Radiation: When do side effects show?

I had no side effects from the radiation to my breast whatsoever, not even fatigue. I was advised to use Eucerin after my treatments and I think that was helpful in preventing any skin issues.

I had some blisters and peeling over the radiated area the week after radiation ended. It was minimal. I kept using the cream the prescribed.

Yes, mine got charred 8 days after I finished.

Last 2 weeks of radiation I had 2nd degree burns. Very painful but pain meds helped. The burns healed quickly in the 2 weeks following radiation. Bad news was that on scans of the thorax “issues” showed up after radiation. Lung looked hazy, some areas of opacity. So for the past 5 years it hasn’t gone away. I have no respiratory symptoms otherwise but I eventually saw a pulmonologist who said I have post-radiation pulmonary fibrosis. He said the lung tissue was burned along with the outside skin. He was/ is puzzled that I have no symptoms. I am seeing another pulmonologist at the end of this month.

Hi
Wow sorry to hear this. How many treatments did you have? My radiation treatments were side to side they did not go directly down so my oncologist told me there was no way it would hit my lungs

Six weeks, 5 days per week. Right mastectomy.

I had 33 radiation treatments. Things went well until exactly halfway through, We had even gone out to have dinner to celebrate how well it was going. And then, the next day, not so much. They actually sent me home a couple of times because of the burns. I started May 5 and ended on July 18 (2022). I don't know if I had fatigue from that or from the fact that I was also taking Anastrozole at the time (even though, normally, I have read, oncologists don't prescribe the pills until the radiation is over.) Of course, normally, oncologists order an oncotype (mine didn't and wouldn't even discuss it) and putting me on Anastrozole on Feb. 1, 2022, following my 1/27/2022 surgery less than a week prior, at a time when I was fighting a seroma and taking 500 mg. of Cephalexan every 4 hours for weeks was also questionable. And then there was the matter of ordering a bone scan BEFORE you put the patient on Anastrozole. I didn't get my bone scan until late May, either, and, as a result, I now officially have osteoporosis, whereas, going in, it was osteopaenia. My opening score was -1.4T and now it is pushing the -2.5T osteoporosis border. Radiation was much much easier than Anastrozole was. Tamoxifen was easier to tolerate than Anastrozole, but not by much. I'm pinning my hopes on the 33 radiation sessions (right side) I had.

If you are large-breasted and the radiation is directed to the underside of your breast the ComfortSlings products are game changers in protecting your skin. The company sells both slings, with cushions on adjustable straps that tuck beneath the breast, and cushions without the straps to tuck inside your bra cup. . I began wearing a single sling as soon as the radiotherapy began; by my treatment’s end, my skin had darkened slightly at the radiation site, but was otherwise unchanged. I had no pain, no broken skin. I can’t recommend these products enough! Good luck!

Hi
Not large breastfed at all especially after my lumpectomy

Then you would have difficulty keeping the ComfortSlings Sling in place. Good luck!