Cancer Treatment Options Forum - August 28th, 2010 - 5 Comments
Breast Cancer Radiation side effects?
Hello!
my mum has breast cancer and will be starting radiation soon. She wants to know of any ways to help keep the side effects at bay. Please let me know any tips or information! Thank you for your answers!!
My main side effect was fatigue; I wasn’t tired all the time, but from time to time it would overwhelm me.
I had no burning – just a slight pinkness towards the end of treatment, but this varies from person to person; it’s common for it to be like sunburn. In addition to the cream the hospital provides, aloe vera gel is soothing.
From talking to people I met through support networks, burning seem s to be rather worse sometimes when someone has had a lumpectomy or reconstruction, rather than a mastectomy with no recon.
If she has been through chemotherapy, she can be assured that radiotherapy is a walk in the park by comparison.
Best wishes for the rest of your mum’s treatment
My wife had breast cancer. The only side effect from radiation that she had was fatigue. Maybe a loss of appetite but that’s about it. She will need to rest a lot.
The major side effects came from chemotherapy. That was very difficult for her.
I suppose if you had to have one or the other, the radiation treatments are the lessor of two evils.
God Bless and good luck.
I had breast cancer over 15 years ago. The side effects I felt was soreness in the breast, tiredness, redness, and my skin got darker. To this day that breast is still tender. Apply moisturizing creams after radiation is complete is a good. Remember the radiation os used to kill cancer in your body can also damage normal cells. Radiation therapy is painless.
No major side effect but your mom is older so it might be a different case for her. My breast was tender and sore. I was tired too.
My side effects from breast cancer radiation was being tired, and burning of the skin, and peeling of the skin, they give you medicine for that. Good luck!