area. I had the mastectomy 5 months ago (large invasive lobular tumours). It's felt like a long wait.
Apparently my skin clearance after surgery wasn't great so they're using a bolus for the chest wall. My Onc said to expect my chest skin to get sore. The nurse said to expect the collarbone to get sore. Nobody from the radiation centre has told me to expect anything or given me any advice about preparation other than to wear a vest to appointments.
How sore is sore? (I am very fair skinned, I burn easily in the sun, and my chest and collarbone has lots of little white scars from when I had chicken pox as a kid. The scars can't be seen this time of year but in the summer when my skin is red or the slightly beige it thinks constitutes a sun tan, all the white spots and blotches become very apparent as they can't tan - will they be more sore?) Will I blister or itch or have open sores? I don't know what to expect and would feel much more at ease knowing what's likely to occur.
I'm relocating on Sunday to be near the hospital because I have other disabilities that will affect my ability to travel daily, so I can't just pop to the shops or order stuff online last minute. My breast care team are based at a different hospital to the radiation faculties, and I won't be able to travel between the two during treatment. I feel a little uneasy not knowing and am just praying that I won't need anything I don't already have to hand.
