Radiation Therapy for breast cancer: What was your experience?

I had 5 whole breast radiation treatments. The radiologist said that for stage 1 BC with no lymph involvement, 5 treatments is the standard treatment at this hospital. He did say that not every facility offers it, and it’s not wrong to get 15 treatments, just different programs at different facilities.

It was trialed in Europe for years, and in cases where the cancer is early stage, is as effective as 15 treatments. The dosage in each treatment are higher, overall I received about 2/3 of the radiation that I would have in 15 treatments.
My hospital schedules the treatments over 2 weeks, Tues & Thursday week 1, and Mon, Wed & Friday week 2.
I had one day of fatigue, Thur of week 2, by Fri I was fine.
I developed a slight rash, mostly on the upper part of my chest where I probably have some sun damage.

Here’s an article about it … kind of technical, skip those parts & focus on the conclusions!
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30932-6/fulltext

very helpful, thanks I think I will request 1wk as opposed to the recommended 5wk ... doc shouldn't have too much problem with this request as she was willing to try and get me into the trail; if not in the trail she still could do 1wk.

I had radiation a year ago and have sometimes issues with taste still. Sometimes I do not taste anything or it taste wired. Doctor was not clear if it is from the chemo or the radiation.

I also had radiation and chemo but, still no taste or smell. I really don't know which one could have caused this. I've not been able to taste for at least 2 years. It gets very frustrating and depressing. It certainly doesn't make you want to eat!!!

I had radiation and chemo for my breast cancer. I had no problems at all with the radiation which I had 5 times a week for six weeks. I was 79 at the time.. I've been told that my cancer is not expected to come back.

I went through 5 months of chemo, and my taste buds were immediately affected. First I noticed that mac and cheese tasted sweet. Eventually more foods tasted horrible, and by 14 weeks in (of 20) I could barely eat anything and dropped weight like crazy. After chemo my tastebuds improved slowly. I had 33 days of radiation, but I don't believe they affected the improvement. Four years later I think mac and cheese still tastes somewhat sweet, and the other taste buds are back but not as robust. But still a huge improvement.

I just started radiation for 22 days ( stage 2 DIC) . First day was worst due to longer prone position and CT multiple scans. Have to have my arm ( left ) cocked over my head for a clear field for the radiation. My arm cramped up a couple of times and it was painful. Now I put some Voltaren ointment ( non greasy ) analgesic a couple of hours before treatment. I take a couple of ibuprofen tabs an hour before the scan. Discomfort is now tolerable and the doc approved the combo .

I had a lumpectomy with two lymphn nodes removed and they advised to get radiation. I had hypofractioned radiation meaning I did 6 weeks in 3 weeks by doubling the amount of dose. It's a method they use and in the 4th week they do a boost. I did 20 sessions total meaning Monday through Friday for 4 weeks. I didn't think radiation was bad. The only thing I think that it got me was that I felt tired every afternoon after the second week. One key for me I guess it was that I started applying aquaphore and eucerin as soon as I started and I applied alot of it each night, plus the doctor prescribed me mometasone and SSD cream. Those creams worked like a charm. I had a very little itching, my skin still going through some color changes and the pain a very little, almost nothing. I experience a little bit of everything, but only for a couple hours then it would dissappear. Example the tiredness would go away as soon as I hit the gym or kept moving. Nauseous I felt a little bit and at one point I felt like I was getting sick with sore throat, but the next day I was fine. The side effects don't last the entire day per say. If I needed to do it again I wouldn't hessiate because it was not bad at all. Also the burn wasn't as bad. It more like color change and peeling without pain. The little to almost no pain I feel on and off is from the scar tissue from the mass they removed and the lymph nodes.

30 sessions: the last few a "boost" The worst part was arguing with the technician about whether or not I was actually doing the deep breath hold -- not kidding. I was very fortunate. What I heard from my "colleagues" scheduled at around the same time of day (and you do get to know these gals) is if your skin reacts, to treat it right away, and as others have said, keep moving.

I was 1A (stage), 11 mm. tumor, no lymph node involvement, good margins. I was 76 at the time. I was scheduled for 33 radiation treatments at Trinity Unity Point Hospital in Moline, Illinois. I was tattooed for my treatments, etc., and---somewhat late in the game---I decided to go to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City and get a second opinion on everything that had been done to that point. The oncologist there said, "If you had had your surgery here, we would not have radiated you at all." When I asked why, he said, "Because you're a woman in your 70s." I was not sure WHAT to do after that, but I went back to the Quad Cities and spoke with the radiologist who had discovered the tumor on Pearl Harbor Day of 2021. She was no longer even part of my team, as she works in Davenport, Iowa at the Genesis facility there that used to be called St. Luke's Hospital (Genesis East?) She called me 3 times and we talked the pros and cons of the 33 radiation sessions I had already been prepped for and I ended up driving myself to all 33 of them. About halfway through I was sent home a couple of times because my skin was a bit tender and red, but it was not really bad. I had decided to stay on the Illinois side of the river because it was going to be an almost daily occurrence and Trinity Hospital is only about 10 minutes from my house, whereas I would have had to cross the I-74 bridge into Iowa and drive for about half an hour to go to old St. Luke's. So, the radiation was not bad, but putting me on Anastrozole (Feb. 1, 2022) was horrible. It ended up crippling me and I couldn't tolerate Tamoxifen, either, despite trying hard for over a year. After it left me unable to walk (knee blew out) I went off everything for 9 months (and later tried Tamoxifen for 5 months). My Texas doctor is very glad that I went through the 33 radiation treatments because I am one of the 10 or 12% of patients who cannot adjust to/tolerate the adjuvant therapy pills. (I heard that Katie Couric is thinking about doing an 'expose" about how bad they are---now that she knows firsthand.) I am now insisting on having an MRI rather than just a 3D Mammogram because I had been being "called back" for "dense breasts" since 2018 before my diagnosis (in fact, I had 3 stereotactic biopsies.) Every woman who has dense breasts should read the stories on this website.
https://mydensitymatters.org/programs/my-story-matters/