Anyone had a Radiation “Boost”?

Yep - I had a BOOST at the same point. They stopped putting on a protective patch over the lumpectomy scar and my skin got redder, but not much difference. The first time to BOOST needed lots of adjustments - later ones were the same as before. You are almost done with that phase!

@clynnford
It’s probably different for everyone and depends on the number of treatments and the size of the target area. I had 37 treatments including 9 boost with the regular treatments over a 100 square inch area. Boost area 25-30 sq in. At first I felt like I was really getting away with something with minimal impact on skin and how I felt. I posted about my skin deterioration earlier. The fatigue hit me really hard after maybe 20-25? treatments. I could barely walk across the room without losing my breath. I had to stop working and have a friend walk my dogs and shop for me. My recliner became my best friend. Hopefully that wont be the case for you but have someone on standby to help you out just in case. The good news is the daily treatments are quick and easy. I was in and out of the facility in 20 minutes each day. Skin and fatigue start improving as soon as treatments stop. Glad I had the treatment. Prayers for you. ❤️

Thanks for your reply. I only need 5 treatments / wk for 5 weeks. Prayers appreciated.

I had 5 “boost” sessions after 25 rounds of radiation. A custom copper plate that had only my incision line exposed was cut and placed where the beam is emitted and that’s the only area that received the boost. It took literally one or 2 minutes.

I'm going through Proton radiation right now. I will receive 15 treatments. Last night I finished treatment number four. The treatments are painless. They move the beam so it aims at you in two directions. One from the top and one from side diagonally. The machine sounds like the magnets are scraping the tracks as the beam moves a line across you. The machine is open sided so you don't get claustrophobic. So far I have not experienced any sunburn or tireness. They tell me that will probably happen in my second week. I am using Mometasone Furoate cream morning and night to prevent skin damage and vanicreme in between.

I had a boost it is just more direct hit to the cancer. I felt no different but was scared to have it. thinking it would be stronger by the name. They should rename it scary word boost no worries

Yes, I had 5 days of boost. They explained it is more targeted to the surgical bed area, whereas the rest of my radiation was over whole breast. Be prepared that you may have burns days and weeks AFTER treatment. I was not prepared, thought it would be just what I was seeing during treatment.

Yes. I had 5 treatments of a boost. It was no than the other 16 treatments. Radiation was not difficult for me. I followed the directions and my skin healed in about a month.

I had 33 radiation treatments, and I remember that some of them were "boosts." I thought I was getting away easy until halfway through---the very night we went out to "celebrate" how well it was going.

My skin has been affected in a negative way and I am going to an Austin dermatologist at the end of March. What way? Not the burning that everyone talks about, but the fact that, when I have a mammogram now, it sometimes rips open a 6" x 3" gash under my left "good" breast. I also got weird little mole-like growths all around the perimeter of what I will call my cleavage. I never had anything like this before the radiation that took place from May to July in 2022.

Interesting side comment. Three days before I was scheduled to be radiated 33 times in Moline, Illinois at a local hospital (one I had been avoiding because of the way the woman in charge of mammograms had treated me in 2018 during my first stereotactic biopsy) I decided that maybe I SHOULD go get a second opinion. (I had already been tattooed for the radiation, etc.). The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics told me this 3 days before I was to start the radiation treatments: "If you had had your surgery here, we would not have radiated you at all."
When I asked "Why not?" the response was it was because I was a woman in my 70s.
I went back to the Quad Cities completely confused and wondering if I should go through with what had been planned for me and decided to re-contact the radiologist at Genesis Hospitals in Davenport, Iowa, who had discovered the 11 mm. tumor at a callback and had performed my second biopsy. Dr. Goswami was wonderful and her words of encouragement ("You're going to be fine. You did everything right.") sustained me for months. So, I had to track her down, because I had moved to the Illinois side of the Mississippi because the closest-to-me-hospital (to reach it 33 times in succession) was 15 minutes from my home in Moline, Illinois. In order to find Dr. Goswami and speak with her, I had to find her, first (she was not part of the team and was in a totally different state). I wrote out the details of my Iowa City "second opinion" in the lobby of what used to be Illini Hospital and left it for her and begged her to call me.
She did. Twice. And we talked about "to radiate or not to radiate" and I followed her advice, because she was truly compassionate and encouraging.
I also had a sneaking suspicion that I would have a horrible time adjusting to the pills they were talking about taking for 5 to 10 years (I'd be 88 at the end of 10 years!)
I had a horrible time on the pills, especially the Anastrozole, which put me in a wheelchair for 6 months. (I have injured joints and was in the MOST study in Iowa City from 1997 to 2020 and should probably never have been put on any A.I. inhibitor. My knee blew out after 7 months on Anastrozole, leaving me with excruciating meniscus-tear symptoms and the inability to walk. Had to have injections of 32 ml of an anti-inflammatory and 6 ml of Durolane and Tramadol for pain, and quit Anastrozole (and all A.I. pills). Tried Tamoxifen. Also bad. So about the only thing I can say is that I hope the radiation did the trick, boosts and all, because I don't think I will be going back on any of the toxic substances I've tried for over a year, so far, which crippled me and caused the worst pain I've experienced in 76 years of life. Tamoxifen was extreme fatigue and non-stop UTIs, plus a need to find a bathroom every 5 minutes. Anastrozole was dry eyes leading to blurry vision, dry skin, teariness, mood swings, brain fog, so I'm hoping the radiation worked, because my oncotype score was 29, but I was denied an oncotype at the outset (Dec 7, 2021) and didn't find THAT out until March of 2023 from a doctor in Texas.

I had 15 days radiation with a boost at the same time. I lived quite a distance from my radiologist so they did boost after the regular radiation. I had more time blocked off for my session. I took over a month to heal- even though I have olive skin, my skin is sensitive. My doctor called in something to help with healing. I know some people go braless or something- I couldn’t do that very often due to reconstructive surgery on breasts and needed support. Mine was during summer in Texas 2023- heat didn’t help either.